Thanks to Google launching an API for Chrome which would allow developers to create their own extensions for the browser, it has led to the development of extensions such as ad blockers. There is a bit of gray area when it comes to ad blocking, where some believe that it is wrong, while others claim that the creation of intrusive ads has forced their hand.However for the most part, Google has largely tried to play neutral by allowing these extensions to remain on the Chrome Web Store. However it has been recently discovered that Google has plans to make changes to the API which according to developers, has the potential to prevent content blockers from functioning.
This has led to quite quite a bit of public outcry from both developers and users, so much so that Google was forced to respond to it. This comes in the form of a Google Groups post made by Chrome engineer Devlin Cronin who writes, “I’d like to reiterate that all of these changes are still in the draft and design stage, as explicitly called out in the document and the tracking bug. The declarativeNetRequest API is still being expanded and is under active development, and the exact changes that will be implemented as part of Manifest V3 are not finalized. Feedback during this time is crucial, and we absolutely want to hear your comments and concerns.”
The post also goes on to highlight the changes Google plans on making based on feedback from developers. What the final outcome will be remains to be seen.