“This extension will soon no longer be supported,” is the message that some Chrome users receive with the ad blocker uBlock Origin, which is based on the Manifest v2 extension.

Manifest v3, Google Chrome’s long-term project to implement a new browser extension platform, has shown signs of life again. This was noticed by some users of the Manifest v2-based ad blocker uBlock Origin, who reported that it would soon no longer be supported.

This is because Google has stopped supporting the Manifest v2 extension platform in favor of Manifest v3, so users will have to look for alternatives that support Manifest v3. Google would still stick to the proposed timeline.

warning

Bleeping Computer has noticed that there seems to be some movement again in Manifest v3 for Chromium. Some users may see warnings with uBlock Origin, an ad blocking extension, that “this extension may no longer be supported soon.”

Raymond Hill, lead developer and manager of the project, explains this in a blog post on Github. “uBO is a Manifest v2 extension, hence the warning in your Google Chrome browser. There is no Manifest v3 version of uBO, so the browser suggests alternative extensions as replacements for uBO.”

Ad blocker

One of the biggest weaknesses of the new Manifest v3 is the limited support for ad blockers. Many developers are not happy with this. They fear that version 3 is too restrictive and does not take advantage of the features of ad blockers. Switching to Manifest v3 would mean that all extensions based on Manifest v2 would be incompatible.

In the early days of the Manifest v3 announcement, Google said in a blog post that it doesn’t kill ad blockers, but makes them more secure.