Chrome will end support for Manifest V2 extensions such as ad blockers in mid-2023

Extensions that work with Manifest V2 will disappear from the Chrome Web Store in January 2024. Starting next year, Chrome will experiment with disabling support for Manifest V2. Many ad blockers have trouble switching to Manifest V3.

Chrome Manifest V3

Extensions created with Manifest V2 will no longer be available in the Chrome Web Store from June next year, says Google. In addition, from the stable release of Chrome 115 in that month, Manifest V2 extensions may stop working.

V3, according to Google, focuses on privacy, performance improvement and security. It is no longer possible for V3 extensions to use remote code, which should make it easier for Google to test the security of an extension. In addition, the new format makes it possible for service workers to perform certain tasks in the background. This eliminates the need for an additional web page for secondary functions, which should reduce Chrome’s RAM consumption.

The new declarativeNetRequest API was introduced to replace the current webRequest API. This made ad blockers more difficult, in favor of user privacy. The relevant api is said to have been modified in the meantime to meet the wishes of developers and to guarantee the privacy of users. Meanwhile, there are already adblockers that work with V3, but they have a limited set of functions, such as uBlock Origin Lite and AdGuard MV3. Mozilla has said it will continue to support the webRequest API.