AdGuard publishes the first ad blocker built on Manifest V3

One of the stated goal of MV3 by Google[1] was to avoid extensions with broad permissions:<p>&gt; our new declarativeNetRequest API is designed to be a privacy-preserving method for extensions to block network requests without needing access to sensitive data<p>This MV3-based AdGuard extension still requires a broad permission to &quot;read or modify host data&quot; on all sites[2]:<p><pre><code> &quot;host_permissions&quot;: [ &quot;&lt;all_urls&gt;&quot; ], </code></pre> So what you have now is the same required permission to &quot;read or modify host data&quot; as with MV2, but with a network filtering engine capabilities gated by Google (an advertising company).<p>We can&#x27;t innovate anymore the filtering capabilities of our content blocker engines as we have been constantly doing over the years.<p>For a recent example, there has been discussions lately with filter list maintainers of whether uBO should support AdGuard&#x27;s proposed capability of being able to support pattern-matching for `domain=` filtering option[3] (uBO supports AdGuard lists).<p>That sort of proposition is not possible to entertain with MV3 since only Google get to decide how the filtering engine will evolve, if at all. All content blocking issues will have to be resolved with the Google-controlled filtering engine, and left unaddressed if the solution can&#x27;t be shoehorned in the declarativeNetRequest API.<p>* * *<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;blog.chromium.org&#x2F;2020&#x2F;12&#x2F;manifest-v3-now-available-on-m88-beta.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;blog.chromium.org&#x2F;2020&#x2F;12&#x2F;manifest-v3-now-available-...</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;developer.mozilla.org&#x2F;en-US&#x2F;docs&#x2F;Mozilla&#x2F;Add-ons&#x2F;WebExtensions&#x2F;manifest.json&#x2F;host_permissions" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;developer.mozilla.org&#x2F;en-US&#x2F;docs&#x2F;Mozilla&#x2F;Add-ons&#x2F;Web...</a><p>[3] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;AdguardTeam&#x2F;CoreLibs&#x2F;issues&#x2F;1550" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;AdguardTeam&#x2F;CoreLibs&#x2F;issues&#x2F;1550</a><p>* * *<p>Edit: removed stray `[` character.

Manifest v3 is going to be a slaughter. Extension developers have known the slaughter was coming, but Chrome users are going to be taken by surprise. Many free Chrome extensions aren&#x27;t going to get updated at all for v3, because it&#x27;s too much work. Many aren&#x27;t going to work right anymore because of the new restrictions. And ad blocking aside, v3 seems like a nightmare in general, and still quite buggy. The service workers vs. background script issue discussed by AdGuard will affect many or most extensions.<p>I&#x27;ve been postponing the migration of my extensions to v3 for as long as possible. One extension should be fine, but the other one... I&#x27;m afraid of what that&#x27;s going to be like.

Correction:<p>Analytics &amp; Ad Blocker by Globemallow.io <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;globemallow.io&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;globemallow.io&#x2F;</a> was the first Manifest v3 Ad Block extension.<p>I first published on 06&#x2F;22&#x2F;2022.<p>Last night actually I asked if AdGuard would want to license the software, and sent them a link to my extension. They are aware they weren&#x27;t the first, and made this post after knowing it.

It is such a bummer to me that Firefox is implementing MV3 and deprecating MV2[1]. Internet Explorer 6 never left, it just became Google Chrome*.<p>Vivaldi? Killed, Chrome clone. Edge? Killed, Chrome clone. Brave? Killed, Chrome clone. Firefox? Technically a separate engine and in theory among the last hopes, but so sclerotic it follows Chrome in almost all of its decisions. (Can MV2 be kept as a stable basic-security-maintenance-only API? Probably not) Safari? Can be gone around on desktop (my grandparents use Chrome because of Google prompts), has a stranglehold on mobile, but that has its own problems, and likely once users can ~sideload~ install software (potentially from other app stores), there will be a Chrome surge on mobile, forcing manifest V3 over there too, and the ad trackers will win the war.<p>Or maybe they already have? More likely, I personally am tiring of the cat and mouse game between the spyware makers and devs that fight for the users.<p>[1] UPDATE: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;blog.mozilla.org&#x2F;addons&#x2F;2022&#x2F;05&#x2F;18&#x2F;manifest-v3-in-firefox-recap-next-steps&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;blog.mozilla.org&#x2F;addons&#x2F;2022&#x2F;05&#x2F;18&#x2F;manifest-v3-in-fi...</a> PREVIOUSLY: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;blog.mozilla.org&#x2F;addons&#x2F;2022&#x2F;06&#x2F;08&#x2F;manifest-v3-firefox-developer-preview-how-to-get-involved&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;blog.mozilla.org&#x2F;addons&#x2F;2022&#x2F;06&#x2F;08&#x2F;manifest-v3-firef...</a><p>* In the sense that one browser implementation, and not W3C or WHATWG web standards, drives the web browser market. Chrome is much more evergreen than IE.

I think @cycomaniac [1] is right. We, as developers, did this. We gave Google too much power.<p>I&#x27;ve just switched to Firefox. I hope they don&#x27;t go off the rails here, but I fear they will with bribes from Google.<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=32650136" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=32650136</a>

Using an ad-company&#x27;s browser has always been so fishy.

Wow, that whole article and not a single mention of Firefox!<p>Firefox still supports Manifest V2, which allows for more efficient and accurate blocking of advertising. (Among other things.)

Does anyone know what is Edge&#x27;s take on MV3? Will they just leave it untouched and obey or do they have alternative paths planned for adblockling like Brave (In addition to the native blocker, Brendan Eich also said that they will &quot;put back the lost functionality for uBO, uMatrix and other legit extensions&quot; [1]).<p>I have a feeling that Edge will become mainstream in the near future because it is the default browser on Windows (getting IE monopolistic vibes again!) and people is using and even loving it. I think both Edge and Chrome will decide the future for the web. Firefox and Brave, unfortunately, are not mainstream enough to make their decisions count.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;brendaneich&#x2F;status&#x2F;1134141335881912320" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;brendaneich&#x2F;status&#x2F;1134141335881912320</a>

Are we going to lose ublock origin on chrome when v2 will be disabled?

Firefox seems pretty much on par with chrome these days and FF seems to win out on detection rates anyway so not sure why I&#x27;d want this combo?<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;gorhill&#x2F;uBlock&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;uBlock-Origin-works-best-on-Firefox" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;gorhill&#x2F;uBlock&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;uBlock-Origin-works-b...</a><p>Does anyone has stats of adguard vs ublock by chance?

These extension changes aren&#x27;t coming to Firefox, right? So uBO on Firefox is still the best desktop browser adblocker at the moment, right?

Just install Brave, its adblocker is natively implemented and not affected by Manifest V3 fiasco.

I’m curious how the performance of the new AdGuard extension has changed.

&gt; <i>By releasing an extension built with Manifest V3 today — first among developers of ad blockers – we can say that we&#x27;ve met the challenge that Google posed to us.</i><p>They shouldn&#x27;t do this IMHO.<p>Manifest V3 is a horrible attempt to kill adblocking (under the banner of &quot;security&quot;, as always). But, the web is completely unusable without adblocking.<p>If there are no more (effective) adblockers for Chrome, users will frantically begin to search for an alternative; there are many: Firefox and Brave to mention just two.<p>Giving a boost to alternative browsers can only be a good thing; and it may also, eventually, make Google rethink this policy.

So wait. What&#x27;s wrong with ublock origin?

I have no clue what Manifest V3 is, and more importantly, why Mozilla or anyone except Chrome and Chrome extension developers <i>need</i> to care.<p>It sounds like it is the extension API and process manager for Chrome. In what ways would an end user or website owner notice or care about this change, other than their extensions not working? How does it change default behavior?

I don&#x27;t know if it is cartelisation (both Apple and Google have an ad division and it is in their interest to work together on some aspects of this business) or Google bribed Apple (through its ios search engine deal), but Safari webkit also has limitations in ad blocking through the content blocking API which Apple created for Safari. (See <i>Explanation of the state of uBlock Origin (and other blockers) for Safari #158</i> - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;el1t&#x2F;uBlock-Safari&#x2F;issues&#x2F;158?ysclid=l7g37dn0l024511076" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;el1t&#x2F;uBlock-Safari&#x2F;issues&#x2F;158?ysclid=l7g3...</a> ).