Google is afraid of Firefox, and we tell you why

Faced with criticism, the American giant must backtrack on the issue of ad blockers.

Manifest V3, the new version of the rules governing the use of extensions for Chrome, Edge or even Brave, is not unanimous. Particularly among developers, who fear they will no longer be able to offer suitable solutions. But also on the side of privacy defenders, who denounce unwelcome forcing on the part of Google.

So, guess who could benefit from this? One of the rare browsers not (yet) running under Chromium: Firefox.

A victory for the trackers

For some time now, Google has had a special relationship with ad blockers. If the ban on using this type of tool on YouTube recently caused a lot of noise, the gradual arrival of Manifest V3 demonstrates that the firm is looking at the subject on a larger scale. Indeed, by restricting the use of a particular API, called Declarative Net Request, the company is making the work of extensions like AdBlock much more difficult.

As Alexei Miagkov explains,Electronic Frontier Foundation : “ If extensions can’t innovate, users lose and trackers win “. Google and Chromium-based browsers being ultra-dominant, the American giant’s decisions affect almost all users, who then have very little choice.

Solid resistance on the lookout

However, some companies and organizations do not base their browsers on Google’s open-source project. While Apple continues to use WebKit for Safari, Mozilla clings to Gecko for Firefox. This means that the two browsers remain independent from the Mountain View firm, which has an impact on extension developers, and therefore on users.

While Manifest V3 is criticized for some of its aspects, Mozilla is in the process of integrating it into Firefox to make it easier to port extensions from Chrome. However, this is not done without some tweaking, especially on elements that can prevent ad blockers from working properly.

The consequences did not take long to appear. Following new crackdown policies on YouTube, users have been rushing to find new solutions to avoid ads when watching videos. Except that, now, few of these tools work correctly on Chrome and others, unlike those developed for Firefox.

This could be a real threat to Google as users may move to other browsers. And this, after several years of domination by software using Chromium.

Google brought to its senses?

The Mountain View firm therefore decided to act before things got worse. If we now know that Manifest V3 will become mandatory in June 2024 for Chrome Web Store extensions, it has also undergone some notable changes. Particularly in terms of the Declarative Net Request API, the use of which will be a little more flexible than initially planned.

Good news for ad blockers, who will be able to offer “ the same filtering quality as with Manifest V2 “, notes Andrey Meshkov, technical director of AdGuard. However, for Alexei Miagkov, everything is not perfect: “ These changes are useful, but they are about improving a system that is limited in its design “. Manifest V3 still imposes many limitations on developers, and there is likely to be tension between developers and Google for some time to come.

It remains to be seen how browsers geared towards data protection but based on Chromium, like Brave, will fare. But, above all, how Firefox or Safari will fare in the game.

Source : The Verge