The ad blocker uBlock Origin "will no longer exist" if a suggested change is made to Chrome. The statement was made by Raymond Hill, a developer of uBlock Origin and uMatrix, in a comment to Chromium bug tracker.
Google developers are suggesting this change to the Chromium browser bug tracker. Chromium is the open source browser that is the basis of Google Chrome, Opera and soon Microsoft Edge.
But do not worry: Upcoming changes will not affect all ad blockers. Google technicians are reportedly trying to quit a few browser extensions. At this time, ad blockers use the "webRequest" API to track what happens when loading web pages and blocking ad scripts.
If the proposed change is made, extensions will not be able to block ads with this API. Extensions will only be able to detect ads without blocking them, and this will speed up page loading times as Chrome will not have to wait for an extension to be blocked.
Ad blockers should use the "declarativeNetRequest" API to tell Chrome that they want to block something. Chrome, on the other hand, will block ads without waiting for the webRequest API to respond, making Google browsers much faster.
Raymond Hill said that if the change is made, blocking ads with uBlock Origin and uMatrix will not offer something special:
If the declarativeNetRequest API ends up being the only way they can use, it means that two ad blockers that we have been developing for years, uBlock Origin and uMatrix, can no longer exist.
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