Slow websites will be labelled in Google Chrome

Are you waiting too long to load a website? Google may soon solve your problem by introducing speed badges. Chrome users may soon get a badge when they visit a website that is slow or take a lot of time to load.

In a blog post, Google said that it is considering to identify sites that typically load fast or slow for users with clear badging method. Badging is intended to identify when sites are authored in a way that makes them slow generally, looking at historical load latencies, said Google. The company also plans to identify a page which is likely to be slow for a user based on their device and network.

Google has not decided how it will label the websites that are slow. "We plan to experiment with different options, to determine which provides the most value to our users," said the technology giant.

For example, a website that usually takes a longer time to load may show a "Loading…" page that includes a warning text "usually loads slow."

For links, Google Chrome will use the context menu to let the user know whether the website will be slow or fast.

Google's plan is to "identify sites that are fast or slow will take place in gradual steps, based on increasingly stringent criteria."

Google suggests web developers to check web.dev/fast, Google's learning platform with guides and code-labs on how to load the webpages instantly.

Developers can also use PageSpeed Insights, an online tool that shows speed field data for any website for better results. Lighthouse, a lab tool providing personalized advice on how to improve your website across performance and other best practices can also be used to load a website without any lag.