Google Chrome restricting ad-blocking in coming update

A tech change will bar non-Enterprise versions of Chrome from running existing ad-blocker extensions.

Adam Tinworth

Adam has been a blogger for over 15 years, and a journalist for more than 20. He currently works as a consultant and trainer, helping people do better online journalism.

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Adam Tinworth

8 Jun 2019 • 1 min read

Use Chrome and enjoying an ad-free experience on the web, thanks to an ad blocker? Those days are numbered. 9to5Google:

Back in January, Google announced a proposed change to Chrome’s extensions system, called Manifest V3, that would stop current ad blockers from working efficiently. In a response to the overwhelming negative feedback, Google is standing firm on Chrome’s ad blocking changes, sharing that current ad blocking capabilities will be restricted to enterprise users.

Astonishing. Company whose entire business model rests on selling ads wants to restrict ad-blocking? What a shock.

Google claims it is still supporting ad-blocking:

Chrome supports the use and development of ad blockers. We’re actively working with the developer community to get feedback and iterate on the design of a privacy-preserving content filtering system that limits the amount of sensitive browser data shared with third parties.

However, this approach is going to make it harder.

I wonder how many readers of this - despite many of you being in web publishing - are using ad-blockers?