In a recent announcement, Google has confirmed its decision to proceed with the plan to discontinue support for older "Manifest V2" Chrome extensions. This news is expected to affect popular ad blocker uBlock Origin and its approximately 37 million users.

Starting from June 3, Google will begin disabling extensions built with the older V2 framework. Initially, this change will be implemented for users of Chrome's beta versions, including those from the Dev and Canary channels. Users who still have Manifest V2 extensions installed will receive a warning banner when visiting their extension management page, informing them that these extensions will soon no longer be supported.

Google aims to complete the transition to newer Chrome extensions built with the more secure and private Manifest V3 framework by the beginning of next year. The company plans to disable V2 extensions gradually over the coming months for Chrome stable users.

While Manifest V3 is designed to protect users from invasive data collection, it has also faced criticism for its requirements, which can pose challenges for ad blockers like uBlock Origin. Google notes that over 85% of actively maintained extensions in the Chrome Web Store are already running Manifest V3, including popular content filtering extensions like AdBlock, Adblock Plus, uBlock Origin, and AdGuard.

However, the original uBlock Origin extension, which currently utilizes the V2 framework, is expected to be impacted by Google's phaseout. This has raised concerns among uBlock Origin users who fear they may be forced to switch to a less effective ad blocker.

Additionally, the adoption of Manifest V3 can hinder the ability of ad blockers to filter out ads through automatic real-time updates. In response, ad blocking extension AdBlock has developed a workaround called "differential filter list updates" to ensure the continued effectiveness of its filter lists.

As part of the transition, Google plans to remove the "Featured" badge, which indicates high-quality, from Chrome extensions that use Manifest V2. Only businesses utilizing the "ExtensionManifestV2Availability policy" will be exempt from losing support for their Manifest V2 Chrome extensions, which will be in effect until June 2025.

Google has been urging the IT community for years to migrate away from Manifest V2, emphasizing the enhanced security and privacy features of Manifest V3. While this transition is aimed at ensuring better protection for users, it may pose challenges for users of the uBlock Origin ad blocker.