Submission + - Firefox and Chrome are squaring off over ad-blocker extensions (theverge.com) 3
Google’s strategy has been roundly criticized by privacy advocates — the Electronic Frontier Foundation has been a vocal opponent — but the search company hasn’t been swayed. Though Firefox has a far smaller share of the desktop marketplace than Chrome, it could be a chance for Mozilla’s product to really define itself. For Google though, sticking with MV3 will have a huge impact on the overall role of ad blocking on the modern web.
Regardless, Google seems to be holding course. Despite the flurry of criticism from ad blocker developers, Google spokesperson Scott Westover told The Verge that the company did support blocking and only intended to limit the type of data certain extensions could collect.
Google has heard positive feedback about the changes from many content blocking extension developers, Westover said, pointing The Verge to praise from the makers of Adblock Plus.
It’s possible that Firefox’s stance on ad blocking will encourage more users to switch to the browser, which is currently estimated to make up less than 8 percent of the desktop browser market compared to Chrome’s 67 percent. Once Manifest V2 support ends in June 2023, changes in functionality will become more apparent to users of any Chromium-based browser. Until then, Mozilla will be patiently making the case for privacy, even if sometimes you’ll have to look for it deep in a specialist blog.