Google’s campaign against ad blockers across its services just got more aggressive. According to a report by PC World, the company has made some alterations to its extension support on Google Chrome.
Google Chrome recently changed its extension support from the Manifest V2 framework to the new Manifest V3 framework. The browser policy changes will impact one of the most popular adblockers (arguably), uBlock Origin.
The transition to the Manifest V3 framework means extensions like uBlock Origin can’t use remotely hosted code. According to Google, it “presents security risks by allowing unreviewed code to be executed in extensions.” The new policy changes will only allow an extension to execute JavaScript as part of its package.
Over 30 million Google Chrome users use uBlock Origin, but the tool will be automatically disabled soon via an update. Google will let users enable the feature via the settings for a limited period before it’s completely scrapped. From this point, users will be forced to switch to another browser or choose another ad blocker.
And thus, this day will be remembered as the great browser migration.
Cat and mouse game, it’s better to DNS block ads.
Or, here me out, don’t use Chome
DNS blocker will be as useful or maybe even less than ubo lite. E.g. it just cannot block youtube ads like ubo does.
Also Google and removed both bypass your DNS blocker. They use their own DNS server and DoH protocol to resolve their ad servers. DoH is also hard to block because it uses port 443 with https.
The best bet right now is to use either a DNS or even better: packet filter level blocker such as zenarmor; together with ublock origin on firefox. Nothing else will not really block tracking in 2024.
Friends don’t let friends run Chrome.
Couldn’t have said it better.
Switched to Firefox in 2023 and it’s wild how much shit just works now.
Totally agree. Many people who keep using Chrome have a VERY outdated view of what Firefox can do. That’s a shame, but it’s unfortunately an aspect of human nature that negative impressions are SUPER hard to change.
If it keeps going on like this, it won’t be long before I’ll just say fuck it and switch to elinks…
Hmm, on that note - is there any CLI web browser that can do javascript and css? Because iirc, elinks doesn’t, though I havent used it in years.
https://github.com/fathyb/carbonyl
This is more usable than browsh, in my experience, but has the very unfortunate downside of being based on Chromium (🤢)
Lynx ftw! Not sure if that’s been maintained since the 90s though.
Lynx is still actively maintained. I use it from time to time when I don’t feel like leaving the command line to look something up or whatever. It works really well still. So long as all you care about is text.
If you like to use reader mode you’ll probably like Lynx.
You can’t improve on perfection!
it won’t be long before I’ll just say fuck it and switch to elinks…
Holy mother of BASED
The sooner you abandon javascript and css, the sooner you can be free
browsh does, but uses FF as backend renderer
Google pulls the plug on uBlock Origin
No they don’t. And can’t. It’s not their product.
Headlines these days. Are they all complete lies?
I’ll assume you’re being intentionally obtuse because no one could actually be that dumb.
Are chromium derivatives like Brave affected?
Sadly yes. Almost all, if not all derivates are affected since they inherit the codebase from it. Unless they implement manual Manifest v2 patches + have their own extension store they manage
So that basically means that Firefox and Safari are the only two unaffected, since it seems like everything else is Chromium these days. Yikes.
Vivaldi said they will keep V2 support. Not forever, but as long as they are able.
So for a little bit until people stop caring.
Firefox is the correct play here.
I’m not saying what’s “the correct play” or not, I’m refuting the claim all Chromium-based browsers are immediately affected, because I know of at least one that will keep V2 support.
But I will keep using Vivaldi. It will take me the same time to migrate to Firefox regardless if I do it today or a year from now when Vivaldi drops V2 support. I have nothing to gain by migrating sooner, but potentially much to gain by waiting.
- Vivaldi might decide to keep support indefinitely,
- Vivaldi might decide to update the built-in ad blocker to use UBlock Origin tech,
- Google might backtrack the decision (hah!),
- a whole different browser I want to try might come out in the meantime and I’d have to migrate twice,
- Firefox might die after losing Google funding due to the monopoly ruling.
- I will build a new PC in a year and it will be a good time for a software refresh,
- Or, the most likely, none of this will happen, and I will migrate to Firefox then, if that’s the best move at the time.
Not for everyone. For me it’s unusable since I rely on stuff ff never implemented (using bluetooth from a web page to configure some of my home appliances, grab api keys for them, stuff like that). Also I’m not too thrilled that it laks any kind of official PWA or Chromecast support. Not to mention they still have some ugly bugs when rendering some gradients.
And besides this, I used to love everything Mozilla did, but at one point I grew to hate how they left ff to stagnate which made me switch.
I still reconsider it from time to time, but I always get disappointed by how little things have changed and how much even more things seem to be missing/buggy since the last time.
Brave is a series scam company.
all chromium browsers are affected, so if a chromium browser wants to support manifest v2, they have to manually maintain it separately from the main chromium build. whether individual companies will do so ofc is tbd. braves built in browser probably not affe ted
Yes, however Brave’s built-in ad blocker is not
Does this affect edge as well? Pushing out ublock via policy to both edge and chrome has saved me a lot of headaches at work, this is gonna be a pain in the dick.
In future news: Work efficiency drops dramatically because all workers have to fight with ads while researching solutions 😮
Yup, it affects all chromium browsers AFAIK
Microsoft still hasn’t made a stance. However, Edge isn’t private and is an advertising platform.
Why does it need to run remotely hosted code though?
Because the ads constantly change across the websites. Adblocking is naturally a cat-and-mouse dynamic. However, the “remotely hosted code” Adblockers use is not exactly “code” (as in a JavaScript code, for example), it’s more a Regex code containing patterns for the different websites and different behaviors (for example, the pattern for the pesky HTML element containing the ad, or the pattern for some ad-serving domain). Google is extrapolating their meaning of “remotely hosted code” purposely, so they can “justify” their measures.
Fair. Pulling rules makes sense. Code wouldn’t. (I wouldn’t consider regex as code.)
Thanks for the details.
Not only intrusive ads, intrusive trackers too
Using the internet without an adblocker is genuinely dangerous. Everyone really should be using uBlock Origin. Using a web browser that prevents uBlock Origin puts you in danger
Lots of firefox mentions, no mention of Vivaldi tho…?
Vivaldi, Opera, Safari, Edge. It’s all Chromium.
Really? I thought Safari wasnt chromium based
Vivaldi is still chromium-based, which is also getting Manifest V2 support cut. And its default ad blocker sucks, if we’re being honest.
Oh fuck, looks like I gotta switch again…
Moved to Firefox some months ago, it’s fine. Small adjustment but browsers generally offer high interchangeability
The title should be “Google pulls plug out of Chromium”
Too bad that even when people start switching, people writing drafts for the W3 spec are mostly Google employees. I’m sure that’ll be their next battleground.
This reminds me that Microsoft and Google have been intensely “collaborating” with code for Linux kernel as well… Too good to be true good-hearted actions from those corporations…
Don’t forget stupid DRM bullshit.
https://www.w3.org/TR/2024/WD-encrypted-media-2-20240718/
Editors: Joey Parrish (Google Inc.) Greg Freedman (Netflix Inc.) Former editors: Mark Watson (Netflix Inc.) (Until September 2019) David Dorwin (Google Inc.) (Until September 2017) Jerry Smith (Microsoft Corporation) (Until September 2017) Adrian Bateman (Microsoft Corporation) (Until May 2014)
Bust this trust.
You can get a pass till July 2025 by creating/setting a registry key that they made for businesses.
Paste this in a .reg file and double click it.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome] "ExtensionManifestV2Availability"=dword:00000002At this rate people should just cut the cord with google. Modifying reg files is almost as annoying as moving bookmarks over. Firefox + uBlock + pihole (if you’re feeling ambitious/want to block other crap that’s non-browser related) and you’re chillin.
Moving bookmarks takes about 10 seconds to do.
Yea that’s why say, just as annoying. Which I guess for the PC illiterate registry edits are more dangerous?
I personally moved off google about 2 years ago (started using start page as well) and haven’t looked back.
I have no idea what you are talking about but whatever.
you could instead just download firefox, which isnt perfect either but still a huge improvement over any chromium browser
In their eyes they just made 30 million more customers.
Fucking parasites.
They made Firefox a good number of new customers.
All 10 of us
I‘m really anxious for firefox as google is the main financier afaik.
It is a worry. I think we might end up needing to pay for Firefox ourselves.
I will happily donate.
If, of course, money won’t go to the CEO.A CEO is a needed possition, I know in the past the Brendan Eich was controversial in his political views, but Laura Chambers seems ok so far
A CEO is a needed possition
Ha! Good one…
oh wait. You’re serious…
How is a ceo needed? They do no work. Their entire job is to rake in cash from workers.
All a ceo needs is a guillotine.
Ok, granted that the CEO concept is not the only way to lead a company.
But you do need a leader, someone who can make decisions for the company, someone to make everyday decisions that are not fun, but needed to make the company work.
We can absolutely argue about their compensation, but thst is another argument alltogether.
Right.
And a football team doesn’t need a quarterback.
🤦🏼♂️
Yes, many of them are assholes, doesn’t change the need for the leadership.
At least Brendan Eich was a developer, good on him for being Christian.
it is lol, have you seen how much the ceo is paying herself?
its kind of a reddit situaton, where money wouldnt be that much of an issue if it werent for the ceo.
Not sure firefox will be on our side after the recent ad tracking debacle. If they implement one more anti consumer feature I‘m jumping ship.
Jump ship to what? Not like there’s s lot of choices out there. You could always try LibreWolf.
Netscape Navigator and Opera raise their hand
Wait, Navigator still exists?
Well, Opera is also based on Chromium.
Plenty of Firefox forks out there.
That would be my first address, assuming the librewolf folks will never accept anti community code, hopefully.
If everything fails i‘m fine to join a small project and help with it. I have some skills and can contribute financially.
Librewolf is just a reskinned Firefox.
Purged of unwanted and intrusive features, UBO pre installed, and is pre configured for increased privacy.
LadyBird is very promising.
They plan a release for 2028. It’s going to be a while before it can be used for everyday browsing.
IIRC, only like 2% of Mozilla spending goes towards FF (I may be misinterpreting something, but I remember 2% being thrown around), so funding FF without rest of Mozilla bullshit shouldn’t be that hard. Of course, since Mozilla did spend so little on FF, it’s a question how much they actually care about FF and what would happen if they lost access to their golden goose. They shouldn’t have problem funding FF, but they probably have other bullshit they don’t want to let go and that has more priority for them.
A list of Mozilla’s “other bullshit”:
You are right, it was unfairly harsh wording, I apologize for that. Most of those products are super cool and important, I’ve kind of extrapolated it from what I’ve read in other posts about them spending too much on stuff like events and other, non-developemnt, related stuff that I actually never checked, while also not realizing that they also have a ton of other projects, which mixed with the dissapointment with the recent development about the Meta partnership led to me choosing that wording unfairly.
look up ladybird. we may soon have a 3rd browser!
2026 isn’t soon.
Looks promising. Lets see where it goes. https://github.com/LadybirdBrowser/ladybird
It’s hard to take a project seriously for championing our privacy if the only communication options are Discord & Microsoft Github
Feel free to offer hosting something else for them. Be the change you want to see.
There are free (both kinds) options to these problems if they can’t afford it—and that still isn’t an excuse to require all coms go thru US-based proprietary services with big privacy implications.
I am hopeful they will get some more corporate backing. We can donate all day but that is a drop in the bucket compared to a few million from some large companies
In 2026
That’s supoosed to be the preview release date on Linux and MacOS…
If they can stay funded I believe them
using a novel engine based on web standards.
Now, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time…
For now. They could default to yahoo and make money. Maybe not as much, but they could sustain browser development.
Firefox is still far superior to chromium.
I agree. That could work. We‘ll see.
Firefox isn’t exactly “the good guys” either
I prefer flawed but trying guys to guys with zero morals that farm every ounce of data they can.
Firefox has telemetry too
And it can be turned off.
100% of it? Nope.
What are you stating cannot be turned off?
This sounds baseless without any evidence.
Between two evils, Firefox is the comparative good guy. There’s not a chance in hell I’m using anything based on Chromium, I’ve been using FF for close to two decades now and I’ve experienced very few dealbreaker issues.
I agree but isn’t the choice between “the terrible guys” and “the okayish guys”?
If you don’t know the good guys, then yes that’s your choice
So who are the good guys, mind you telling? As far as I’m aware, currently it’s a choice between Chromium based browsers and Firefox and its forks. So really just 2 options in the grand scheme of things.
Tell me you’re poor without telling me you’re poor
You expect good guys?
No
