Google loves to innovate the Chrome browser as they recently introduced the interface overhaul. But now, as per the proposed changes, Google is planning to hit the Ad Blocker extensions. The Google Chrome is one of the most popular and extension friendly, and many people use Ad-blocker extensions on Google Chrome. But with the proposed changes, the company is planning to deprecate or control the WebRequest API, that allows the extensions to monitor the website and block the ads. By changing the way Chrome browser works, almost all other extensions based on network activity, mostly the Ad-Blockers will die immediately.
Currently, the Ad-Blocker extensions use the WebRequest API to monitor the network activity and blocking the network activity that loads the advertising. It’s good for blocking annoying ads, but the company is facing significant revenue loss as they own Google Adwords and Adsense to display ads on the websites. If Google decides to implement their vision and issue an update, then almost all of the extensions like the Ad-Blockers, Script blockers, and other privacy-oriented extensions may die.
Instead of the WebRequest API, the company wants to implement declarativeNetRequest API. The new API will restrict the extensions from automatically accessing the network activities. To use this API, the apps and extensions will have to define what is their purpose and how do they work. That’s not the only problem, as the new API might have limitations than the older API. The declarativeNetRequest API can handle 30,000 filters, and the WebRequest API has the 500,000 filters. This is going to be a big problem for privacy lovers as the move might come into reality very soon.
