Many of us have used an ad blocker from time to time. Sometimes ads are just a pain in our backsides and when we just want to be able to see the information we need or the video we want to watch, it feels better to just get rid of ads completely. It's not ideal because it harms the creator of the article or the video we're consuming but that's a personal choice for users to make. However, that might not be the case for much longer as upcoming Google Chrome changes might mean the death of ad blockers.
As reported by PC Gamer and TechRadar, Chrome is having some work done that may lead to the death of many of the ad blockers you use. Ad blockers come in the form of extensions and because of the plans to remove Manifest V2 specification apps from the extensions webstore and a subsequent halt on supporting Manifest V2 extensions altogether, ad blockers will die. From January 2022, many ad blockers will be removed from the storefront, and from January 2023, they will no longer work at all.
The blog post from Google about the change has Chrome extensions and products manager David Li talk about the change and how the new Manifest V3 "is an evolution of the extension platform that takes into consideration both the changing web landscape and the future of browser extensions."
Advert
You may be asking then, hey why not just use Manifest V3 for ad blockers? Well, the issue is that the change from V2 to 3 means that the thing ad blockers use to block ads is disappearing. The API required will be no longer be present which means that extension developers will need to find a new way to block ads and that bit is not quite solved yet.
Inevitably there will be ways to block ads but it may no longer be as easy as just downloading an extension in a few moments.
Featured Image Credit: Google / Ad Block PlusTopics: PC