Google pulls the plug on uBlock Origin, leaving over 30 million Chrome users susceptible to intrusive ads

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Google pulls the plug on uBlock Origin, leaving over 30 million Chrome users susceptible to intrusive ads
windowscentral.com
  • Google is transitioning Chrome's extension support from the Manifest V2 framework to the V3.
  • This means users won't be able to use uBlock Origin to block ads on Google Chrome.
  • However, there's a new iteration of the app — uBlock Origin Lite, which is Manifest V3 compliant but doesn't boast the original version's comprehensive ad-blocking features.
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Next week: Over 30 million users pull the plug on Chrome, leaving Google execs to make the surprised Pikachu face and wonder aloud why millennials hate web browsers.

The sort of person who would sit through a Youtube ad or is still on Reddit won't change. They'll just get angry or perhaps not even notice.

Even if only a fraction of those kinds of users switch, that's still millions of users chrome loses, and no longer get to make a buck off of.

I agree that every one counts but it won’t break Google’s profit margin.

Doesn't have to. I'm quite content with google's profits getting hurt even if it is a little bit.

That type of person didn't use ublock to begin with. Anyone that did is going to be a Firefox user today.

Normal people are too lazy to care they are just going to get another ad blocking extension, even if it’s not as good as ublock.

Yeah, it takes some mental effort to change your habits, people are more likely to just install a new extension.

BUT, those extensions are probably next, dropping uBlock is part of a long-standing war by Google against ad blocking of all kinds. So at some point Chrome users won't be able to escape ads, and then i do wonder if they'll switch.

I feel like normal people who are too lazy to care would probably just use the default browser that came with their device. It will be Chrome if it's an Android, but it will be everything but Chrome if it's any other OS, it will be Edge or Safari.

Now i haven't installed Chrome in a minute, but how many devices is it the default for? My understanding is that a lot of Chrome users specifically looked for it and installed it to use instead of the default, especially Windows users. And for that public, i do think it matters, i do think they would consider switching.