Adware vendors buy Chrome Extensions to send ad- and malware-filled updates

From the article:

> "Update: Google got back to us, and stated that Chrome's extension policy is due to change in June 2014. The new policy will require extensions to serve a single purpose."

That is why I never install browser extensions.

It’s a good point to be aware of and to raise from.time to time, but the subject line should be amended to indicate that this article was written in 2014.

Yeah, I have a Firefox extension with around 50k installs, and get emails every so often from people offering to monetize it.

Here's an excerpt from a recent one, from Nick at NJB Brands Sales:

> We offer .50 CTR (per 1,000) traffic and can use each unique IP up to 10 times a day. There is no limitation to what we will purchase other than the cap per unique IP. We offer flexible payment options via PayPal, Bitcoin, WesternUnion or Check. Payment can be done every 1 day, 7 days or 30 days.

Not OP, but I live without adblock. In Chrome, I disable Javascript on all sites by default. Rarely do I need to unblock a new site. I have a paid subscription to the Washington Post (which grants access to articles, but doesn't actually hide the ads...), and the ads on other sites I visit aren't too oppressive.

More than anything else, over nearly twenty years on the Internet I've developed the mental reflex to "tune out" and automatically ignore any Internet ad, anywhere, unless it's literally shoved in my face to the exclusion of all other content.

I've previously used adblock extensions, but my reasons for going without mirror the link author's. I simply can't trust Google/Chrome not to autoinstall a new, broken, malware-infested version of my favorite extension. I don't feel I should have to mess with directory permissions or application sandboxing in order to achieve some half-measure of extension security, so instead I eschew them completely.