These days browsers make sure there's user interaction before audio plays. The other website you linked requires a click to start the timer, therefore meeting t

These days browsers make sure there's user interaction before audio plays. The other website you linked requires a click to start the timer, therefore meeting that requirement. If Google made this timer muted by default, and you had to click unmute, it would likely work. Ran into a related bug on a site I was working on the other day and had to learn this browser quirk the hard way.