Google postpones plan to cripple adblockers, other extensions in Chrome

Google postpones new update to Chrome

Only a month ago, Google was all set to update the API used by Chrome extensions. While typical users wouldn’t have given much thought to the move, some software developers criticised the search giant, pointing out that some of the changes could cripple extensions to block ads and improve security.

The proposed update would disable most of the blocking and content filtering capabilities of Chrome extensions by deprecating the webRequest API. Google’s stated rationale for the new update was improved privacy and security and quicker page load times. However, Google recently backtracked from their plan to incorporate the changes, amid public outcry and legal threats.

Google engineer Devlin Cronin wrote in a Google Groups post, "It is not, nor has it ever been, our goal to prevent or break content blocking. We are committed to preserving that ecosystem and ensuring that users can continue to customise the Chrome browser to meet their needs. This includes continuing to support extensions, including content blockers, developer tools, accessibility features, and many others."

Cronin’s post came after Ghosterly, one of the ad blocker creators – who strongly opposed the proposed updated – released a study stating that not all ad-blockers performed at the same level and popular content-blocker are very effective, only impacting Chrome’s performance by about a tenth of a millisecond. While some sources dispute Ghosterly’s study; Google’s reservation to make the proposed changes does give Ghosterly’s study some level of truth.

A  spokeswoman from Google said in a statement that the changes proposed were meant to improve the design process, while reassuring developers that their extensions would continue to work.