If You Use Any of the Following Browsers: Brave, Bromite, Centbrowser, Chrome, Chromium, Comodo Dragon, Google, Iridium, Kiwi, Microsoft, Opera, Slimjet Srware Iron, Ungoogled, Or Vivaldi, You Should Know...-Pocket

mal 2023-01-01, 12:05 PM Updated: 2023-01-01, 12:16 PM

If You Use Any of the Following Browsers: Brave, Bromite, Centbrowser, Chrome, Chromium, Comodo Dragon, Google, Iridium, Kiwi, Microsoft, Opera, Slimjet Srware Iron, Ungoogled, Or Vivaldi, You Should Know...

... Features and extensions on all of these browsers that block malicious code, trackers, ads, spam, and explicit unwanted content on the web are, as of the first of this year, effectively toothless, and ultimately powerless to stop these bad actors from doing their job.

The problem is, all of these browsers are built on the Chromium architecture and are therefore captive to the rules and implementations of Google.

As of 2021 Google owned more than 93% of all ad service providers. Chrome allowing ad-block costs them revenue. 
Google says Manifest V3 is focused on security, privacy, and performance, but you only need to consider how they generate profit to understand their motivation behind this change.

Always remember: Google is an advertising platform. Everything they do is to support that.
Google search engine? Ads and user data collection.
Gmail? Ads and user data collection.
YouTube? Ads and user data collection.
Chrome? Ads and user data collection.
Android? Ads and user data collection.
Google Messages/News/Hangouts/Docs/Drive/Maps/Waze/Home/Fit/Health/Shopping/Pay? Ads and user data collection.

It should be noted that Manifest V3 will not hinder Brave's own 'shields' effectiveness, only all add-on extensions that block tracking or ads. But what percentage of malicious code or ads their shields are able (or designed) to block is uncertain, unlike uBlock Origin which blocks nearly all of them.

Lastly, if you value your privacy, and don't wish a large portion of your time spent on the internet to be usurped by advertisements, one solution is to use Firefox instead. That's what I did and bonus, it's a lot faster (at least on a PC).

If you are interested in more information on Manifest V3, check out these articles, or watch the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KWCLhHrblE:

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/google-makes-the-perfect-case-for-why-you-shouldnt-use-chrome/

https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/10/23131029/mozilla-ad-blocking-firefox-google-chrome-privacy-manifest-v3-web-request