uBlock Origin has decided to suspend ad blocking on the Facebook platform. This decision was made after years of efforts to keep up with the changes implemented by Meta, which aim to make digital advertising detection more difficult, according to the tool's responsible team.
A project participant confirmed that Meta is constantly altering the structure of Facebook pages to bypass blockers. For this reason, the project, which is mainly composed of volunteer developers, will no longer prioritize the social network.
It is important to note that this modification does not imply that the ad blocker tool will stop operating in general, nor that all Facebook ads will automatically start being shown to users.
The conflict between Facebook and ad blockers is not new. According to Neowin, Meta has been employing methods in recent years to make viewing ads more complex for browser extensions. uBlock Origin, for example, has versions available for Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Opera.
Among the tactics used by Meta, the fragmentation of terms like "Sponsored" stands out, where the word is divided into separate letters within the page code. Another strategy involves inserting false characters and randomly changing the order of letters in the source code.
A developer mentioned in the project forum that Meta monitors open-source projects to develop countermeasures. Maintainers reported that this resulted in a 'code war' that required new adaptations with every fix made.
With this outcome, the main developers will cease updating the official filtering lists specific to Facebook. However, uBlock Origin will continue to accept voluntary contributions sent by external users.
The extension has already stopped working on Google Chrome after the definitive transition to the Manifest V3 standard, while Microsoft has set a schedule to discontinue support on Edge. Currently, the blocker operates normally on browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Brave.
Although primarily associated with users who wish to browse without commercial interruptions, ad blockers are also used by individuals seeking to avoid certain types of advertising, such as gambling. Thus, uBlock Origin's decision occurs in a context where Meta's oversight of ads is being questioned by regulatory bodies and digital protection entities.
In January, the UK Gambling Commission accused the company of allowing the display of illegal online casino ads on Facebook and Instagram. Many of these materials used the expression "Not on GamStop," referencing the British self-exclusion system for gamblers.
More recently, an investigation revealed that Meta had approved paid ads containing explicit material of child sexual abuse generated by artificial intelligence and links to forced nudity apps. Such advertisements were found on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads, and the company removed the content after being notified.
Microsoft recently announced the removal of support for Manifest Version 2 (MV2) type extensions in the Edge browser, which directly impacts the popular ad blocker uBlock Origin. In response to this change, both Mozilla and Brave have guaranteed that their respective browsers will continue to offer support for the tool.
The discontinuation of MV2 extension support in Edge is scheduled to occur by the end of 2026. This decision by Microsoft was made shortly after Google announced that Chrome will cease remaining support for MV2 extensions at the end of August.
Given this situation, users who rely on MV2 extensions in these browsers will need to migrate to those based on Manifest Version 3 (MV3). Although MV3 is considered a more modern and secure standard, it is perceived as less functional by both developers and users in the context of ad blockers.
For those using uBlock Origin in Chrome and Edge, the MV3-based alternative is uBlock Origin Lite. However, as the name suggests, this version has reduced functionalities compared to the original extension.
There is a significant technical difference: the original uBlock Origin operates with an active blocking architecture, analyzing and preventing ad or tracker requests in real time through the webRequest API. The Lite version, due to the absence of this API in MV3, bases its blocks on predefined rules, which can result in lower effectiveness.
This limitation forces the user to choose a potentially less efficient extension or switch to another browser. It was in this scenario that Mozilla and Brave identified an opportunity to offer alternatives.
Following Microsoft's announcement, Mozilla stated via X that Firefox's support for uBlock Origin will remain unchanged, as the organization's browser continues to support MV2 extensions.
Brave also addressed the topic on X, providing more details about its policy. It clarified that, unlike Edge, Brave will maintain support for uBlock Origin because it hosts the tool and other Manifest V2 extensions on its own servers, allowing users to activate them in Settings / Extensions / Manifest V2 Extensions.
It is worth noting that, like Chrome and Edge, Brave uses the Chromium project base. Theoretically, this would suggest that Brave could also lose MV2 support, but this will not happen thanks to a Chromium implementation that preserves the standard.
Mozilla and Brave are not the only ones guaranteeing continued support. As an additional example, Opera had already assured Tecnoblog that uBlock Origin will have support 'for as long as possible' in its browser.
After Chrome, Microsoft Edge will also discontinue support for Manifest Version 2 (MV2) type extensions. This means that popular ad blockers, such as uBlock Origin, will stop working in the Microsoft browser.
Manifest Version 2 consists of a set of rules and functionalities that define how certain extensions operate within the browser. Although MV2 support was officially ended in Chrome in 2024, Google maintained residual compatibility with these types of extensions.
However, this situation is about to change. The remaining support for MV2 in Chrome will be terminated on August 31st, at which point these extensions will be removed from the Chrome Web Store. Microsoft Edge follows a similar path because it shares the Chromium project as its base.
Although Microsoft could maintain a version of Chromium that preserved MV2, the company itself has declared its support for Manifest Version 3 (MV3), which is considered more secure and efficient. For this reason, Edge will be directed towards this new standard.
With about 95% of major MV2 extensions already migrated to MV3 in the Edge extension store, the ecosystem has shown considerable progress. Starting in August 2026, Microsoft Edge will begin the transition phase for MV2 extension users to MV3.
Microsoft has established that the complete migration to MV3 must be finished by the end of 2026 for regular users, while for corporate clients, the extended deadline is early 2027.
In a statement, the company informed that only 58 MV2 extensions with relevant use remain in Edge, and of these, only three do not have MV3-based alternatives. Microsoft suggests that this scenario justifies the total migration to the new standard.
Although Microsoft has not named the extensions, it is presumed that uBlock Origin is among these 58, given that the ad blocker can still be found in the Edge add-on store.
uBlock Origin operates under MV2, but there is an adapted version of it for MV3, called uBlock Origin Lite. However, the latest standard faces resistance due to the perception of being more restricted in terms of features for both users and developers.
Users dependent on MV2-based blockers have two options: look for a replacement extension or switch to another browser. Browsers like Firefox and Brave continue to offer support for Manifest Version 2. A third alternative was presented by Opera, which assured Tecnoblog that uBlock Origin would have support for 'as long as possible' in its browser in June.
