It finally happened. Earlier this week I opened Microsoft Edge and was inundated with ads. After months of warnings, uBlock Origin stopped working for me in the browser, leaving me with a choice to make: either find an alternative way to block ads in Edge or switch to a different browser.
To be transparent, I only block ads on certain websites. In fact, Windows Central is the primary reason I use an ad blocker at all. I've used uBlock Origin for years to ensure my articles appear clean and clear to our readers.
Ads help pay my bills, so I'm keenly aware that they're an important part of the web (and my life). I whitelist sites I browse regularly and often leave ad blocking disabled as I look around online. But sometimes I want to see what an article looks like with just the text and images I've placed directly. In other instances, I want to take a clean screenshot of the site for an article.
I relied on uBlock Origin for a long time and appreciated its granular controls. I was able to block certain items while approving others. For example, ad blockers sometimes falsely flag product blocks in an article. I appreciate that readers may not want to see a block about a laptop in a random piece, but if an article is literally about a specific Surface becoming available, it makes sense to show a way to purchase the PC.
I've known about the impending end of uBlock Origin for ages. Google transitioned away from Manifest Version 2 (MV2) extensions years ago and we knew Edge would follow suit. MV2 is required for a core functionality of uBlock Origin: intercepting requests.
Plenty of ad blockers still work on Microsoft Edge and even Google Chrome, but they function differently than uBlock Origin. Rather than intercepting requests and blocking them, many ad blockers simply mask ads. There are also limitations of what a Manifest Version 3 (MV3) extension can do, so even uBlock Origin Lite falls short of its "full fat" sibling.
I had toyed around with switching browsers anyway. The end of uBlock Origin on Edge gave me a clean break. I initially looked at Brave because the makers of the browser have committed to keeping MV2 extensions alive. But after installing the browser, I tried using Brave Shields for a bit and found them to be quite effective.
Brave Shields also intercept network requests for ads, so blocking ads also speeds up site performance. That means I can quickly check an article, proof it or confirm it's laid out correctly, then get back to work.
Similarly to uBlock Origin, Brave lets me block specific elements with a couple of clicks. It lacks the satisfying zapper of uBlock Origin, but Brave's tools are still effective.
I'm going to just use Brave Shields for now, but knowing I could fall back to uBlock Origin if needed is comforting.
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