Google is coming after your ad blockers in Chrome update
One of the reasons why Google Chrome is such a favored browser is because of its extensions. It allows users to get more functionality out of the browser beyond the default settings and features. This includes ad blocking extensions. Unfortunately, it seems that Google is going after ad blockers in the latest update to Chrome.
According to a report from Bleeping Computer, it seems that users with the uBlock Origin ad blocker are getting messages informing them that the extension will soon no longer be supported. This is due to Google deprecating support for the Manifest v2 extensions platform in favor of Manifest V3.
To be fair, this will affect not just ad blockers, but all extensions that are still on Manifest V2. However, given the popularity of uBlock Origin, this change could have a huge impact. This change in Chrome probably isn’t Google coming after ad blockers specifically. The Chrome Web Store page is actually suggesting alternative extensions such as uBlock Origin Lite.
According to the extension’s lead developer and maintainer, Raymond Hill, uBlock Origin Lite is an alternative. However, he does state:
“However the focus on reliability and efficiency in a Manifest v3 environment meant having to sacrifice many features beyond those not possible within a Manifest v3 framework.”
There is a comparison between uBlock Origin and the Lite version that you can check out if you’re interested.