This week Google announced they are moving forward with the plan deprecate Manifest V2. Despite claims by Google, this change has nothing to do with security and everything to do with hobbling ad-blockers.
Last year I switched to Firefox in anticipation of this change and in response to several other user-hostile changes,
At this point I recommend everyone do the following:
- Switch to a non-Chrome browser. I recommend Firefox.
- Install an ad-blocker. I recommend uBlock Origin.
This recommendation applies even if you don’t care about ads or privacy;
the current "don’t be evil" incarnation of Google has
been a poor steward of Chrome and it’s only a matter of time before
they do something that you do care about.
Update (2024-06-27): Don’t forget that ad networks regularly serve up malware as well.