Yup they finally got me to switch to Firefox
uBlock Origin is no longer available on the Chrome Store
731–740 of 1001 posts
Re: uBlock Origin is no longer available on the Chrome Store
#732Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a revenue share deal where Google pays Apple 36% of the search revenue they get from Safari users [1]. In other words, Google pays Apple ~$20B per year to be default search engine because they make ~$53B in revenue from those searches. This is profitable for both Apple and Google -- no "wildly illegal under-the-table measures" required. [1] https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/14/apple-gets-36percent-of-goog...
How much would Google even lose if Apple didn't make Google the default search engine? People would almost certainly just use Google anyway. If Apple switched to Bing most people would use it once, get pissed off, and then switch it back to Google. It's not that weird that people are a bit suspicious that it's really worth Google $20B/year.
That's a fair question, but even if Google makes an extra $21B/year because of that default setting it's still a good deal for Google.
Re: uBlock Origin is no longer available on the Chrome Store
#733Fortunately, at least so far, uBlock Origin Lite works perfectly fine on Chrome. I know people have made a lot of arguments as to why it might not be as good in theory, or why things might change in the future. But so far, ever since I was forced to switch, I have seen exactly zero difference. Lists are updated often enough that I haven't seen anything get through. Adblocking works on YouTube. If anything, pages seem…
If you have fast internet you will probably not really notice the difference
The difference between v2 and v3 is that v3 will no longer allow uBlock to modify network calls. Previously one of the big savings of a adblocker is they can stop the calls from being made AT ALL. That means less tracking AND less of your internet bandwidth being used
Both v2 and v3 can block the actual elements from your screen so you will probably still not see most of the ads. But you will still be able to be tracked and your data will still be used in the background
Re: uBlock Origin is no longer available on the Chrome Store
#734Fortunately, at least so far, uBlock Origin Lite works perfectly fine on Chrome. I know people have made a lot of arguments as to why it might not be as good in theory, or why things might change in the future. But so far, ever since I was forced to switch, I have seen exactly zero difference. Lists are updated often enough that I haven't seen anything get through. Adblocking works on YouTube. If anything, pages seem…
It's also great to not give basically unlimited permissions to an extension.
You can choose the permissions on v2 as well.
The change in v3 is that uBlock cannot even ask for more permissions any more
Re: uBlock Origin is no longer available on the Chrome Store
#735I hear so many people IRL complaining about this. I tell them to switch to firefox, that the adblockers still work there, and they still won't switch to it because they are "used to chrome". I really feel like google won this battle. People will through a lot of abuse just to maintain their habits.
The adblockers still work on Chrome though. Pretty sure people are figuring out to switch to uBlock Origin Lite and ads -- including on YouTube -- are still being blocked just fine.
They can still block elements from appearing on your browser but in the background the network calls are still being made. That means you are no longer being protected from tracking and your internet is once again being slowed down by the loading of ads
Re: uBlock Origin is no longer available on the Chrome Store
#736Earlier quoted context omitted.
If I go to buy something, I switch off ad blocking on that page, at the very least, on the checkout page. Ads can even be actually relevant there. If the page is too ad-ridden to tolerate, I may consider to just close that page, and go search for other options. I use Firefox + uBlock Origin, because going to the wide commercial internet without some form of ad blocking is like going out without an umbrella when it's…
If I go buy something and it requires me to disable my adblocker or my VPN I just look for another place to buy.
Yep, I absolutely will not play these stupid games with retailers. If you want my business, don't expose me to malware.
Re: uBlock Origin is no longer available on the Chrome Store
#737Earlier quoted context omitted.
The adblockers still work on Chrome though. Pretty sure people are figuring out to switch to uBlock Origin Lite and ads -- including on YouTube -- are still being blocked just fine.
Until those things don't work any longer. Slowly the frog is boiled here.
They will continue to "work". Both v2 and v3 allows extensions to block elements from the DOM. However, only in v2 can they modify actual network calls. With v3, those network calls will still be made. Which means you are no longer protected from tracking and your web browsing experience is once again being slowed down by the loading of ads even if you don't see those ads
Re: uBlock Origin is no longer available on the Chrome Store
#738Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wanted to note that uBlock works on Firefox mobile browser too - it is excellent.
Only the Android version has uBlock just fyi. Also, I've never been able to watch movies on a plane with Firefox mobile.
AbBlockers work on iOS too. Safari/WebKit has no plans to deprecate Manifest V2
Re: uBlock Origin is no longer available on the Chrome Store
#739Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I migrated off Chrome as soon as this BS story about improving privacy What are you using instead?
This is the most important question. What's the best practice? Firefox? Something else?
If you're looking to move away from Chrome, Firefox + uBlock Origin is still your best bet IMO. Mozilla's committed to keeping the robust ad-blocking capabilities alive despite Google's changes.
Brave is decent too if you want something Chromium-based but more privacy-focused (comes with minor controversies).
Safari works well if you're in the Apple ecosystem.
I actually run a dual-browser setup these days - Firefox for most browsing, and only fire up Brave for those annoying sites that Google has mysteriously "optimized" to run poorly elsewhere. Not ideal but gets the job done!
Re: uBlock Origin is no longer available on the Chrome Store
#740Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not about you being able to do whatever you want on your machine. It's extension authors being able to. Malicious Chrome extensions are a huge problem.
On the off chance that Google is truly benevolent and was just worried about users' security, then they could have easily hidden the required network-reading functionality behind a flag or "developer mode", or only allowed it for a small set of manually-audited extensions like uBlock Origin. The fact that they provided absolutely none of these alternatives isn't a coincidence. Google is a for-profit company with 300+…
> then they could have easily hidden the required network-reading functionality behind a flag or "developer mode"
For all intents and purposes, that's basically equivalent to deleting uBlock Origin for 99.9% of the 29M users it currently has.
> only allowed it for a small set of manually-audited extensions like uBlock Origin
That would most definitely lead to accusation of favoritism. That would be just as annoying of a pipeline to maintain.
> The fact that they provided absolutely none of these alternatives isn't a coincidence
They delayed the release 3 times, it was first announced in 2020. The whole time, they were taking feedback and making changes. They made a ton of changes that made MV3 adblockers possible.