Google has found a clever way to make web pages load faster and save your mobile data by up to 70%

This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? .

Google has a new feature in its Chrome browser for mobile that it thinks could save mobile data use by up to 70%.

How? By automatically stripping out images from web pages.

The search and mobile giant is expanding the Data Saver mode included in Chrome for Android devices. If you're on a slow connection and the feature is enabled, it won't enable most of the images on a page unless you ask it to — saving significant amounts of data.

Here's how it looks in action:

google gif data saver images

Google

Google didn't invent this idea, of course. There was a similar feature on my Nokia E63, which came out way back in 2008.

But it shows the company is grappling with the issue of connectivity. While this kind of feature isn't really necessary in countries like the US and the UK (unless you've got a particularly tight data plan), it could be invaluable in emerging markets, where connections are far slower and data costs are a lot higher (and users have, on average, lower incomes).

It shouldn't be a surprise then that Google is initially launching the feature in India and Indonesia — two emerging markets that have huge potential for the company.

Google isn't the only tech company trying to solve issues around low connectivity. Facebook offers its employees super-slow internet connections every Tuesday, to help them understand what it's like for many users in emerging markets.

Read next

Rob Price was a senior correspondent at Business Insider, based in San Francisco. He wrote investigations and long-form features about platforms, people, and power in Silicon Valley.His stories variously led to attorney general investigations, large-scale internal reviews at major tech companies, high-profile personnel departures, citation by state and federal lawmakers, and the closure of a well-funded startup. His 2022 story on the Bitfinex hack is being adapted into a feature film, and in 2024 he received an SPJ NorCal Excellence in Journalism award for his reporting on AI and relationships.Rob's scoops and exclusive stories were cited by The New York Times, Bloomberg, the BBC, Associated Press, Reuters, CNBC, Politico, The Guardian, Axios, and many other national and international publications. His writing has also been published in or syndicated by The Washington Post, The Independent, Vice, Slate, and elsewhere, and he appeared on CNN, the BBC, CBS, Reuters, ABC Australia, and other broadcast media to discuss technology, business, and culture.He worked for Business Insider from 2015 to 2025. Prior to joining the features team, Rob covered Facebook and Silicon Valley, and before that wrote about tech business, policy, and the gig economy in London. Between September and October 2019, he was acting executive editor for Business Insider's UK bureau. He also sat on the board of directors for the San Francisco Press Club, the leading non-profit media advocacy group in the Bay Area, and was a volunteer crew member at the Marine Mammal Center, the world's largest animal hospital for marine mammals. You can contact Rob Price via email at robaeprice@gmail.com, or +1 650-636-6268 (Signal / WhatsApp / Cell). Selected stories:— They spoke out against their employer. Then they were hit with trade secrets suits.— The rise of 'shadow stand-ins'— App, Lover, Muse: Inside a 47-year-old Minnesota man's three-year relationship with an AI chatbot— Deel Speed: The inside story of a $12 billion HR startup's breakneck growth— Private islands, flying cars, and psychedelic parties: Inside the wild post-Google lives of Larry Page and Sergey Brin— 'I want your Instagram account': First came the threatening texts, followed by the SWAT teams. Then someone wound up dead.— Inside Iconiq: How Mark Zuckerberg's banker built a secret Silicon Valley empire and made billions— Gaia was a wildly popular yoga brand. Now it's a publicly traded Netflix rival pushing conspiracy theories while employees fear the CEO is invading their dreams— A drunken late-night assault allegation has roiled the secretive world of Mark Zuckerberg's private family office. Personal aides are speaking out about claims that household staff endured sexual harassment and racism from their colleagues.