Google Chrome users have seen a significant shift in ad-blocking capabilities following the tech giant’s completion of its transition to Manifest V3 in late 2024, a change finalized in July 2025. The move has effectively removed the full version of the widely-used uBlock Origin extension from the Chrome Web Store.
Manifest V3, a major update to the Chrome extension platform, replaced the webRequest API – a tool relied upon by content blockers like uBlock Origin to intercept and block network requests in real-time – with the declarativeNetRequest API. Google has stated the change was implemented for security and performance improvements. However, the declarativeNetRequest API imposes limitations, notably a cap on the number of filter rules and a lack of dynamic filtering capabilities previously available.
The previous rule limit of 30,000 has been increased to 330,000, but developers have indicated this remains a constraint. The original uBlock Origin extension was removed from the Chrome Web Store. A lighter version, uBlock Origin Lite, remains available for Chrome users.
The changes are not limited to uBlock Origin. The transition impacts all content blockers that previously utilized the webRequest API. The open-source ad blocker Ghostery, a JavaScript library designed for blocking ads and trackers, offers compatibility with Puppeteer, Electron, Chrome, and Firefox, and can also function as a standalone JavaScript library. Ghostery’s adblocker supports 99% of filters from the Easylist and uBlock Origin projects, according to its developers.
Alternative JavaScript ad-blocking projects exist, including FuckAdBlock, RecipeFilter, ttv_adEraser, Youtube-AdBlocker, adblock-filter-analyzer, and Reddit-ChromeExt-PromotedBlock, as identified by open-source project directories. However, the impact of the Manifest V3 changes on these projects remains varied.
uBlock Origin’s creator, gorhill, has made the source code for uBlock Origin Lite (Manifest V3) available on Github. The project’s developers continue to monitor the situation and explore potential solutions within the constraints of the new API.
As of March 3, 2026, Google has not indicated any plans to revisit the limitations imposed by Manifest V3, leaving the future of comprehensive ad-blocking on Chrome uncertain.
