Neowin previously reported this week about the Google Chrome speed test was misleading, by using a locally loaded webpage. In the video, one scene in particular when the potato shoots across the screen, you can make out that the browser was in fact loading the webpage from the desktop.
Neowin managed to get an official word from a Google PR spokesperson to tell us a little more about how the video was shot. Google did indeed confirm that two parts of the video were shot using a locally loaded webpage, while the other scene, Chrome vs. sound, was filmed loading Pandora.com from the Internet, on a 15Mbps connection.
In the email, Google explains the reasoning behind filming Chrome vs. potato with a locally loaded webpage:
For the Chrome Browser vs. Potato film, we used a version of the web page allrecipes.com that is accessible when logged in. About four hours into the Potato Gun shoot we decided to use a locally loaded version of the web page to enable more precise synchronization with the potato gun. We finally got the shot we were hoping for after 51 takes.
The same goes for the third test in the video, Chrome vs. lightning:
For Chrome Browser vs. Lightning, we used a locally loaded version of weather.com that was legally approved for use in this video (and all the standard website permissions procedures that goes into making videos!)
However, Google did mention that the second test in the video, Chrome vs. sound was filmed during a live loading of Pandora.com, using a 15Mbps Internet connection:
For Chrome Browser vs. Sound, we loaded an artist page from Pandora.com, a streaming internet radio service directly off the web on a 15Mbps internet connection.
Google has also updated their YouTube video description to clarify how the pages were rendered. Google also mentioned in their email to Neowin that the video was filmed at actual webpage rending speeds, and setup these tests to demonstrate exactly how fast Google Chrome can render webpages.