I can read faster than I can watch a video.  There are numerous sites where the video automatically start playing – first the ad then the video.  I can read usually read an article in the 20 to 30 seconds duration of the advertisement.  However, if I try to read the article, the video seems to act like a little child saying “No, no watch me! Watch me!”

I have learned how to disable the auto play of videos.

Microsoft Edge:

• Launch Microsoft Edge
• Click the three dots in top right corner or press Alt+X
• Click Settings
• Click Advanced
• Under Media autoplay select your preference from the drop down box.

• If you select Block, it will warn you “Some sites might not work as expected.”  This will prevent the videos from autoplaying.  You will need to click the video to play it.

Chrome:

The Chrome browser settings did not have an option to turn off autoplay.  It is done on their “flags” page.

• Launch Google Chrome
• In the address bar type: chrome://flags/#autoplay-policy and press Enter.

• The flags screen will be displayed with Autoplay policy at the top of the screen.

• Under the dropdown list, select your preference.  To stop autoplay, select “Document User Activation is Required”.  The video on a website will not play unless it is clicked.

• Click “RELAUNCH NOW”

What I did not test was, if I was logged onto my Google or Microsoft account, if changing these settings would propagate across all devices.