Google plans to enhance the Chrome browser experience. However, it has provoked different extension developers. The plan if executed will improve Chrome’s performance and security but also cripple extensions, which are designed to block Ads and malicious links while browsing online.
Which Extensions Will Be Troubled?
Google’s proposal will affect tracker blocker Ghostery, uBlock Origin- an open source ad blocker, NoScript- JavaScript software blocker, password manager Privowny and F-Secure’s malware blocker.
Google has already stated that it’s trying to enhance Chrome without hampering any working extensions.
The company says,
What Extension Authors Have To Say?
The Tracker blocker Ghostery’s creator Cliqz commented on the proposal,
What Is Manifest v3?
Manifest v3 is a part of the proposal, which would be designed to enhance Chrome extensions’ security, privacy and performance. But it limits extensions to examine various aspects of websites. It will affect the way extensions verify website elements and check if they are from the list of too many advertising sources. Google has set the limit to 30,000.
Blockade.io, an extension that protect Chrome users from malicious links, will stop functioning due to the Manifest v3 plan. Brandon Dixon, founder of Blockade.io in the Wednesday mailing list post says,
According to an analytics firm called StatCounter, Google Chrome holds 62.28% Browser Market Share Worldwide. Even Safari and Firefox embraces variations of Google Chrome’s extensions technology so that it is possible for extension developers to support various browsers. Privowny’s Co-CTO Daniel Glazman says, “The browser extension technology is “fully in the hands of Google, can and will change it anytime based on its own interests only,”.