First, I would recommend you read (or skim) the Google Developers post on Push Notifications on Google Chrome . The following are a few excerpts that caught my eye: You’ll notice that we show a notification even when there is an error. This is because if we don’t, Chrome will show it’s own generic notification. See also: When can I use push without showing notifications (i.e. silent background push)? There is no timeline for when this will be available yet, but there is an intent to implement background sync and while it’s not decided or spec’d, there is some discussion of enabling silent push with background sync. And under the limitations section: you have to show a notification when you receive a push message At the time I first experimented with the Push API for Google Chrome, the first quote wasn't in the blog post, though the second two were. Being a naturally inquisitive creature, I wondered why you had to show a notifications, and mor...