Google’s Chrome extension cull hits more uBlock Origin users - USE FUCKING BRAVE

Google is disabling the original uBlock Origin ad blocker for more Chrome browser users, alongside other extensions that are no longer supported as the browser migrates to its new extension specification, Manifest V3. According to Google, the new standard aims to improve privacy and security, but also removes a feature that some ad blocking extensions relied on to work — a compromise that Mozilla is unwilling to make for its own Firefox browser.

Users online are reporting on Reddit and X that Chrome is removing outdated extensions. In Chrome, a notification window will appear underneath the extensions tab on the browser taskbar with a message encouraging users to remove the impacted add-on, saying it has been turned off and is “no longer supported.” Two buttons are available that allow users to either quickly delete or manage their extensions.

Google’s uBlock Origin phaseout on Chromium-based browsers began in October, but started to have a wider impact in recent weeks. Bleeping Computer has also reported that extensions on staffers devices are being turned off, and Verge staffers have seen similar updates on our own machines.

These changes come as Google migrates Chrome away from the now defunct Manifest V2 specification. Support is being killed not just for uBlock Origin, but for any extension that hasn’t (or is unable to) update to Manifest V3. uBlock Origin users can switch to uBlock Origin Lite, which has more limited filtering capabilities than its predecessor due to Manifest V3’s ad blocking restrictions.

Chrome won’t be the only service affected by the Manifest V3 rollout — other Chromium-based web browsers like Microsoft Edge are also losing V2 support and Brave says it can only offer “limited” support once all Manifest V2 items are removed from the Chrome Web Store. Mozilla says that Firefox will continue offering both extension specifications, however, potentially giving uBlock Origin users a new browser to relocate to.

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[Sweet Ch1llie]

I would love to use Firefox, but when I tested it and Googleium browsers (Opera, Brave, Edge, Chrome) - Firefox had abysmal performance, specifically on YouTube. It drained my resources and processing power, more than the others (the others drain my ram). I even installed same extensions (uBlock, AdGuard, Privacy badger, tempermonkey). In my experience, Firefox lags, chugs, and drains.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong with it.

 

[Wanker]

So, how is LibreWolf? They make it a point to build in uBlock Origin, but dunno about their other privacy features.

 

[skunt]

So, how is LibreWolf? They make it a point to build in uBlock Origin, but dunno about their other privacy features.

these should tell you everything you need to know
https://codeberg.org/librewolf/issues/issues/2289

https://old.reddit.com/r/LibreWolf/comments/1j37m5v/firefox_fork_llibrewolf_declares_self_very_woke/

 

[Kazukifaen]

Oh, shit, look like I have to switch to Tor/librewolf

bye Brave

https://archive.ph/moI08

 

[Dededon't]

these should tell you everything you need to know
https://codeberg.org/librewolf/issues/issues/2289

https://old.reddit.com/r/LibreWolf/comments/1j37m5v/firefox_fork_llibrewolf_declares_self_very_woke/

So, uh, is there a good Firefox fork, or are they all equally tainted? As far as I can tell, Librewolf, while flawed, still seems like the least awful of the bunch.

 

[dreamworks face]

I've never understood how ads ever actually translate into $, either from TV or the internet. There have been scientific studies done on how advertising works etc. but I'm not sure how well these were verified. Certainly you can be like "hey, I had this product and did this marketing and got these sales, and there is a higher connection when I buy these kind of ads" etc, but it's entirely possible that the only reason marketing exists as a academic discipline is through academic dishonesty and we sit through all these ads of people dancing around with no information about the product for purely arbitrary reasons.

 

[skunt]

So, uh, is there a good Firefox fork, or are they all equally tainted? As far as I can tell, Librewolf, while flawed, still seems like the least awful of the bunch.

Yet another reminder that anyone can use mullvad browser and you don't have to worry about open source troons or chromium bullshit. It's backed by mullvad (durr) and the tor project and comes shipped with ublock by default.

https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/mullvad-browser/ is the source if you want to build it yourself

 

[innocent jogger]

So all of the nigger cattle that advertising scum reach isn't paying out enough? You have to climb the hill and try and fight the fringe chuds that mock your sub-IQ garbage while working around it? It must be yet another slow day in the ad-scum world.

I''m sure you will win this one while making new friends and bringing in more cattle that care about the trash you spew. Keep it up, slugger. You will redeem to the extreme!

 

[Dededon't]

https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/mullvad-browser/ is the source if you want to build it yourself

Ah right, I honestly forgot Mullvad Browser was Firefox-based for some reason. That's on me.

 

[Captain Ahab]

I use safari, so I don’t give a shit, but I don’t doubt that eventually the tech Jews will start colluding with each other and Apple will do the same.

That said, I make an effort to not buy products that have been advertised to me excessively. I can be kinda petty like that.

 

[Absurdist Laughter]

So, how is LibreWolf? They make it a point to build in uBlock Origin, but dunno about their other privacy features.

It's my everyday browser now. I like it more than Brave, it just works. Especially for someone like me who has no idea how to harden Firefox or really what hardening means. The only thing is, because of Google's association with Mozilla Firefox, time will tell if the same ad blocking will be allowed as it is now. Either way, if these businesses figure out a way to brick out every adblocker available, I will just boycott it.

 

[Can of Bread]

uBlock Origin / uBlock Origin Lite (Lite doesn't do cosmetic filtering)

If you're using Brave, I don't think you'll get anything out of uBlock Origin Lite. It's heavily nerfed from the original uBlock Origin, and Brave's blocking system is essentially a version of uBlock Origin that is baked directly into the browser (I think the guy who built uBlock Origin is an employee of Brave Software). And I've read they use the same filter lists by default. It won't hurt to install the extension, but it's not necessary.

 

[Anti Snigger]

I’m a cunt hair away from filing a CFAA violation for every ad I see
Explain to me precisely how ads are not malware. It’s code I don’t want running on my machine, being run on my machine without my permission.

 

[skunt]

(I think the guy who built uBlock Origin is an employee of Brave Software)

i'm almost certain this isn't the case, where did you read this?

 

[ToroidalBoat]

Back when "Google Chrome" first came out, I didn't switch over to that because one cannot disable caching with it. Looks like I made the right choice by still not preferring it, even though more and more websites are optimized for it, or won't even work without it. Oh and also, uBlock provides an alternative to Google "Safe Browsing" (which then means a constant downloading of blacklist URLs from Google), and of course blocks the ads. I can see why Google wants ad block gone. They're the Micro$oft of Current Year...

It’s code I don’t want running on my machine, being run on my machine without my permission.

If you use YouTube or GMail without ad blocker, there can be hundreds or thousands of elements that an ad block would otherwise block.

 

[Dread First]

And when firefox caves? which they slowly have been?

Forgive my insolence, AI-generated Ghibli Theotokos avatar but I must point something out: if Firefox goes tits-up, the Tor Project and Mullvad Browser go with it. This isn't meant to be a silver bullet to the tangibile, self-inflicted damage Mozilla did to itself, its projects, its users, and its own reputation. Rather, to point out that there are significant interests beyond Google in the Firefox project specifically. That includes Tor.

a) Tor is fundamentally designed to leverage Mozilla Firefox and all of its weird, ugly quirks alongside highly modified versions of NoScript for security features.

b) Divorced from Tor, NoScript is available on Chromium (now), but even before MV3, NoScript still had unique features on Firefox that Chromium couldn't dream of having (i.e. XSS protection).

c) It's not necessarily impossible for the Tor Project to refactor itself or migrate (or insert proper nomenclature here) into a Chromium codebase, but Chromium as a browser is designed differently from Firefox on a fundamental level.

-> Chromium's initial claim to fame was its trim featureset and streamlined UX, relative to XUL/XPCOM-era Firefox where extensions could modify browser behaviour and function so wildly that performance took a huge nosedive.

-> Chromium flags are nowhere near as granular or robust as about:config is on Firefox. Many of Tor's modifications are specifically to unique Firefox browser flags that have no Chromium equivalent.

-> Without NoScript's XSS protection and potential limitations on NoScript's functionality post-MV3, the Tor Project needs to engineer an in-house replacement. How much time, energy, and resources can the Tor Project put into that?

d) Do bear in mind that, with the exception of Tor-specific modifications to browser code itself, much of Tor is effectively built from "off the shelf" parts: a Firefox here, a NoScript there, etc.

e) Chromium has effectively become a walled garden so narrow and defined in scope that Tor would have to punch severe holes in the walls that no amount of in-house solutions and modifications can save a Tor user from sticking out like a sore thumb and being a nice-looking mark for people to target. This is also why Brave's own Tor feature is highly discouraged.

 

[lacasitos]

I'm a tech illiterate, so let me summarize this thread for retards like myself. I basically have to keep using Brave until it also gets fucked over by Google, then change to LibreWolf + uBlock Origin. When LibreWolf / Firefox stop working, I'll have to use AdNauseam or AdGuard. Hopefully this will keep the ads away for at least 2-3 years. Then we'll have to pray for Ladybird to exist and not be pozzed by default. Is that it?

God, it's all so tiresome.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

about:config

With that, you can stop much of the BS that's in Firefox by default.

 

[Niggergante]

Oh, shit, look like I have to switch to Tor/librewolf

bye Brave

https://archive.ph/moI08

Nice try FBI I'm going back to Internet Explorer because I know you're just doing some reverse psychology on me!

these should tell you everything you need to know
https://codeberg.org/librewolf/issues/issues/2289

https://old.reddit.com/r/LibreWolf/comments/1j37m5v/firefox_fork_llibrewolf_declares_self_very_woke/

Damn I knew it was annoying as all hell with the cookies but that's even worse!

 

[Can of Bread]

You could get a very basic home server and install a pi-hole or the like, which would completely negate anything any browsers could do.

Something to note with pi-hole (and AdGuard home) are they are network level adblockers, which means they will block things like banner ads, but will be worthless in blocking streaming ads (i.e. YouTube). From personal experience, pi-hole also can cause some sites to malfunction, but it's harder to just turn it off to see what's causing the issue. For me, it ended up not being worth it.

Well, Brave was good while it lasted.

Brave will still adblock, because it doesn't do its adblocking through an extension. Brave Shields is a part of the browser itself, and doesn't depend on Manifest V2. If you need other Manifest V2-dependent extensions, though, yeah, you're probably out of luck.
Remember that Mozilla is partially owned by Google, though, so it's only a matter of time before Firefox gimps their extension capabilities in service of the almighty ads.