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> How many people use adblockers?

About 43 %, according to [1].

> Is there any chance manifest v3 will lead to enough users abandoning Googles Chrome […]

No. Google Chrome is pretty much in the same position as Internet Explorer used to be. It's the default browser in the most popular mobile OS and the first thing people install on their PC (or get it installed by someone else). Mozilla can barely play catch-up with all the complex web standards pushed by Goog&co., to say nothing about adding killer features that could bring enough users back from Chrome.

Modern web browsers are rapidly approaching the YouTube territory. That is, becoming a technology so complex that only a multibillion-dollar conglomerate can really maintain it without losing money.

[1]: https://backlinko.com/ad-blockers-users



The 43% number is huge imo. A large quantity of devices either cannot install adblock (or cannot do so easily) such as "smart" tvs.

Even to install on Android Firefox it took more effort than I expected.


It seems the actual number is 43% of those surveyed use an ad blocking tool at least once a month, so a lot of those may only have their ad blocker installed on their PC, plus the bias that comes from only having the answers of those who responded to the survey


Still that’s a fairly overwhelming number of people who feel strongly enough about the topic to install a plug-in. I’m sure there’s a portion of ‘no’ responses that are not aware of what adblockers are or do


I'm using Firefox with moderately aggressive ad blocking and privacy settings. Almost everything works, and the few breakages that I encounter are usually due to the blocking/privacy settings (i.e. they'd happen the same on Chrome if I configured it similarly).

The only thing I actually have to start Chrome for is (ironically) Microsoft Teams.


    42.7% of internet users worldwide (16-64 years old) use ad blocking tools at least once a month.
That framing sets of multiple mental alarm bells.

EDIT: it looks like the source is HootSuite may have a conflict of interest, as they seem to focus on social media advertising campaigns.


What does it even mean to use an ad blocking tool "at least once a month"? Like... do people have an ad blocker installed, but disabled most of the time, and just enable it temporarily when they come across a site with particularly egregious ads? That seems... an unlikely use model?


It means they only use an adblocker on desktop.


How does that mean that?


Yeah that's good scare mongering but I dont buy it. I betcha most of that stuff is megacorporate bloat that can be extricated without hindering the average users experience.

Mozilla, unfortunately, is dead. Like Firefox did from Netscape before it during the dark times of the IE ubiquity, when people claimed what you claim now, a new browser that supports true freedom must rise from Firefox's ashes to begin the cycle once again.

43% is huge. Firefox had significantly less when it won hearts and minds.


> Mozilla can barely play catch-up with all the complex web standards pushed by Goog&co.

To be fair they also spend a lot of resources on dreaming up their own shit tier solutions. Like the time Google proposed federated learning of cohorts, which was universally shot down by critics. Mozilla saw that as a sign and jumped into bed with Meta to create their own version of it. Because who could think about user privacy without immediately thinking of Meta?

It is almost as if Mozillas leadership wants to prove that Mozilla is a waste of money.




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