The latest Chrome update was released on the 30th of July, 2019. This update brought significant changes to the web: Adobe Flash will now be blocked by default for the sake of a faster and safer experience, developers will be able to easily install Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) on their desktop, and additional dev features will also be introduced.However, here’s why publishers should care:This update also disabled the incognito mode detection, meaning publishers will not be able to spot users who enter their websites in the private mode anymore. In the past, this was possible by sending a FileSystem API request but now, the privacy loophole has been closed. As Google explained on its blog:“Chrome will remedy a loophole that has allowed sites to detect people who are browsing in Incognito Mode. This will affect some publishers who have used the loophole to deter metered paywall circumvention.”Perhaps it’s not a bad idea at this point to remind ourselves how metered paywalls work: Users who are not registered visit a website that has a metered paywall From that moment on, they are granted a limited number of articles to consume free of charge Users are tracked via cookies, which ensure that they hit a paywall once they’ve reached the limit of free articlesThe issue that’s been brought to the fore by Chrome 76 occurs when users turn on incognito mode, which disables cookies, in order to continue reading for free.Before the latest Chrome update, publishers could detect these attempts and serve users different content or even block their access entirely - unless they switch from private browsing to regular mode, which tracks their activity via cookies.