Google: Pay us or your ad blocker won’t work on Chrome

Chrome’s new system hurts ad block programs and favors enterprise members.

Google Chrome

Manifest V3, a new development for Google Chrome, could spell disaster for ad blocking. 

Many ad blockers work by filtering content a certain way. When a blocker identifies an ad, it shoots it into space and you never see it. But Chrome could soon prevent those ad blockers from getting the information they need to work properly.

Google has responded to extension developers’ concerns over those changes to ad block on their forum page. However, their response came with a bit more concerning news.

“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),” Simeon Vincent, Chrome extension developer at Google, wrote. “Extensions with appropriate permissions can still observe network requests using the webRequest API. The webRequest API’s ability to observe requests is foundational for extensions that modify their behavior based on the patterns they observe at runtime.”

Essentially what Vincent is saying is that some programs will still be able to block ads, but users would have to pay Google for that privilege. Ad blockers for free Chrome users wouldn’t work as well under the new configuration.

Back in January, Google proposed a change to Chrome that would hinder ad blocking programs such as AdGuard and uBlock Origin.

Basically, these programs blocked ads before they even popped up on the screen. The new Chrome development would stop the ad block programs’ requests since those are made before the ad is loaded onto the page.

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So what should I do?

If you enjoy an ad-free web-browsing experience, you have plenty of options.

The Brave browser is a logical choice. With its built-in ad blocking it can give you a nice, clean interface. You can also use your favorite Chrome extensions. And the Brave Basic Attention Token provides a way to support your favorite content providers.

Enjoy private, secure and fast browsing with Brave.

We can also recommend Firefox and Opera as great browsers with user-friendly features.

If you want to stick with Chrome, but you still want ad block, you can, but you may need to pay for Chrome Enterprise. In order to do so, you need to contact their sales team and fill out a form to make the request.

We can expect Chrome to take some backlash for this move, as they’ve already been getting it for nearly six months as it is. For current Chrome users, this might be the motivation you need to make the switch.

Ads are coming to WhatsApp

Ads are coming to WhatsApp next year, but they might not be as annoying as you think.

WhatsApp

You’re about to hate WhatsApp just as much as you hated the finale of “Game of Thrones.”

Whether you want it or not, in 2020 your favorite messaging app will include ads.

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This was announced at the Facebook Marketing Summit 2019 in Rotterdam.

The ads will be similar to those on Instagram. They will appear as you navigate through the app.

WhatsApp ads

The good news is that they will not be as annoying as you might have feared. The ad will be in the form of a video or photo. You can swipe the ad the go to the advertiser’s page, or just scroll past it.

WhatsApp FMS

Also announced: WhatsApp Business, the app for companies, will have new functions including more complex message formats.

These initiatives by Facebook are meant to help monetize the application with more than 1.5 billion active users.

Up until now, WhatsApp was the only app under the Facebook umbrella that did not run advertisements. It was just a matter of time before this happened.