Google is really working hard to curb the growing use of ad blockers on its apps like YouTube and now across its Chrome browser too.
The company has revealed that any unsupported browser extensions such as uBlock Origin will soon come to an end as they drastically impact the browser’s performance. It’s interesting how the news arrives at a time when it’s working hard to enable server-side ads to get played in videos. The latter will ensure they cannot be blocked using classic content blockers in use today.
For a while now, many users turned to uBlock Origin to see their videos on YouTube seamlessly but the Android will make that even harder on the app as well as the browser, including ridding the Manifest API.
In case you might not be aware, the Manifest API is in charge of how extensions and add-ons work across browsers. This just gives users so much more privacy and security across these means.
If you do get the chance to look it up online, you’ll find that it won’t be revealed as a suggestion for add-ons. In case you do land on the page, you get warnings or alerts that claim extensions like these won’t receive any support. To carry on, you need to find similar kinds of extensions through the Chrome Web Store.
- Also read: YouTube Is Testing A New Means To Prevent Ad Skipping And It Involves Hiding The ‘Skip’ Button
The latest Canary build also shows how Google wants to disable other add-ons. Thanks to one X user, we saw how the toggle on option no longer functions. Instead, extension managers give the option for deleting or getting alternatives. Now the point here to note is that this is just a test so we might not see it arising in the first place.
In case you might be in search of the perfect hack to bypass this call made by Google, well experts do have some suggestions. You can switch on over to Firefox which vows to provide continuous support for all MV2 extensions. We must add, that things on that side of the fence aren’t too bright either.
The company was called out two times for user tracking actions and also for being unfair to other options like the uBlock Origin Lite. Therefore, choose wisely as Google’s intentions here are very clear.
H/T: Leopeva64 / X
