Users who installed the latest Google Chrome version now see a warning that uBlock Origin will soon stop working and it's time to find it an alternative. The browser will disable Manifest v2 extensions in the near future, and uBlock Origin is one of them.
Lead developer and maintainer of uBlock Origin, Raymond Hill, said that this is a result of Google ending support for the Manifest v2 extension platform in favor of Manifest v3. Hill suggested switching to uBO Lite (uBOL), a stripped-down version of uBlock Origin that allows you to convert filter lists to be compatible with Manifest v3.
However, uBlock Origin Lite and the original uBlock Origin are too different to smoothly replace one with another one. Among the most noticeable differences between uBlock Origin Lite and uBlock Origin is the lack of support in the basic mode of operation of cosmetic filters for replacing page content ("##"), substituting scripts on sites ("##+js"), filters for redirecting requests ("redirect="), filters for CSP (Content Security Policy) headers, and filters for removing request parameters ("removeparam="). To enable these features, you must explicitly grant the add-on extended permissions to change and read site data.
Overall, uBlock Origin Lite is considered less effective when used against sites that use anti-ad blocker techniques or have scripts applied to minimize crashes, as many filters for such sites cannot be converted into rules for the declarativeNetRequest API.
Users are encouraged to make their own choice about moving to uBlock Origin Lite or opting for a different ad blocker.
Meanwhile, despite Chrome's move away from Manifest V2 support, the creators of uBlock Origin plan to continue its development because browsers like Firefox still support the comprehensive webRequest API.
The warning is not exclusive to uBO. The banner appears on the chrome://extensions page for all Manifest V2 extensions after updating to Chrome 127.
Google Chrome encourages the user to replace the uBlock Origin with similar extensions. The "Find alternative" buttons open a Chrome Web Store page with uBO Lite, AdBlock Plus, Stands AdBlocker and several others listed as solutions. AdBlock Plus and AdGuard are known for having Manifest V3 versions.
Chrome is about to migrate to the Manifest V3 platform by early 2025. This gives developers one more year for using Manifest V2-based add-ons, including ad blockers.
Support us
Winaero greatly relies on your support. You can help the site keep bringing you interesting and useful content and software by using these options:
Funny Adguard, the one I use on Chrome and Edge already released an Manifest v3-compliant Chrome extension while its still on beta, yet ads still shows up, especially when watching videos on YouTube.
If people tired on those ads shoving to their face while browsing any website, its either
1. switch to Chromium-based browsers with ad blocker and privacy shields (i.e. Brave, Vivaldi, Opera (regular or GX)), or
2. Go back, or use Firefox
I tested uBlock Origin Lite on Firefox a while ago. Not as bad as I thought it would be. However, it’s not as good as uBlock Origin is.
However, I use other solutions that work across my entire network instead. There are so many other solutions today. Here are some examples:
AdGuard Home
Pi-Hole
Change DNS to AdGuard, Mullvad DNS instead. They have Adblock function if you want. You can change it in the browser or in the OS or in your router. Your choice.
Many routers have built-in Adblock today. Routers I know have it are, ASUS, Ubiquiti, MikroTik, pfSense routers as an example. AdGuard Home works on an ASUS router with a custom firmware such as Asuswrt-Merlin. MikroTik got Adlist in firmware v7.15.
Changing the host file in the OS also works.
However, YouTube is difficult to block advertising on as they host it on their own domain. uBlock Origin Lite blocked ads on YouTube when I tested it.
Some of my examples require additional hardware to do so. A Raspberry Pi or other hardware works fine. Doesn’t require much of the hardware.
For ad lists, I recommend: StevenBlack / hosts and HaGeZi lists. Updated frequently and works well. If you choose AdGuard Home as a solution, there is a little more you can do with Custom filtering rules as well. Here’s what I usually use on AdGuard Home and Custom filtering rules:
/^(.+[_.-])?adse?rv(er?|ice)?s?[0-9]*[_.-]/
/^(.+[_.-])?telemetry[_.-]/
/^ad([sxv]?[0-9]*|system)[_.-]([^.[:space:]]+\.){1,}|[_.-]ad([sxv]?[0-9]*|system)[_.-]/
/^adim(age|g)s?[0-9]*[_.-]/
/^adtrack(er|ing)?[0-9]*[_.-]/
/^advert(s|is(ing|ements?))?[0-9]*[_.-]/
/^aff(iliat(es?|ion))?[_.-]/
/^analytics?[_.-]/
/^banners?[_.-]/
/^beacons?[0-9]*[_.-]/
/^count(ers?)?[0-9]*[_.-]/
/^mads\./
/^pixels?[-.]/
/^stat(s|istics)?[0-9]*[_.-]/
So there is a lot to do if you don’t like advertising! ;)