Google Chrome features built-in support for lazy loading and implementation to defer the loading of images and iframes if the images are not visible on the user’s screen during the load time. This system will be shipped with Chrome for Android, and Google does not rule out adding the new feature to the desktop version if tests go as planned. The feature is named Blink Lazyload, and as the name suggests, it implements the principle of lazy loading inside Google Chrome itself.
Lazy Loading helped to improve the page loading speed
By default, the entire web page needs to be loaded as all browsers will load the entire webpage when the user is accessing an URL. If the page is larger, it will take more time to load. Due to longer page loading, the site may be down-ranked in Google search results.
For the past decade, lazy loading has been implemented by website developers with the help of third-party Javascript libraries loaded on their sites. These scripts work only by loading images at the top of the site. The images will be delayed loading by lazy loading and will only load if the user scrolls down, and the photos enter the user-visible area. Now, Google too plans to add a lazy loading mechanism inside the browser Chrome, which will work the same way.
Some of the obvious advantages are as
The page will load faster, and save bandwidth for users, especially on mobile connections. It shows the load speed improvements from 18% to 35% depending on the network as well. The plan for the new feature of Chrome has been notified to all browsers, but none have provided the input if they plan to implement a similar feature.
The built-in lazy loading can also be turned off if the user chooses to do so. This could be done via new browsers or via the Chrome flag.
But all good things come with certain flaws, and the first downside was that Google will have to re-do certain already existing Chrome features like Print or Save Page As to load the deferred images before their predefined actions. Another drawback can be with users on intermittent connections, where images may fail to load while scrolling down the page and there may not be any images giving the users no clue.
Google Chrome will not only take in consideration of JS- based lazy loading script but also target the implementation of iframes as well.
