Google Chrome users may need to switch to other ad blockers as uBlock Origin may no longer be available in the browser. As Google disables extensions that do not comply with Chrome Manifest V3, uBlock Origin also asks users to consider alternatives.
uBlock Origin Confirmed Losing Support For Google Chrome
According to the recent update on the GitHub page, uBlock Origin will no longer be available for Google Chrome users. Starting Chrome 127, uBlock Origin will show warnings to Chrome users about this change in the chrome://extensions/ page.
As elaborated, the ad blocker team was compelled to alert its users about the add-on’s future unavailability due to the deprecation of Chrome Manifest V2.
For the users, the service offers uBO Lite (uBOL) extension as a lite version of uBlock Origin, which exhibits Manifest V3 compliance. However, such compliance was not possible with the original extension as it would require compromising many features. As stated,
uBO Lite (uBOL) is a pared-down version of uBO with a best effort at converting filter lists used by uBO into a Manifest v3-compliant approach, with a focus on reliability and efficiency as has been the case with uBO since first published in June 2014.
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.
Since uBOL is a different add-on, uBO won’t automatically upgrade to uBOL after the support ends. Users may need to manually install uBOL (or any other ad blocker of their choice) on their browsers.
While the extension won’t be available on Chrome, users may continue using it on other browsers supporting Manifest V2, such as Mozilla Firefox.
Google first announced the Manifest V3 in 2018, formally launching it in 2019 as a stricter policy towards browser extensions. As the browser moved ahead with its implementation, it gave time to add-on developers to update their extensions, ensuring MV3 compliance. The firm confirmed that add-ons, particularly adblockers, failing to comply accordingly will lose support. And now, this change becomes evident as uBlock Origin displays user alerts confirming end-of-support for the Chrome browser.
So now, Chrome users running this ad blocker must switch to alternatives to maintain an ad-free browsing experience. Using ad blockers is crucial considering the rising incidents of malvertising and web tracking, which threaten users’ privacy.
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