Google Chrome is about to close the last practical loophole that kept some older ad blockers alive. With the final phase of its Manifest V2 shutdown landing in Chrome 150 and Chrome 151, extensions such as uBlock Origin will lose the technical workaround that let them keep running after Google’s wider policy shift.
The change affects Chrome’s Manifest V2 ad blockers directly, and it also matters because Chrome still sets the pace for the rest of the Chromium family. If Google pulls the plug here, browsers such as Opera and Microsoft Edge often end up following along, whether they want to or not.
Chrome 150 removes the key flag
The main change is the removal of the kExtensionManifestV2Disabled flag in Chrome 150, which is expected on 30 June. That flag had been the escape hatch for users who wanted to keep older blockers working despite Google’s migration to Manifest V3.
Once that switch is gone, those extensions can no longer operate in their old form. Chrome 151, planned for July, then finishes the cleanup by removing the remaining Manifest V2 code entirely.
Why Google is pressing ahead
Google’s public argument is straightforward: maintaining two extension architectures at once is messy, expensive, and risky. That is not exactly a shocking revelation, but it does explain why the company has stayed stubbornly on course even as power users complained.
There is also a security angle. Google’s engineers say Manifest V2 carried vulnerabilities and bugs specific to the older model, which gives the company a cleaner justification than simply saying ”we prefer the new thing.” That line may not thrill ad-blocking diehards, but it is the kind of explanation browser vendors lean on when they want fewer exceptions and less legacy code.
What users and rival browsers are likely to feel next
The practical loser here is obvious: people who relied on older blockers and had been clinging to a workaround are out of road. The broader winner is Chrome’s extension model, which becomes easier for Google to maintain and, in theory, safer to police.
- Chrome 150: expected on 30 June, removes kExtensionManifestV2Disabled
- Chrome 151: planned for July, removes the remaining Manifest V2 code
- Older blockers affected: uBlock Origin and similar Manifest V2 extensions
The interesting question is how fast Chromium-based rivals mirror the move. Opera and Microsoft Edge have often treated Chrome’s extension decisions as the template, so this may look less like one browser policy change and more like the end of the road for an entire generation of ad-blocking extensions.