IN Lately There are so many advertisements on the Internet that it has become quite problematic to find a web resource that hosts at least a moderate amount of advertising. If you are tired of annoying ads, uBlock Origin browser extension Google Chrome will come in handy.

uBlock Origin is an extension for the Google Chrome browser that allows you to block any type of advertising encountered while surfing the web.

You can either immediately download uBlock Origin from the link at the end of the article, or find it yourself through the extension store.

To do this, click on the browser menu icon and in the list that appears, go to « Additional tools» – “Extensions” .

Scroll down to the very bottom of the page and open the item "More extensions" .

When the store loads on the screen Google extensions Chrome, enter the name of the extension you are looking for in the left area of ​​the window in the search bar - uBlock Origin .

In the block "Extensions" The extension we are looking for will be displayed. Click the button to the right of it "Install" to add it to Google Chrome.

Once the uBlock Origin extension is installed in Google Chrome, an extension icon will appear in the upper right area of ​​the browser.

How to use uBlock Origin?

By default, uBlock Origin is already activated, so you can feel the effect by going to any web resource that was previously replete with advertising.

If you click once on the extension icon, a small menu will appear on the screen. The largest extension button allows you to control the activity of the extension.

At the bottom of the program menu there are four buttons that are responsible for activating individual elements of the extension: enabling or disabling pop-up windows, blocking large media elements, operating cosmetic filters, and managing third-party fonts on the site.

The program also has advanced settings. To open them, click on the miniature gear icon in the upper left corner of uBlock Origin.

The window that opens contains tabs "My rules" And "My filters" , aimed at experienced users who want to fine-tune the extension’s operation to suit their requirements.

Ordinary users will find the tab useful "White list" , in which you can add to the list of web resources for which the extension will be disabled. This is necessary in cases where the resource refuses to display content with an active ad blocker.

Unlike all ad blocking extensions in Google browser Chrome, which we reviewed before, uBlock Origin has impressive functionality that allows you to fine-tune the operation of the extension for yourself. Another question is that the average user does not need all this abundance of functions, but without resorting to settings, this add-on copes with its main task perfectly.

Updated. Available in the Chrome Web Store a new version uBlock Origin development build (v. 1.22.5.102) dated October 12, but there is no confirmation that the problems with Google have been resolved yet.

October 12– , . Since the beginning of 2019, quite a lot has been said about the fact that the development of uBlock Origin extensions may cease, and how these changes will affect all content blockers and other similar extensions.

In the summer, Google nevertheless announced its intention to make changes to the Web Request API, “in order to minimize the collection of data in Chrome by third-party extensions for blocking content and advertising.” However, the company relaxed the limit on the number of filtering rules to 150 thousand rules after facing serious criticism from users and developers.

But it looks like Google is back on track to limit ad blockers in Chrome.

Google refused to publish uBlock Origin for developers

Raymond Hill reports on his GitHub page that Google refused to allow him to publish a new version of the uBlock Origin extension for developers in the Chrome Web Store.

Developers are uploading new versions of extensions to the Chrome Web Store to replace them existing versions, after which Google runs automatic scans of these tools, and can also analyze downloaded extensions manually before allowing or rejecting their publication in its own directory.

After posting the new version of the "uBlock Origin development build", the developer received a message from Google e-mail, that the extension violates one of the Chrome Web Store policies, which prohibits "combining unrelated functionality in extensions."

According to Raymond Hill, email does not contain any other information about the actual violation. For such practice Google company often criticized, but she continues to adhere to it in all areas of her business.

Hill, a seasoned developer by now, is under no illusion that Google will provide information about the denial:

There is no point in speculating one way or another on this topic, my experience with the Chrome Web Store in the past has taught me that we will never know why an extension was rejected for publication, Google never reveals the exact reason "why".

The developer version of the uBlock Origin extension is used by fewer users than the stable version, meaning the outage is not yet affecting the majority of users of the extension. The main problem with rejection is that the next stable version of the extension will be more or less identical to the rejected developer version.

While there is still a possibility that a new version of uBlock Origin will be published on the Chrome Web Store, it is more likely that Google will refuse to host it again and this could spell the end of uBlock Origin for Google Chrome.

uBlock Origin (Ad Blocker) is a free Internet ad blocking extension that can be installed in browsers. The software allows you to block advertisements, viruses and pop-up banners, which often open on certain pages. The extension is supported by most modern browsers; it filters information on pages in accordance with user settings. There is a built-in mechanism for connecting program filters.

The application allows you to improve the speed of your Internet connection by eliminating advertising windows. The presence of the extension improves the browsing experience and makes it more productive, since incomprehensible advertising no longer covers the main content. The application's simple and intuitive interface allows you to easily launch it in Chrome, Mozilla or Safari. The user can create a separate list of prohibited or allowed resources.

Key Features of uBlock Origin

• advertising and spam filtering;
• eliminating pop-ups;
• custom filters;
• wide settings at the user's request;
• blocking individual elements on the page;
• Availability whitelist resources;
• browser performance;
• viewing the number of blocked sites and elements;
• maintaining complete application statistics;
• Availability brief information about the use of this module;
• support Chrome browsers, Firefox, Opera and Yandex Browser;
• many customization tools;
• blocking adult content;
• video advertising filtering;
• work in background;
• optimization of software operation;
• speed up page loading;
• built-in anti-tracker.

Advantages and disadvantages of uBlock Origin

The advantages of the program include

1. Works with most browsers.
2. Free to use.
3. Ability to configure individual filters.
4. Correct operation without failures or errors.
5. Easy and fast installation.
6. Supports any operating system.

The disadvantages of the program include

1. Absence working version for Safari browser.
2. In rare cases it does not block ads Yandex Direct.

Conclusion

uBlock Origin is a popular ad blocker which, along with such well-known ones as AdBlock Plus or Adguard copes well with annoying advertising. He uses less random access memory and uses virtually no CPU load, while using a much larger number of filters compared to other blockers.

Attention!

Download uBlock Origin you can follow the link below.

uBlock is another extension for blocking ads on visited sites. According to statements by Raymond Hill, the project developer, and comments from some users, uBlock differs from its analogues in that it consumes less memory, processor resources and is generally more lightweight. For example, here are memory consumption statistics from the authors:

But here are more impressive data on CPU load:

Things got weird this month when a new alternative extension with the same name popped up on the Chrome Web Store. At the same time, the original extension was first renamed uBlock₀, then completely disappeared from the catalog and only after some time returned under the name uBlock Origin.

It is understandable why, in this situation, many users began to ask questions and even accuse the newer extension of fraud. But what really happened?

Transfer of rights

Raymond Hill (gorhill), the original developer of uBlock, commented on the situation some time later.

This is how however more and more of my time was spent, and no doubt it would just become worst as uBlock gained popularity. So I was getting sucked into something I never intended to do.

The uBlock project was created by Raymond as a hobby and mainly just for himself. He wanted to create an extension that would suit his needs. And no more. What happened was that uBlock became extremely popular (almost 1 million users in the Chrome Web Store). He had neither the time nor the desire to support and develop the extension in accordance with user requirements. Therefore, he decided to transfer the rights to the name "uBlock" and the main GitHub repository to Chris Aleody.

At the same time, Raymond will continue to support the now fork of the main branch. This fork, in fact, is the latest version of its extension, which will mainly receive fixes. New functions will be added only when he himself feels the need for them. And what's most interesting. This fork will continue to live in the Chrome Web Store at the old address and with the entire current user base. Only its name has changed: now it is uBlock Origin. While Chris had to publish a second extension, which gained about 55 thousand users in a month.

The new uBlock (from Chris) and the old uBlock Origin (from Raymond) will continue to exist and develop independently of each other. Although at the moment these extensions are almost copies, in the near future their paths, interface and capabilities may diverge greatly.

What about removal from the Web Store?

At the very beginning, we wrote that the original extension disappeared from the Chrome Web Store catalog, and then returned under a new name. Some time after the publication of the new uBlock extension from Chris, the old one was removed from the catalog by moderators, allegedly due to violations of the service rules.

At the same time, Raymond did not receive any notifications from Google, and even after contacting support, no one could explain to him the reason, citing the fact that all the details were described in the letter that he was supposed to receive (but did not receive). Let's leave out the quality of Chrome Web Store moderation (you understand everything yourself...).

The Chrome store is ridiculous. They should just be straightforward and state the reason of why the extension is taken down right in the dashboard. What's so difficult about this?

The author never received a response to his request, but tried to send uBlock for moderation again, this time changing the name to uBlock Origin and the icon (at the very beginning of our post you can see the new icon). And they missed the expansion.

Recently, a little drama broke out between the old and new authors of the expansion. The point is very simple. Chris wrote on the extension page that it is "current uBlock project development by Chris". Raymond was offended by this, believing that Chris thus wanted to appropriate all the laurels for himself. True, they later made peace. Chris even posted an apology video. And the authorship signature was replaced with “Project currently managed by Chris”.

Ok, so where and how to download uBlock?

If you want to continue to use the original extension, which will most likely develop exclusively in the direction of corrections, then install uBlock Origin.

If you are interested in new opportunities, and you want to become part of the community and propose your ideas, then it is better to pay attention to the new uBlock.

It's time to take stock. uBlock Origin continues to live with a new large audience, but uBlock seems to have died. Users ran after the real author.

Developer:	Raymond Hill
Version:	1.25.2 from 03/28/2020
System:	Windows/Mac/Linux
Language:	Russian, English and others
License:	For free
Downloads:	15 507
Category:
Size:	2.5 MB