Possibly yes but who knows. It is no secret that Google’s most lucrative, money-maker is datamining/tracking and targeted marketing and advertising. What is this mega conglomerate to do when the masses are given tools to fight this? Simply change a web code standard to disrupt the tool’s abilities to work and disguise the change as a security upgrade. Granted once Google deprecates V2 and V3 goes into effect things will be safer, but I don’t buy that increased security is the primary intent while disrupting the blocking as the incidental – it’s the other way around.
Here are two video explanations, one detailed and providing a great overview and the other a mention in weekly, tech-news but still relevant. The first is slightly pessimistic and the second cautiously optimistic. Nic at The Linux Experiment breaks it down in interesting detail while not being too long – less than 15 minutes – even giving possible solutions and an agreed upon prognosis that this will be transparent to the masses. Some may notice that the blockers don’t working as well but will be on their merry way while others annoyed, switching browser/extension, etc.
Next up is Riley at TechLinked mentioning it in one of their tri-weekly productions in a brief but concise way including their brand of, “shout-out,” solution of not using Chrome and instead Brave of which I am slightly skeptical since both are based on Google’s Chromium technology. FYI, Brave is used on my mobile devices especially where privacy and ad/track blocking are of concern.
“Slightly skeptical,” “possibly yes,” obviously I am on the fence as to what – if any – harm Manifest V3 could have on a user’s choice, and this point and subject to change. It is too soon to judge but rest assured that the watchers are watching, waiting and if foul play is seen from Google’s shenanigans it will be called out. If the effect is minor and tools still work then I will adjust my extensions and apps to the best effectiveness but if these break, I will seriously consider changing browser back to the likes of Firefox where V2 will still be honored. What do you think and say, leave it in the comments and get the conversation flowing! Happy computing… if that still exists.
PS, Are you curious what others think? Android Authority has released a poll asking if you will switch from Chrome once this takes place, give them some love and vote.
Windows & Tech Corner 