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back to article Google to extend rogue Chrome add-on ban to OS X

If you use Windows, you can forget about installing Chrome extensions from sites other than Google's store, effective immediately – even if you're a web developer. And the same will soon be true for Mac users, too. When the Chocolate Factory originally clamped down on "foreign" extensions in the Windows version of its browser …

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  1. Robert Helpmann??
    Childcatcher

    Cost-Benefit Analysis

    Stealing a page from Apple? The move looks good in terms of bringing malware to heel, but will Google also ban extensions involving ad blocking, anonymization or anything they perceive might interfere with their collecting a buck from advertising? For Google, this is a good deal. For people who use their product, it will probably work out to be more of a mixed bag.

    10 0 Reply
    1. Dana W
      Reply Icon

      Re: Cost-Benefit Analysis

      Hardly, I run Firefox on my Macs, and I run any ad-on's I like. Bets the first thing that ad king Google blocks is all add blockers?

      Glad I never fell for this mania for Chrome.

      1 0 Reply
  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    As an OSX user..

    .. I keep anything Google far away from my machine. And Adobe.

    This has some annoying consequences, though. Because my /private/etc/hosts file excludes google ads and doubleclick tracking, anything I look up on Google needs the URL stripped of all the tracking before it becomes usable. I must see if there isn't anything I can do about that.

    2 2 Reply
    1. John Robson Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: As an OSX user..

      Run a reverse proxy with some rewrite rules - and point your hosts file to that rather than the goomachine?

      0 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: As an OSX user..

        That would indeed be a good idea if I didn't travel so much. I need everything contained in the laptop.

        Having said that, I use mostly DuckDuckGo which doesn't create such problems :).

        1 0 Reply
        1. Sebby
          Reply Icon

          Re: As an OSX user..

          Well of course, once the ban comes into effect, one option you might have is AdBlock for Chrome which is, at least for now, on the Chrome Web Store.

          Google has the power to revoke such blockers. If they do, there's nothing to recommend Chrome.

          0 0 Reply
          1. JohnnyGStrings
            Reply Icon

            Re: As an OSX user..

            If Google make it impossible to install ad blocking and script blocking plugins, they have made it impossible for me to continue using Chrome.

            2 0 Reply
    2. Dan 55 Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: As an OSX user..

      Firefox has an add-on called Clean Links which does just that.

      I assume you use Firefox as Chrome is by Google and all.

      0 0 Reply
  3. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    How does this effect Chromium

    and the like of Iron?

    The whole reason for these is to avoid Google, so become mute if you are forced to use a tracked Google account to get the stuff to stop you being tracked.

    2 0 Reply
    1. Old Handle
      Reply Icon
      Happy

      Re: How does this effect Chromium

      According to wikipedia's page on Chromium, the add-on restriction is one of the things Google inserts before turning Chromium into Chrome. So the other browsers based on it should be unaffected.

      2 0 Reply

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