- Google has doubled down on its decision to restrict ad blockers
- Ad blockers will only be available for paid enterprise users
One of the most controversial issues that surround modern internet browsers is their treatment of ads and ad blockers for their users. Most internet users are frustrated with being constantly bombarded with unwanted pop-up ads and often resort to ad blockers to make their internet experience much more enjoyable and less intrusive. However, not all internet browsers are friendly towards ad blockers and according to a May 29, 201 report, Google has taken a few steps that will likely be controversial and unpopular with users.
In January 2019, an announcement was made in which they stated that a new change was being made to their Chrome extension system which was referred to as manifest V3 and this would stop ad-blockers from working efficiently. Naturally, there was a lot of negative feedback towards this news but Google seems to be doubling down on this decision.
The World of Ads
In a new statement, Google has stated that ad blocking capabilities will be restricted only to enterprise users. Typically, ad blockers such as Ublock use Chrome’s webRequest API to block ads before they are downloaded. With this new manifest V3 change, the ability of webRequest API to block ads is depreciated before it is loaded.
A new addition to Google’s permission page shows this new change in a single sentence.
“Chrome is deprecating the blocking capabilities of the webRequest API in Manifest V3, not the entire webRequest API (though blocking will still be available to enterprise deployments),” the page says.
In essence, ad-blocking can take place on Google chrome but only for paid enterprise users. Other users, however, will be forced to endure unwanted ads with no end in sight. For a long time, internet users have sought ways to get out of the intrusive experience of constantly receiving ads and it seems that the journey is far from over.
How Brave Comes In
This new development naturally draws parallels to the Brave browser which has become increasingly popular in recent times. Unlike traditional browsers, users have to opt-in before they receive ads and should they opt-in, they will be rewarded with BAT tokens for their time. This is in stark contrast to the way they have usually been treated and naturally, users gravitate a lot more towards a browser like Brave.
As time passes, it will be interesting to see whether larger traditional browsers will begin to follow the example of Brave or continue in the usual ad-centric business model.
