https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/15/24270981/google-chrome-ublock-origin-phaseout-manifest-v3-ad-blocker

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Google Chrome's uBlock Origin phaseout has begun

Google Chrome's uBlock Origin phaseout has begun

/

If you have uBlock Origin, you might notice Chrome automatically
disabling the extension.

By Emma Roth, a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer
tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a
writer and editor at MUO.

Oct 15, 2024, 7:50 PM UTC

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Illustration of the Chrome logo on a bright and dark red background.
Image: The Verge

Google Chrome has begun to phase out uBlock Origin. The developer of
the free ad blocker, Raymond Hill, recently reposted a screenshot
that shows Chrome automatically turning off uBlock Origin because it
is "no longer supported."

The change comes as Google Chrome migrates to Manifest V3, a new
extension specification that could impact the effectiveness of some
ad blockers. uBlock Origin has launched uBlock Origin Lite, which
uses Manifest V3, in response to the transition. However, you have to
manually install the extension because it's "too different from uBO
to be an automatic replacement," according to a FAQ Hill that posted
to GitHub.

What's a manifest?

A manifest tells the browser all sorts of information about an
extension, from its name and version number to which permissions
it'll use and what versions of a browser it'll run on. New versions
of the Manifest file format change which features extensions have
access to. For example, Manifest V3 in Chrome no longer allows a
developer to load code from a remote server.

Hill says you may notice a difference when using uBlock Origin Lite
compared to uBlock Origin depending on the websites you visit and the
extension's configuration. That's because uBlock Origin Lite has more
limited filtering capabilities than uBlock Origin, as the Manifest V3
spec puts restrictions on the Declarative Net Request API used by
ad-blocking extensions.

"In general, uBOL will be less effective at dealing with websites
using anti-content blocker or minimizing website breakage because
many filters can't be converted into DNR [Declarative Net Request]
rules," Hill explains in the FAQ.

In an emailed statement to The Verge, Google spokesperson Scott
Westover said over 93 percent of "actively maintained" extensions in
the Chrome Web Store are using Manifest V3. "The top content
filtering extensions all have Manifest V3 versions available -- with
options for users of AdBlock, Adblock Plus, uBlock Origin and
AdGuard," Westover said.

Since Google has targeted early 2025 for a full Manifest V3 rollout,
the company said it would start turning off Manifest V2 extensions
this year before disabling them completely.

Update, October 15th: Added a statement from Google.

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