Millions of Chrome users may soon lose access to their favorite extensions. As mentioned in a Google support bulletin, Google plans to end support for popular ad-blocking tools like uBlock Origin and other extensions within the Manifest V2 framework. Google says that this move is due to security and privacy concerns.
Google began warning users of the change in August, stating that they plan to transition from the Manifest V2 framework to V3 to protect their users. Google says they are doing this “to better protect your privacy and security, Chrome and the Chrome Web Store require that extensions be updated to meet new requirements. As a result, Chrome may disable extensions that do not meet these requirements.”
People have expressed their anger over the changes on social media. For example, Tim Sweeney, the founder of Epic Games, wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter): “Google uses its dominant share of the Windows browser market anticompetitively to support its ad monopoly by blocking ad-blocking tools.”
Google uses its dominant share of the Windows browser market anticompetitively to support its ad monopoly by blocking ad-blocking tools – Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) Oct 12, 2024
SquareX also stated on X that they claim to have found that regardless of the stricter controls in Manifest V3, attackers can still create malicious extensions.
This is a big deal since then more than 30 million Chrome users will be vulnerable to intrusive ads and will be sent on a mission to find an alternative. When it comes to uBlock Origin, Google recommends using other alternatives like uBlock Origin Lite, Adblock Plus, Stands AdBlocker, or Ghostery Tracker & Ad Blocker.
Google also says they want to give users more control over what extensions can do, and with Manifest V3, they will move background contexts to service workers that will only run when needed.
Manifest V3 removes “the ability for extensions to use remotely hosted code, posing security risks by allowing unreviewed code execution in extensions. With this change, the extension can only execute embedded JavaScript in its own package that is subject to review by the Chrome Web Store.
So far, there is no official information on the final migration deadline, but rumors may indicate it could be in the coming months.
