Brace for fully custom Chrome Web Stores for every organization

Google Chrome is one of the best web browsers on Android, and that’s mostly from the perspective of an individual user. However, Chrome is also the browser of choice for several enterprises and businesses operating with Google Workspace accounts. Given how Chrome extensions are integral to personalizing the user experience even at work, Google just launched Chrome Web Store for enterprises, with specialized controls tailored to shopping for your favorite productivity add-ons.

If you’re managing IT for an enterprise, or just a user, you might be familiar with the complexities of approval processes for browser extensions, and the inherent risks of using disallowed ones from untrustworthy sources. With its latest launch of private Chrome Web Stores, Google hopes to put businesses back in charge of the extensions their staffers use. It all begins with the Chrome Enterprise core included by default in all enterprise plans. Workspace administrators can use it to set up a custom Chrome Web Store for the company staff.

When setting up, you can choose which extensions your team can use, aided by risk scores from a third party called spin.AI, tucked into the Extension Usage Report. With this, you can skip the high-risk extensions altogether. Additionally, you could set up a custom UI as well, with company logos, room for custom images,k and company-wide announcements. This includes custom extension block messages and detail pages where you could specify why said component is off-limits, or how it should be used within the organization.

To organize the browser extensions approved for use, administrators can also create custom collections, like grouping recommended extensions together for a business vertical. Staffers can then visit the collection and find all the requisite or recommended extensions in one place. You can also enjoy independent controls for each such category.

More additions coming later this year

Including remote extension removal

As with most Google changes, these developments just get the ball rolling. The company has already committed to providing additional features, and we won’t be surprised if more are in the pipeline. Presently, we can look forward to a new setting in Chrome Enterprise Core, your central base for browser configuration, to help workspace admins remotely remove extensions.

This goes a step beyond support for remote installation, blocking, and allowing extensions. With immediate remote removal, you eliminate any immediate threat blocking might not solve, deterring the user from installing the extension again.

With this dedicated web store for extensions now accessible and personalizable for every Workspace client, the browser’s popularity might improve further. However, long-term commitment to this initiative would play a key role too.