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posted by janrinok on Friday June 10 2022, @11:04AM   Printer-friendly
from the manifest-destiny dept.

Ad-block developers fear end is near for their extensions:

Seven months from now, assuming all goes as planned, Google Chrome will drop support for its legacy extension platform, known as Manifest v2 (Mv2). This is significant if you use a browser extension to, for instance, filter out certain kinds of content and safeguard your privacy.

Google's Chrome Web Store is supposed to stop accepting Mv2 extension submissions sometime this month. As of January 2023, Chrome will stop running extensions created using Mv2, with limited exceptions for enterprise versions of Chrome operating under corporate policy. And by June 2023, even enterprise versions of Chrome will prevent Mv2 extensions from running.

The anticipated result will be fewer extensions and less innovation, according to several extension developers.

Browser extensions such as Ghostery Privacy Ad Blocker, uBlock Origin, and Privacy Badger, along with scripting extensions including TamperMonkey, which are each designed to block adverts and other content and/or protect one's privacy online, are expected to function less effectively, if they can even make the transition from Mv2 to the new approach: Manifest v3.

"If you asked me if we can have a Manifest v3 version of Privacy Badger, my answer is yes, we can and we will," said Alexei Miagkov, senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, in a phone interview with The Register. "But the problem is more insidious. It's that Manifest v3 caps the certain capabilities of extensions and cuts off innovation potential."

Google argues otherwise and maintains its platform renovation will meet developers' needs, including those making tools for content blocking and privacy. The internet titan, which declined to comment on the record, maintains that Mv3 aims to improve privacy by limiting extensions' access to sensitive data and that it has been working with extension developers to balance their needs with those of users.

Google points to past endorsements, such as remarks provided by Sofia Lindberg, tech lead of ad amelioration biz Eyeo, which makes Adblock Plus. "We've been very pleased with the close collaboration established between Google's Chrome Extensions Team and our own engineering team to ensure that ad-blocking extensions will still be available after Manifest v3 takes effect."

[...] Google began work on Manifest v3, the successor to Mv2, in late 2018, ostensibly to make extensions more secure, performant, and private. The company's extension platform renovation was necessary – because extension security problems were rampant – and immediately controversial. An ad company making security claims that, coincidentally, hinder user-deployed content and privacy defenses looks like self-interest.

And Mv3 remains the subject of ongoing debate as the extension platform capabilities and APIs continue to be hammered out. But it has been adopted, with some caveats, by other browser makers, including Apple and Mozilla. Makers of Chromium-based browsers inherit Mv3 and Microsoft has already endorsed the new spec.

Others building atop Chromium like Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi have indicated interest in continuing to support Mv2, though it's unclear whether that will be practical beyond June of next year. If Google removes the Mv2 code from Chromium, maintaining the code in a separate Chromium fork may prove to be too much trouble.


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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Friday June 10 2022, @12:35PM (12 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday June 10 2022, @12:35PM (#1252160) Journal

    Depending on your router, you can do all your adblocking at the router. Copy/paste your block list into the appropriate box in the interface, and done. If your router doesn't or can't run Tomato or DD-WRT, maybe it's time to upgrade.

    Why block ads on one browser, when you can block all the ads at the network level, blocking all the ads coming into your house or business? That fixes desktops, laptops, mobile devices, media boxes like Vizio televisions - everything. Of course, that does nothing for your mobile device once you leave the location where the router is.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +3  
       Interesting=3, Informative=1, Overrated=1, Total=5
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 10 2022, @12:43PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 10 2022, @12:43PM (#1252162)

    Except if you VPN into that place where that router/gateway is.

    One point of contention: routers can only filter so much. One thing they are not, is proxy servers.
    A hosts-file is great and all but it gets to be a resource hog after a while when you have +50k entries in that file.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 11 2022, @05:32PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 11 2022, @05:32PM (#1252564)

      In case you DON'T KNOW how great hosts are? Take a peek https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=49747&page=1&cid=1252547#commentwrap [soylentnews.org]

      * :)

      APK

      P.S.=> Onwards & UPWARDS - bottom line here is, HOSTS FILES DO NOT EAT AS MUCH AS Ads/Trackers/Scripts OR what you are using in SLOWER + PROVEN LESS EFFICIENT (see links & tests I post on that much in the link above as proof vs. what you said) addons BY FAR in memory, cpu, messagepassing etc. (addons that per this article are soon to be useless OR SO CRIPPLED in say, the number of what they CAN block, limits set etc.)

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 12 2022, @12:58AM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 12 2022, @12:58AM (#1252636)

        It seems your big moment has finally arrived.

        • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 12 2022, @12:33PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 12 2022, @12:33PM (#1252717)

          I've had those "big moments" AGES ago many times:

          Windows NT Magazine April 1997 "BACK OFFICE PERFORMANCE" pg 61

          (For SuperSpeed.com PAID CONTRACT (wrote SuperCache 40% performance boost) & SuperDisk finalist @ MS Tech Ed 2x in a row 2000-2002 HARDEST CATEGORY: SQLServer Performance Enhancement)

          WINDOWS MAGAZINE 1997 "Top Freeware & Shareware of the Year" issue pg 210 #1 entry

          PC-WELT FEB 1998 pg 84

          WINDOWS MAGAZINE, WINTER 1998 pg 92 MUST HAVE WARE

          PC-WELT FEB 1999 - pg 83

          CHIP Magazine 7/99 - pg 100

          GERMAN PC BOOK Data Becker "PC Aufrusten und Repairen" 2000

          HOT SHAREWARE #46 issue pg. 54 2001

          Paid for article @ PCPitstop in 2008 http://pcpitstop.com/news/winners.asp [pcpitstop.com]

          UltraDefrag64 Process Priority Control credited by lead devs of it in the programs credits section.

          APK

          P.S.=> See my subject-line above & that VERY PARTIAL LIST above of only SOME of my "favorites" in those "big moments" over time I've had (beyond those of my professional career as a software engineer 1994-2008 until I retired)... apk

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 12 2022, @01:52PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 12 2022, @01:52PM (#1252725)

            Oddly I neglected to note this too https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=49747&page=1&cid=1252718#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] from as far back as the year 2001... but I did in another reply on this page.

            * :)

            (Especially considering it's on the very topic of hosts files we're on now...)

            APK

            P.S.=> I also ported it from Windows to BSD variants (even MacOS but pointless there as since Monterey or slightly before that Apple CRIPPLED hosts files & doesn't allow easy text config file changes like nsswitch in Linux) & Linux too... apk

  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Opportunist on Friday June 10 2022, @12:50PM

    by Opportunist (5545) on Friday June 10 2022, @12:50PM (#1252167)

    Because ad companies get smarter, too. They now want to hear back from your browser that it got their ad crap and if they don't hear back from you, they inform the site they infect that you're not playing nice with them and if the website wants their money, they shouldn't play nice with you. So your browser plugin has to pretend to the ad that it actually pestered you with their bullshit to tell the website with the content you want that it should no longer hold it hostage.

    In other words, blocking ads at router level isn't going to work for many pages. You need to have the browser do the supersecret handshake with the ad hijacker holding your content hostage and dupe it into thinking you were properly badgered with their advertising.

  • (Score: 5, Informative) by RamiK on Friday June 10 2022, @01:39PM (1 child)

    by RamiK (1813) on Friday June 10 2022, @01:39PM (#1252178)

    Domain / DNS resolution level blocking only blocks unenforced image delivery. It can't do anything against javascript-based tracking and enforced delivery. For that, you need uBlock / TamperMonkey to filter out specific elements and injects snippets that circumvent redirections, trigger lazy image loading and turn back on the mouse scrolling.

    --
    compiling...
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 11 2022, @05:29PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 11 2022, @05:29PM (#1252563)

      Oh, really? Take a read & reply to my link here ONLY so we can keep all "objections" I am pretty sure I'll overcome to what I posted in this next link Ramik https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=49747&page=1&cid=1252547#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] JUST so we can keep it ALL IN 1 place, consistent!

      See, as I truly DO "take on all comers" & they end up with EGG ON THEIR FACES on THIS VERY SUBJECT!

      * :)

      (So much for your +5 either sockpuppet by you UPMODDED or modded up by IMBECILES here... )

      APK

      P.S.=> That's right - I'm trying to "get your goat" to get YOU to see the error of your ways (or possiblyl having YOU show me something I overlooked which in the end, only makes me STRONGER but then again, that's what I'm out to do for MYSELF as well as YOURSELF too - we can all learn things & imo, IF YOU DON'T, EVERYDAY? it's a wasted day)... apk

  • (Score: 5, Informative) by stretch611 on Saturday June 11 2022, @12:27AM (2 children)

    by stretch611 (6199) on Saturday June 11 2022, @12:27AM (#1252404)

    Just install a Pi-Hole [pi-hole.net].

    All you need to do is point your router's DNS to use the Pi-Hole for the DNS ip address.
    A pi-Hole will block all the scummy ad sites and tracking sites that you want (and has a comprehensive list of roughly 100,000 sites that gets updated weekly.)

    While it was designed for use on a raspberry pi, it can be installed on multiple linux distros in a virtual machine. You can use it for your entire network, or just individual computers.

    --
    Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
    • (Score: 2) by Unixnut on Saturday June 11 2022, @10:29AM (1 child)

      by Unixnut (5779) on Saturday June 11 2022, @10:29AM (#1252480)

      Yes, except they are now working to make widespread use of DNS over HTTPS [wikipedia.org], which renders the pi-hole (and any other control over DNS resolution) useless. Control starts and ends at the browser now, so that is where you have to fight this battle.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 11 2022, @05:34PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 11 2022, @05:34PM (#1252566)

        DoH = EASY TO BEAT in FireFox @ least https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=49747&page=1&cid=1252547#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] & IF YOU TRUST IT? You don't realize how CENTRALIZED ANYTHING (be it CDN or DNS etc.) is - or how insecure (DNS & DNSSEC? Not widely used for example & TRACKING LOGGING in CDN or DNS too & more).

        * Enjoy the read...

        APK

        P.S.=> It MAY give you something to think about... apk

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by jasassin on Monday June 13 2022, @03:23AM

    by jasassin (3566) <jasassin@gmail.com> on Monday June 13 2022, @03:23AM (#1252894) Homepage Journal

    at the router. Copy/paste your block list into the appropriate box in the interface, and done. If your router doesn't or can't run Tomato or DD-WRT, maybe it's time to upgrade.

    THIS!

    I have a Cudy X6 Wi-Fi 6 router that I installed their un/official (unsupported/voids warranty) OpenWRT image https://www.cudytech.com/openwrt_software_download [cudytech.com] (because the official firmware only installs signed firmware), then installed the stable Cudy X6 OpenWRT image created by julyworld (which includes Ad Block):
    https://github.com/julyworlds/openwrt-cudy-x6-firmware/releases/download/2022.05.18-0515/openwrt-ramips-mt7621-cudy_x6-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin [github.com]

    Changing WiFi password/ssid name for Wi-Fi 5ghz, disabled the radio1 [5ghz] so I had to reflash julyworlds and change the 5ghz name and password write down all the lines, click revert changes, and enter them on command line via ssh’ing into the router and not enter the two braindead lines that disable the radio1 (this might be fixed in a new snapshot [google cudy x6 firmware julyworld]).

    Now when I watch Plex, Wu-Tang, VRV anime, etc. channels on my Roku only (once a blue moon) one out of ten adds play! Holy shit the amount of time I wasted on ads! This kicks ass!!! I’m watching Godzilla vs Mechazilla right now and haven’t seen an add half way through it… just a ball that spins like it thinks it’s loading adds for 15 seconds total and the movie resumes. It’s comical! If everyone knew about this they would shit their pants!

    --
    jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A