INP metric related question

Naresh D

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May 27, 2026, 5:07:20 AM May 27

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Hello Web Vitals Team,

Could you clarify what is considered the “next paint” for a link click that opens a new tab? In this scenario, does INP measure the time until the current page produces its next visible frame, or does it include the browser time required to open and render the new tab? We are seeing noticeable latency when a new tab is opened and want to understand whether that delay is part of the INP interaction on the originating page by design.

I also reviewed the INP changelog, and it seems that in some cases opening a new tab can end the interaction with 0 presentation delay; however, from our attribution data, we are still seeing very high presentation delays. Could you help explain why that might still happen even on the latest Chrome browser after the fix Chrome Speed - Interaction to Next Paint Changes in Chrome 111 ?

I also have two specific scenarios:

1. using Anchor elements with target="_blank".
2. using window.open() triggered via JavaScript.

Additionally, could you clarify the role of rel="noopener" in relation to high INP values? From attribution data, we are seeing high presentation delays, and I want to understand whether noopener has any impact on INP measurement or if it is unrelated.

If the new-tab behavior is included in INP, is there any supported way to exclude such link clicks from INP calculation?

Awaiting your response.

Thanks,

Naresh

Barry Pollard

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May 27, 2026, 5:10:12 AM May 27

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Hi Naresh,

Can you narrow this down to any particular browser and version? As you say we had an issue with this a logn time ago and did fit it. But some very old devices (or devices with embedded browsers?) may still be experiencing the old issue.

rel=noopener should have no impact on INP, but if you casn show that is not the case in Chrome then we'd love to have a reproducible example at crbug.com/new .

Thanks,

Barry

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Michal Mocny

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May 27, 2026, 10:05:20 AM May 27

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Thank you for reaching out!

On Wed, May 27, 2026 at 5:07 AM Naresh D < nare...@gmail.com > wrote:

Hello Web Vitals Team,

Could you clarify what is considered the “next paint” for a link click that opens a new tab? In this scenario, does INP measure the time until the current page produces its next visible frame, or does it include the browser time required to open and render the new tab? We are seeing noticeable latency when a new tab is opened and want to understand whether that delay is part of the INP interaction on the originating page by design.

The Chromium implementation of Event Timing has special "fallback time" criteria, and tab visibility becoming hidden is one such criteria. In this case, we would only report to the end of event processing (processingEnd attribute) for the overall duration. This means that when the browser pauses rendering for background pages, you don't actually wait for next paint at all.

However, the event must still be scheduled and processed before it is reported.

I also reviewed the INP changelog, and it seems that in some cases opening a new tab can end the interaction with 0 presentation delay; however, from our attribution data, we are still seeing very high presentation delays. Could you help explain why that might still happen even on the latest Chrome browser after the fix Chrome Speed - Interaction to Next Paint Changes in Chrome 111 ?

If you are sure that the long duration comes from the presentation delay value, then the above fix is obviously not triggering. A specific repro case would be much appreciated!

I also have two specific scenarios:

1. using Anchor elements with target="_blank".
2. using window.open() triggered via JavaScript.

Are these hypothetical or did you reproduce with both?

Additionally, could you clarify the role of rel="noopener" in relation to high INP values? From attribution data, we are seeing high presentation delays, and I want to understand whether noopener has any impact on INP measurement or if it is unrelated.

If the new-tab behavior is included in INP, is there any supported way to exclude such link clicks from INP calculation?

The intention for Event Timing itself is to only report durations where the user is actually waiting for next paint. We should fix that root issue, and not need to have INP consider this case at all.