The developer of a Google Chrome ad-blocker extension acknowledged that their latest version won’t do much as Google’s new rules have to remove a few key features. Raymond Hill, the producer of the popular uBlock Origin Chrome extension, made this comment while describing the new version.
Hill cited the “extensive read/modify data permissions” from Chrome developers under MV3 as the limiting factor in the development of the new version of the extension, recommending that users continue to use the MV2 extension if they want to take advantage of uBlock Origin’s current range of features.
Google’s new MV3 API, which has been in development since 2018, is said to protect users’ security and privacy, and also offers a significant performance boost. Removing key read and data modification permissions, which most Chromium-based privacy and ad-blocking tools rely on, may seem like a positive step in that direction, but Chrome users may find privacy tools more difficult to find and use in the future. Instead, they may look to VPN services, VPN routers, or another web browser to be safe online.
Since January, Google had already banned the creation of new MV2 extensions. From January 2023, developers will not be able to update extensions on the old API and will stop working in consumer browsers entirely.
From then on, Google Chrome ad blocking extension users may encounter more informative pop-ups redirected from their website without asking them to accept cookies before they are allowed to continue browsing the website.
As a result, it seems uncertain whether ad blockers and privacy tools are worth using in new Chrome versions in the new year.
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