Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, two popular browsers, have finally dropped support for the well-known ad-blocking extension uBlock Origin due to their shift to the new Manifest VThree standard. For Chromium users, these two products also consume up to 20 GB of disk space on Windows 11 to run built-in local AI models. Against this backdrop, Firefox has decided to take the opposite approach by retaining a fully functional ad blocker.
Mozilla issued an official statement regarding the future of this popular tool on Firefox. Company representatives stated that Firefox's support for uBlock Origin will not disappear, and the browser itself will continue to evolve based on its proprietary Gecko engine.
Firefox's key technical distinction lies in its retention of the webRequestBlocking technology, which grants extensions the ability to intercept and modify network requests. Mozilla has decided to preserve this capability even within the Manifest VThree framework, allowing uBlock Origin to retain all functionalities that are no longer possible under Google's current Chromium implementation.
In addition to Firefox, the Brave browser will also continue to support the extension. Although Brave also uses Chromium, it refuses to comply with Google's restrictions. The project team has migrated Manifest V2 format extensions to its own servers, allowing users to enable these plugins via the "Settings > Extensions > Manifest v2 Extensions" menu, bypassing blocks imposed by the Chrome Web Store.
For Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge users, developers recommend using the stripped-down uBlock Origin Lite version, which is severely restricted by the new rules. As mainstream browsers abandon familiar ad blockers, users are actively switching to alternative products.