Chrome 53, which is on track for a September release, will be the first web browser from Google to block Flash content by default. Google has decided to make this change to create a faster and more responsive browser that saves you battery life in the process.

In a blog post on the matter, the Chrome team says that most Flash content on the web these days is loaded "behind the scenes to support things like page analytics". This is exactly the sort of content that slows down the web browsing experience, and is the primary focus of Google's Flash-blocking efforts in Chrome 53.

Google will be making further changes in December, as Chrome 55 will make HTML5 the default over Flash for all websites that support both technologies. If a site is Flash-only, Chrome will prompt you to enable Flash for that website when you first visit it.

These changes are all part of Google's effort to "de-emphasise" Flash in favor of HTML5 across the web. These efforts began last year when Chrome 42 made some Flash content click-to-play, which Google claims improved battery life. Blocking Flash outright in Chrome 53 is a more aggressive move, but it will lead to a better internet experience for all users.

With the world's most popular web browser looking to phase out Flash before the end of the year, the multimedia technology will be well and truly dead heading into 2017. Most other browsers have already announced some sort of Flash blocking system, including Firefox, Safari and Microsoft Edge.