Google Chrome is killing more extensions than you think - is your old favorite on the list?
Google Chrome is killing more extensions than you think - is your old favorite on the list?
One of my co-workers switched to UBlock Lite instead of UBlock Origin and now the ads are back.
Now he's working on switching to a non-Google browser.
Good job, Google. You have killed Google for yet another former customer.
You are not Google’s customer. You’re the product they sell to their customers.
Edit: Made this comment before refreshing the post to see the person above me. What they said.
I 'm forced to use Chrome on my work laptop and it is the worst browser (even before the disabling of Manifest V2), but for security I can't access many systems with even another chromium based browser . Funnily IT forces an extension on us and it isn't compatible with Manifest V3.
Stop. Using. Chrome.
Firefox is the way.
I don't have any chrome extensions because I don't use chrome. Everyone else should do the same.
For crying out loud they’re not just targeting adblockers.
Join !librewolf@programming.dev folks!
I don't know if it's related, but an extension we use at work called Redirector was just disabled a few weeks ago for being "unsupported." It's the only reason I even used Chrome, so I guess I can go back to Safari. At home I only use Firefox.
If you’re talking about the extension that looks like an R with a green arrow, the author passed away a couple years ago. https://github.com/einaregilsson/Redirector/issues/329
The repo has a new maintainer but there’s been no new releases since the maintainer doesn’t have access to the extension release pages. No surprise that a MV3 version hasn’t been worked on.
It still works on Firefox, though.
Pushbullet is also dead. ☹️
That's a name I haven't heard in a long long time. I thought it died due to it being a privacy nightmare or something. There was some controversy at least.
Hasn't it been dead for years? You can probably get the same functionality with other apps, depending on what you use it for.
Glad that I moved to firefox 4 months ago and then to zen browser last week to avoid plugins removal. Haven’t looked back
So, the elephant in the room is Chrome killing ad-blocking.
I think that Firefox (and Firefox forks, like Zen Browser) have low-enough marketshare that websites that depend on ad revenue may just kill support for Firefox if Firefox does permit ad blocking.
https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share
As of February:
Chrome: 66.3%
Safari: 17.99%
Edge: 5.33%
Firefox: 2.62%
The software used to view the Web in 2025 is really mostly under the control of either Google or Apple.
I think that Firefox (and Firefox forks, like Zen Browser) have low-enough marketshare that websites that depend on ad revenue may just kill support for Firefox if Firefox does permit ad blocking
An argument could also be made that Firefox and its forks have low-enough marketshare that websites that depend on ad revenue won't want to deal with the extra work of keeping those users out.
There’s always PiHole to block ads at the network level. It takes some setup and a raspberry pi but it can be one of the cheaper ones. And I’m pretty sure the sites aren’t going to do much more than check the User Agent to get the browser so User Agent Switcher will get around 99% of that.
You could, I suppose, block Firefox in other ways (like maybe checking for some random Chromium feature not yet supported in Firefox) but Firefox isn’t usually far behind Chrome so it would almost take an entire new developer to be effective. And there’s probably ways around that too. (I’m a web developer but have never worked on an ad-supported project and never will so I’m not sure but life finds a way.)
A lot of Firefox users spoof the useragent.
Safari on IPhone does have adblocker extensions. So the websites should stop supporting Apple devices as well in order to display ads. This is nearly 20% of users based on your stats.
The sad thing is that people will see this and still try to find a way to keep using chrome instead of just moving to a browser that actually respects them.
XMPP all over again.
For reals please don’t use chrome it’s a terrible browser
I'm guessing not since I don't use google chrome and haven't for a while.
Nope. Cloud to Butt still works for me.
Forgot about cloud to butt. We might need AI to butt with a backwards compatible blockchain to butt nowadays.
Yeah they essentially killed about half the extensions I use. I have to use the browser for work.
I used to use Selenium extension on Chrome to test my applications for Chrome compatibility. Chrome said they are disabling it now. Do you not want web applications to be easily tested for Chrome compatibility, Google?
They are probably moving to Chrome DevTools Protocol or WebDriver BiDi
Zen Browser on Mac and Orion on iOS. ublock origin and NextDNS on for both - no ads, no adblocker detected. Ever.
Yeah I only run chrome for Microsoft teams which I unfortunately still have to use.
The other day I saw a list of like 20 plugins, about 90% of what I have installed, banned. Not that I ever want chrome back but WTF?
I'm just worried about how zdnet presumes to know what I think.
Google kills things, that's what they do. They can get fucked.
One of the extensions blocked is called "Trump blocker" - looks like they are getting into arse kissing too
It's not blocked because of the "Trump" bit though, right? It's because it's not a manifest V3 extension
No