uBlock Origin alternative

[Dean_Mantz]

I read in the K12sysadmin group on Reddit that uBlock Origin is going away. I implemented it a while back when several of you recommended it for K12 security. Now that it may be going away, what alternatives would this group suggest? 

[kaned]

I've considered doing something like Pihole, but I really am not interested in yet another filtering device...

[ddelboccio]

Wow, I've been using uBlock origin personally for years.  Any hard evidence this is actually going away, and when?

[alexgrutza]

I think it's because they're changing something on the codebase side (manifest v3?)

https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/15/24270981/google-chrome-ublock-origin-phaseout-manifest-v3-ad-blo...

[kaned]

Yea, Chrome is depreciating some API's  and  moving to "Manifest V3".  This removes some of the ad blockers ability to do things.

https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/develop/migrate

Also this:  https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/15/24270981/google-chrome-ublock-origin-phaseout-manifest-v3-ad-blo...

[Dean_Mantz]

Thank you for responding and adding the developer link. 

[Dean_Mantz]

Thank you for the updated article!

[npl]

I setup https://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-1-1-1-1-for-families/ on one school site as a quick fix but am still looking for a full time solution. Was considering a similar dns filer and installing a firewall with web filtering.  Would be interested in what others are using.

[ddunlap]

I've not personally used this one but it's free:

https://controld.com/free-dns

[Kim_Nilsson]

NOTHING will be able to do what uBlock Origin does today when Manifest v2 is removed.

uBlock Origin Lite (same developer) is built to try to follow the rules of Mv3.

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ublock-origin-lite/ddkjiahejlhfcafbddmgiahcphecmpfh

I am not planning on using anything else.

Problem is YouTube. When no adblocker works in Chrome, YouTube is going to suck.

I still feel it's embarrassing that Education isn't excluded from ads on YouTube, and I mean the entire thing. I know "teachers embedding content avoids ads", but that's not what we're looking for and need.

[Olger]

Just ramp up the filtering mode of uBlock Origin Lite to complete, that works for the ads on youtube.

[Kim_Nilsson]

For me it at least made the ad (47 seconds!) skippable. It didn't automatically skip the ad.

[mpartenope4676]

Has anyone had any luck with setting up admin settings for ublock origin lite? I found this: 

{ "disableFirstRunPage": { "Value": true }, "noFiltering": { "Value": [ "google.com", "msn.com" ] } }

on this github page https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBOL-home/discussions/35. But I had a whole host of setting with ublock origin including stopping users from access settings. I've yet to find the equivalent for this new version.

[mpartenope4676]

Tooks some tinkering but got there in the end! This site set me right looking at the "OS-agnostic Chrome policy:" sections https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBOL-home/wiki/Managed-settings

{
"disableFirstRunPage": {
"Value": true
},
"disabledFeatures": {
"Value": [
"dashboard", "develop", "filteringMode", "zapper"
]
},
"noFiltering": {
"Value": [
"examplesite01.com", "examplesite02.org"
]
}
}

[Kim_Nilsson]

Excellent! There is hope for the future still.