Chrome 150 pulls the last MV2 flag on June 30, ending uBlock Origin
Google is removing the final escape hatch for Manifest V2 extensions. uBlock Origin is the last big ad blocker still on V2 — and after Chrome 150, the workaround flag is gone.
Chrome 150 (around June 30, 2026) drops the ExtensionManifestV2Disabled flag; Chrome 151 in July removes the rest. Google cites "complexity, tech debt, and security risks."
A self-identified Googler defended it as a security move. A reply noted Google makes 75% of its revenue from ads — and controls the extension store it claims to be protecting.
The flag that kept ad blockers alive is being deleted
The deprecation of Manifest V2 has been creeping for years; what's new is the date. The 9to5Google report lays out the schedule that turns "deprecated" into "gone."
Chrome 150, expected around June 30, 2026, removes the ExtensionManifestV2Disabled policy, the flag users leaned on to keep V2 extensions running. Chrome 151 in July strips the remaining toggles (ExtensionManifestV2Unsupported, AllowLegacyMV2Extensions, and others). MV3 swaps the flexible webRequest API for the limited declarativeNetRequest, which is exactly what uBlock Origin's full version relies on. A Google engineer's stated reason: MV2 can't be maintained "indefinitely due to complexity, tech debt, and security risks."
"Disingenuous," said the reply to the Googler
The thread split immediately, but the most useful pairing was an insider and his critic. A self-identified Google employee framed it as user protection.
"they're doing this in the name of security … it prevents add-ons from scraping information since they have to put in the block list ahead of time" — kyrra, a Googler stating opinions are his own
The reply did the math on incentives.
"Google, being a company that collects 75% of its revenue from ads, is being disingenuous … If security were the priority then the add-ons themselves should be inspected" — a commenter on who actually controls the extension store
The clickbait asterisk: MV3 blockers already work
Not everyone sees apocalypse. One commenter noted most ad blockers already run on MV3, and uBlock Origin is the lone holdout.
"Most ad blockers do already use MV3, uBlock Origin is the only one still using V2 … none prevent creating an effective ad blocker" — a commenter correcting the headline framing
The practical escape routes are concrete, not slogans: Brave now hosts MV2 builds of uBO, AdGuard, uMatrix and NoScript on its own backend, bypassing MV3 entirely; Firefox keeps the full API; DNS-level blockers like Pi-hole still cut a swath. The rule the thread converged on is unromantic — leaving Chrome is easier than maintaining a workaround inside it.
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