There is a popular secret that the internet is unmanageable without some type of ad blocker. The internet has become what people used to joke about in the 90’s when your computer was infected by adware when you downloaded some suspicious software. When you could end up with McAfee Antivirus software by simply adding a toolbar to your browser. Which was always a bit ironic. In the final days of the internet, only two companies will allow you to completely block ads while surfing: Firefox and Brave.
Chromium, which is the basis of Chrome, Edge, and various others, is being updated with Manifest Version 3 (MV3). Now, if you’re to believe what big tech says, they claim that MV3 is “more secure and provides better performance than MV2”.
But that is what “big tech wants you to believe”. MV2 allows adblockers like uBlock Origins to completely block ads on nearly any site on the internet. I have been using uBlock Origins for years and found it to be the best adblocker around. What they mean by “more secure” is that all other adblockers will not be able to block all ads. Even though some haven’t been doing that for a few years.
Some have made deal with Google that would kick them back some funds if they allow certain ads to filter through. Recently, Microsoft announced that Edge will be moving to MV3, while every other browser using a Chromium-based browser will “need” to do it.
Firefox will still support uBlock Origins
The Firefox account on X shared a simple message in response to an article about Edge ending support for certain extensions: “Firefox support for uBlock Origin is not going anywhere.”
Brave, which is also based on Chromium, announced that they will continue to support uBlock. Brave announced in a longer message, stating that “Brave will keep supporting uBlock Origin” and that Brave hosts uBlock Origin and other MV2 extensions on its own servers. To enable MV2 extensions in Brave, you need to go to Settings > Extensions > Manifest v2 extensions.
Firefox is allowed to stay away from these issue because it is built on a Quantum browser, which was specifically made for that browser. This will allow it to remain independent from all the other browsers. Say what you want about Mozilla, it does manage to remain a strong and solid browser. Yeah, they do fuck it up from time to time, but they always bring it back.
What does this mean to you? If you are using Edge, or other browsers, you will find out that it will be removed. You can use another adblocker, but will find that it isn’t as good. Ads will still creep through. There are some that will work okay, but this has been the work of Google for some time.
Adblockers block ads on YouTube. This hurts their revenue. Now, as a non-premium customer, I do watch YouTube through the TV and the ads could be worse. However, when running it through the app on your mobile device, it is nearly unwatchable. That is why I suggest (for iOS users) user Brave on your device. As for now, be ready to see more ads than you’re used to, or switch over. This ad fight isn’t over.
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