End of Lifecycle Manifest V2 This has been known for quite a few years.. The migration to V3, and more specifically its effects on ad blockers, is something we already told you about over five years ago. It’s true, yes, this change has been delayed several times, but during this time, new developments have occurred that have further complicated the persistence of ad blockers on the web, at least as we know them in the world today.

We expected this to happen, and as we can read in this tweet, another step has already been taken in this regard, namely Google Chrome Canary no longer allows extensions based on Manifest V2 to be enabled. Now limited to the development version of Google’s browser, this confirms that V2’s days are definitely numbered, as barring surprises or last-minute changes (which seem unlikely), what just debuted on Canary should complete the jump to the stable version between 12 and a maximum of 16 weeks.

The transition from Manifest V2 to V3 was a very controversial matterespecially for those who rely on extensions like ad blockers. While Google claims that Manifest V3 improves browser security and performance, many developers and users believe that these modifications also limit the effectiveness of certain tools. The V3 manifest imposes restrictions on the use of the webRequest API, which was necessary for blockers to dynamically capture and block unwanted content. Now, with declarativeNetRequest, developers must define static rules that limit the ability to respond in real time to emerging advertisements and threats.

Google is already testing removing the option to re-enable unsupported extensions, in Chrome Canary the switch to re-enable them is now grayed out, you can just remove them or find alternatives: https://t.co/aVxHvgB01N pic.twitter.com/zitGWq1SR2

— Leopeva64 (@Leopeva64) October 3, 2024

These restrictions affect not only the functionality of ad blockers, but They also express concerns about privacy and user control over their experience on the Web.. The ability to customize and modify the behavior of blockers to suit individual needs is negatively affected. Although Google claims these restrictions help protect users from potentially harmful extensions, some critics interpret the move as a way to protect its ad-based business model. It is undeniable that with less effective ad blocking, the advertising ecosystem of which Google is a key pillar will benefit. Change in Chrome Canary marks the beginning of the definitive end for Manifest V2 based extensionsand Google’s plan leaves little room for maneuver.

For users, this could mean a significant change in their browsing experience. Ad blockers and other extensions that relied on the webRequest API to provide fine-grained control over elements loaded on a web page will have to adapt to the limitations of version 3, reducing their effectiveness. The user community will have to look for alternatives and possibly combine different tools to maintain a similar level of protection and customization. Moving from Chrome Canary to Stable not only closes the chapter for Manifest V2, but also makes us think about how we browse and protect our privacy on the web today.