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In case your assumption here is that TFA is about Edge disabling adblockers: it's not. It's just removing ManifestV2 support. ManifestV3 is still supported. Des

In case your assumption here is that TFA is about Edge disabling adblockers: it's not. It's just removing ManifestV2 support. ManifestV3 is still supported. Despite what one might assume, MV3 does not seem to measurably diminish the effectiveness of adblockers; if anything, it improves it. (Source: https://petsymposium.org/popets/2026/popets-2026-0027.php https://petsymposium.org/popets/2026/popets-2026-0027.php)

LelouBil 1mo ago
Isn't the main issue that for MV3 you can't have a dynamic blocklist ? And so you have to update it with an extension update ?
- phire 1mo ago
  There is a dynamic API too that allows extensions to modify the blocklist at runtime. I’ve been using UBlock Origin Lite on my iPhone for a while, and that works great, keeping itself updated from EasyList and allowing for custom rules. In some ways it’s better, in some ways it’s worse. Sometimes you have to flip it into “complete mode” (and give it full access to modify the current site) to get good blocking.
  - gruez 1mo ago
    >In some ways it’s better, in some ways it’s worse. Sometimes you have to flip it into “complete mode” (and give it full access to modify the current site) to get good blocking. I don't how this is supposed to be a demerit given that the v2 version had full access to every site you visit. Safari just made that more explicit.
    - phire 1mo ago
      Yeah, and you can change the defaults of UBO lite to always have full access to every site.
Larrikin 1mo ago
The only reason anyone knows about the switch between manifest 2 and 3 is that the only meaningful difference is the crippled ad blocking ability. Nobody knows any other difference unless they are an extension developers or worked on making the Internet a worse place.
- armadyl 1mo ago
  I mean you’re right about the awareness of it due to ad blocking but > Nobody knows any other difference unless they are an extension developers or worked on making the Internet a worse place. MV3 comes with a ton of security improvements over MV2, a side effect is the perceived weakening of ad blocking extensions but the benefits outweigh the cons. MV2 effectively allowed a permanently open RCE pathway. The browser itself should ideally be handling ad blocking as it’s more effective and efficient at it (Brave, Vanadium, Trivalent). Safari has already been on an MV3-like extension system for years yet only Chromium draws ire. I mean they got flack at first but it died off and now there’s no real difference.
  - lelanthran 1mo ago
    > The browser itself should ideally be handling ad blocking "The fox himself should ideally be guarding the henhouse"... I mean, you do realise that google has a conflict of interest when it comes to blocking ads, right?
- crazygringo 1mo ago
  Right, but there is no meaningful difference in terms of ad blocking ability. It's all theoretical. In practice, uBlock Origin Lite works amazingly on MV3. In my experience, it blocks all the ads. And I've been using it for a while now.
  - Larrikin 1mo ago
    The creator and maintainer of uBlock Origin has said it's inferior and listed why. I don't understand the point of your anecdote.
Marsymars 1mo ago
I've found ad-blockers other than uBlock Origin MV2 to struggle with particularly aggressive anti-adblocking scripts. I don't particularly notice, but my wife was getting frustrated last night when she was looking for recipes, an ad network was blocked at the DNS level, and despite local ad-blockers, every recipe site she was visiting was redirecting her to a "please disable your ad blocker" page.

LelouBil 1mo ago

Isn't the main issue that for MV3 you can't have a dynamic blocklist ? And so you have to update it with an extension update ?

phire 1mo ago
There is a dynamic API too that allows extensions to modify the blocklist at runtime. I’ve been using UBlock Origin Lite on my iPhone for a while, and that works great, keeping itself updated from EasyList and allowing for custom rules. In some ways it’s better, in some ways it’s worse. Sometimes you have to flip it into “complete mode” (and give it full access to modify the current site) to get good blocking.
- gruez 1mo ago
  >In some ways it’s better, in some ways it’s worse. Sometimes you have to flip it into “complete mode” (and give it full access to modify the current site) to get good blocking. I don't how this is supposed to be a demerit given that the v2 version had full access to every site you visit. Safari just made that more explicit.
  - phire 1mo ago
    Yeah, and you can change the defaults of UBO lite to always have full access to every site.

Larrikin 1mo ago

The only reason anyone knows about the switch between manifest 2 and 3 is that the only meaningful difference is the crippled ad blocking ability. Nobody knows any other difference unless they are an extension developers or worked on making the Internet a worse place.

armadyl 1mo ago
I mean you’re right about the awareness of it due to ad blocking but > Nobody knows any other difference unless they are an extension developers or worked on making the Internet a worse place. MV3 comes with a ton of security improvements over MV2, a side effect is the perceived weakening of ad blocking extensions but the benefits outweigh the cons. MV2 effectively allowed a permanently open RCE pathway. The browser itself should ideally be handling ad blocking as it’s more effective and efficient at it (Brave, Vanadium, Trivalent). Safari has already been on an MV3-like extension system for years yet only Chromium draws ire. I mean they got flack at first but it died off and now there’s no real difference.
- lelanthran 1mo ago
  > The browser itself should ideally be handling ad blocking "The fox himself should ideally be guarding the henhouse"... I mean, you do realise that google has a conflict of interest when it comes to blocking ads, right?
crazygringo 1mo ago
Right, but there is no meaningful difference in terms of ad blocking ability. It's all theoretical. In practice, uBlock Origin Lite works amazingly on MV3. In my experience, it blocks all the ads. And I've been using it for a while now.
- Larrikin 1mo ago
  The creator and maintainer of uBlock Origin has said it's inferior and listed why. I don't understand the point of your anecdote.

Marsymars 1mo ago

I've found ad-blockers other than uBlock Origin MV2 to struggle with particularly aggressive anti-adblocking scripts. I don't particularly notice, but my wife was getting frustrated last night when she was looking for recipes, an ad network was blocked at the DNS level, and despite local ad-blockers, every recipe site she was visiting was redirecting her to a "please disable your ad blocker" page.