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Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

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Itsallaguess
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Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#225873

Postby Itsallaguess » May 31st, 2019, 8:34 pm

Just raised for awareness -

Google is planning to restrict modern ad blocking Chrome extensions to enterprise users only, according to 9to5Google. This is despite a backlash to an announcement by Google in January proposing changes that will stop current ad blockers from working efficiently.

And the software giant is not backing down: It says the only people who can use ad blockers following the change will be Google’s enterprise users.

The proposal – dubbed Manifest V3 – will see a major transformation to Chrome extensions that includes a revamp of the permissions system. It will mean modern ad blockers such as uBlock Origin – which uses Chrome’s webRequest API to block ads before they’re downloaded – won’t work. This is because Manifest V3 sees Google halt the webRequest API’s ability to block a particular request before it’s loaded.


http://web.archive.org/web/201905310904 ... o-firefox/

<Cough> Firefox ahoy! </Cough>

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

Infrasonic
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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#225877

Postby Infrasonic » May 31st, 2019, 8:51 pm

Wait for the user numbers to reach saturation point, then pull the ad blocking plug.

On Android Chrome I've been using 'reader mode' as a an ad blocker for years (there are no native ad blockers), initially via flags (chrome://flags) , but I think it's actually a setting now.
Of course they could remove that option too...

Hosts file is looking more attractive now.

PhaseThree

Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#225881

Postby PhaseThree » May 31st, 2019, 8:58 pm

If you're technically savvy and are have a spare raspberry Pi or similar then take a look at Pi-hole (https://pi-hole.net/). I've been using it for six months or so and it is by far the most accomplished ad blocker I've come across.

richfool
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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#225894

Postby richfool » May 31st, 2019, 9:36 pm

I use Mozilla Firefox on my computer, and I have installed it on my smartphone, should the need arise.

I also have Opera as a backup on my computer.

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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#225904

Postby Howyoudoin » May 31st, 2019, 10:35 pm

I don't begrudge Google and others monetising their free software.

I do begrudge them and others not paying their fair share of tax and misusing our personal data though.

HYD

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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#225919

Postby Breelander » June 1st, 2019, 12:50 am

Itsallaguess wrote:Just raised for awareness -

Google is planning to restrict modern ad blocking Chrome extensions to enterprise users only...

<Cough> Firefox ahoy! </Cough>


First, as a Firefox user that makes me very glad I've never installed Chrome :)

Second, even if I had, I use a HOSTS table rather than an ad blocker - so it wouldn't have affected me anyway. :D

Third, and perhaps more interesting for devotees of all things Chromium, the next generation of Microsoft Edge is a complete re-write based on the same Chromium open source project that Google used as the basis for Chrome. The Edge Insider preview is available now to all for testing, the Dev channel being the most stable version. Windows 10 users can install and run it alongside their existing Edge, it runs as an independent additional browser and won't conflict with the old Edge.

Microsoft Edge Insider Channels

Interestingly, MS plan to release the chromium Edge for W7, W8, W8.1 and have already released the Edge preview for MacOS

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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#225924

Postby Stompa » June 1st, 2019, 7:46 am

Infrasonic wrote:On Android Chrome I've been using 'reader mode' as a an ad blocker for years (there are no native ad blockers), initially via flags (chrome://flags)

On Android I use Brave Browser (based on Chromium), which has ad-blocking built in. It works pretty well. I subsequently installed Brave Browser for Windows to enable me to sync bookmarks, and that's pretty good too.

From what I've read, Brave ad-blocking shouldn't be affected by Manifest V3, but I guess we'll have wait and see.

Infrasonic
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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#225935

Postby Infrasonic » June 1st, 2019, 9:11 am

I tried Brave out for a bit as well as loads of others.
On Android I really like Firefox Focus as a privacy first option.
I don't have a default browser set, I choose between Chrome, FFF, Edge and Opera mini depending on what I need.
Ghostery had a great Android browser for ages that they then wrecked with an update, hence me trying out FFF.

On W10 Desktop It's Chrome, Firefox and Edge currently.

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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#225938

Postby Julian » June 1st, 2019, 9:24 am

Many thanks for the heads-up Itsallaguess. Extremely useful to know.

Question to everyone - are there any WIndows tools for easy modification of the hosts table? Unless it's already been done then it seems to me that this could be an opportunity for someone to create a simple graphical tool specifically designed to help the less technically savvy to effectively use the hosts table to block adds. A quick Google threw up this...

http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

... that I have no connection whatsoever with, even as a user, and I make no recommendation whatsoever about it or even whether it is trustworthy since I haven't tried it, but it doesn't really look to be the slick sort of package that I was thinking of for technophobes where one would simply install a simple Windows app that would then automatically get latest updates to host table entries from some server maintained by the supplier. An advanced settings page in the app would probably also make sense where the user could view entries automatically populated from the server edit them if required to delete/disable unwanted ones and/or add extra user-defined entries if required.

The existing purveyors of adblock extensions would seem to be in a position to have good knowledge of all the ad servers it is worthwhile to block, i.e. the standard set of extra host table entries that would be pushed down to the user via the simple client app.

Edit - another thing occurred to me. I used to use a paid-for security package (Kaspersky Internet Security) but now just use the built in Microsoft stuff. I seem to remember from my days of researching those sort of paid products that some do have at least popup blockers if not full adblock capabilities. Do any have full adblocking using the hosts table? The AV folks are constantly pushing updated rules down to their clients regarding malware signatures, known suspicious sites (for those that offer that functionality) etc so keeping a set of adblocking host table entries up to date would seem to fit in pretty naturally with their modus operandi and all within a framework targeted at non-technical users. (This comment made before checking for myself because I wanted to get it in before the Lemon Fool edit window closes on my post.)

- Julian

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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#225947

Postby UncleEbenezer » June 1st, 2019, 10:09 am

I'm waiting 'til this happens, before deciding on a course of action.

"Blocking ad-blockers" is a good headline, but it's also an oversimplification, and it's spin.

The actual story is that they're removing some of the APIs that adblockers use. And there's an alternative spin on it, which is that they've learned lessons from stories like Facebook's troubles with Cambridge Analytica and are removing APIs that could open them to that kind of abuse.

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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#225955

Postby Lanark » June 1st, 2019, 11:08 am

This is a natural progression from them building a Google login/profile right into the browser. Google don't want Chrome to be just a web browser they want it to contain your whole online life and digital profile - a bit like Facebook.

For desktop users it is a no brainer to just use Firefox + uBlock origin. FireFox is now faster anyway (Flash is now dead). I suspect the flash engine that's still built into Chrome is the reason it is now slower than Firefox, who dropped all flash support a couple of years ago.

The MVPS hosts file does work but it contains thousands of entries most of which are long dead, and that means it consumes a lot of memory.
I use a hand written hosts file with a few hundred entries for blocking crap like Taboola, boredpanda and the Daily Mail.

For andriod mobile users avoiding chrome will be a lot more difficult, but then I don't think people do a lot of web browsing on a phone it is mostly apps now.

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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#225970

Postby Breelander » June 1st, 2019, 12:42 pm

Julian wrote:...are there any WIndows tools for easy modification of the hosts table?


If I need to add/remove items I use Notepad. HOSTS is just a text file, after all. The only restriction is that you'll be blocked form saving direct to Windows\System32\Drivers\etc where the HOSTS file is kept. So save elsewhere then move or copy to its final destination.


A quick Google threw up this...

http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

... that I have no connection whatsoever with, even as a user, and I make no recommendation whatsoever about it or even whether it is trustworthy since I haven't tried it, but it doesn't really look to be the slick sort of package that I was thinking of...


That is the one I have been using for years, since my XP/W7 days. I just copy the HOSTS file from the downloaded .zip file and paste it into Windows\System32\Drivers\etc. You need to be signed in as an administrator to do this, but it's not difficult to do.

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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#225994

Postby James » June 1st, 2019, 2:06 pm

Lanark wrote:
For andriod mobile users avoiding chrome will be a lot more difficult, but then I don't think people do a lot of web browsing on a phone it is mostly apps now.


I'm reading this on my Android phone right now. Don't think there is a TLF app available.

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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#226012

Postby dave559 » June 1st, 2019, 3:52 pm

Lanark wrote:For andriod mobile users avoiding chrome will be a lot more difficult, but then I don't think people do a lot of web browsing on a phone it is mostly apps now.


Firefox for Android is a perfectly good alternative browser. ;)

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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#226043

Postby Slarti » June 1st, 2019, 5:06 pm

Lanark wrote:For andriod mobile users avoiding chrome will be a lot more difficult, but then I don't think people do a lot of web browsing on a phone it is mostly apps now.


What?

Firefox with uBlock Origin on my Android mobile works for me.

Slarti

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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#226228

Postby Infrasonic » June 2nd, 2019, 1:45 pm

If you look in the Google Play store there's over a hundred Android browsers there, many of them focused on privacy first with selective cookie blocking, javascript blocking et al.

If you want to use logged in Google services though (I do) it will be a bit of a PITA if the Chrome browser 'alternative' rules based ad blocking route (as used by AdBlock plus which is a bit meh imho) is less effective than the current API implementation. We'll have to wait and see how uBlock Origin and the others adapt to the new landscape before judging anything.

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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#226295

Postby AsleepInYorkshire » June 2nd, 2019, 5:02 pm

May be worth trying?

https://www.dogpile.com/

AiY

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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#226630

Postby AsleepInYorkshire » June 3rd, 2019, 10:17 pm

Lanark wrote:This is a natural progression from them building a Google login/profile right into the browser. Google don't want Chrome to be just a web browser they want it to contain your whole online life and digital profile - a bit like Facebook.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e26gfx/pla ... ntentcard4

AiY

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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#226662

Postby formoverfunction » June 4th, 2019, 7:36 am

PhaseThree wrote:If you're technically savvy and are have a spare raspberry Pi or similar then take a look at Pi-hole (https://pi-hole.net/). I've been using it for six months or so and it is by far the most accomplished ad blocker I've come across.


I'm considering buying another one just for this purpose.

My existing Pi is used to drive an additional monitor, is a back up device and boots with a VPN live so allows me mutliple IP's (via SSH/VNC) from my laptop.Sometimes with the addition of usb mouse to speed up browsing.

I also use virtualbox on the laptop with Debian.

Wonderful little machines!

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Re: Google Chrome look to block ad-blockers for all except Enterprise users....

#226724

Postby Slarti » June 4th, 2019, 10:04 am

AsleepInYorkshire wrote:
Lanark wrote:This is a natural progression from them building a Google login/profile right into the browser. Google don't want Chrome to be just a web browser they want it to contain your whole online life and digital profile - a bit like Facebook.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e26gfx/pla ... ntentcard4


A big part of the reason why I use Google products as little as possible and under different IDs, or not logged in, on different devices. EG my Android phone ID is only used for my Android phone.

DuckDuckGo does not give the politicised results if you use her search terms.

Slarti


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