Google Says Chrome Pages To Load Up To 10% Faster With Latest Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG on Tuesday announced it is making several upgrades to its Chrome web browser.

What Happened: Chrome Director of User Experience Alex Ainslie in a blog post said these new improvements would not only speed up Chrome but also help users in organizing their work more efficiently.

One of the key updates includes a Profile Guided Optimization (PGO) feature, which loads a page up to 10% quicker, and supports both Mac and Windows platforms, according to Ainslie. 

Google said PGO is a compiler optimization technique where all performance-critical codes are executed faster. 

Another feature undergoing beta testing for Chrome is "Tab Throttling," which could reduce the impact of idle background tabs.

The latest product update also includes many minor features like touch-friendly tabs for tablet mode, switching to a tab that is already open, tab previews, improved PDF functionalities, and easy sharing of URLs.

The company is testing improved features to work on PDF forms using Google Chrome, as well. Users would be able to use chrome to input data on PDF forms as well as save it mid-way and pick it up later from the same place.

Why It Matters: Google has been facing increased criticism over browser speed from Chrome users, as noted earlier by TechCrunch. The browser has also been receiving fire over security concerns, especially when it comes to extensions, for years.

Microsoft Corporation's MSFT Edge browser is rising in popularity, having slipped past Mozilla Firefox as of March this year, according to the Register, which presents another challenge to Google Chrome.

Price Movement: Google stock was trading at $1,605.85, 1.31% higher at the time of the market close on Tuesday.

Photo: Screenshot of Chrome Browser