
uBlock Origin for Microsoft Edge - ggregoire
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/ublock-origin/9nblggh444l4
======
Sephr
It wouldn't surprise me if there is an internal conflict at Microsoft about
allowing Edge extensions.

Back when Windows 10 came out, Cortana opened Bing searches in your default
browser. Someone made a Bing2Google extension for Chrome, and Microsoft
responded by making Cortana only open Bing searches in Edge.

Now that Edge supports extensions, I can make a Bing2Google extension for
Edge, but Microsoft will never accept it. If I make a Bing2Google userscript
for Tampermonkey[1], Microsoft will probably take down Tampermonkey eventually
once they learn about the userscript. There is already a very simple
userscript available[2] that you can install right now to get this "banned"
functionality in Edge.

Edge's extension ecosystem is a walled garden. When it comes to browsers, I
prefer freedom over performance and efficiency. This is why I'm still not
switching to Edge. I'll give Edge another chance if/when they open up their
extension platform to everyone. For now, it's useless without Microsoft
approval.

I use Tampermonkey for some userscripts on other sites and I don't feel
comfortable relying on Microsoft's goodwill to not remove this extension.

[1]: [https://www.microsoft.com/en-
us/store/p/tampermonkey/9nblggh...](https://www.microsoft.com/en-
us/store/p/tampermonkey/9nblggh5162s)

[2]: [https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/11308-bing-to-
google/code](https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/11308-bing-to-google/code)

~~~
ocdtrekkie
Let's not pretend Google Chrome is somehow less of a walled garden. You can
only install extensions from their store, and yes, they've removed extensions
for business reasons before.

~~~
paulddraper
No, you can "sideload" extensions.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
You can do the same for Windows. People bring their religions in here without
facts and end up at the top of threads. The parent post is baseless and wrong.

~~~
paulddraper
> People bring their religions in here without facts and end up at the top of
> threads

Only popular religions ;)

I agree. I pointed out that your statement "You can only install extensions
from their store" is incorrect for Chrome. Thank you for adding information
about Edge.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
Ah, haha, yeah, that's fair. I usually disregard things that are "heavily
discouraged" behind developer modes and checkboxes buried deep in menus.

~~~
paulddraper
Enabling local extension install in Chrome is a single checkbox at the top of
chrome://extensions -- the same place where you manage the rest of your
extensions. But point taken.

------
flashman
Microsoft (not being dependent on ad revenue) could make some big strides by
incorporating UBlock into the browser and marketing Edge as "the internet,
without ads."

'A faster browser' is why Internet Explorer lost users to Firefox and Chrome
in the first place. Microsoft could still win that back.

~~~
MichaelGG
Microsoft seems to want to be in the ad business. Ads in Windows, ads all over
the Xbox UI. Plus they probably want to think bing will sell ads?

Maybe if MS showed dedication to their hardware and actually cared about users
they could pull it off...

~~~
scholia
Not really. Microsoft has almost no ad business. Most of its ads are actually
sold by AOL.

Are you complaining about actual paid advertisements, eg for beer, or the
"suggestions" that you can turn off?

~~~
louhike
Isn't Microsoft behind most Facebook ads?

~~~
scholia
No, there's no connection, as far as I know.

Facebook bought the Atlas Advertiser Suite from Microsoft. However, Microsoft
outsourced its non-Bing ad sales business to AOL, along with 1,200 staff.

[http://fortune.com/2015/06/29/aol-is-taking-over-
microsofts-...](http://fortune.com/2015/06/29/aol-is-taking-over-microsofts-
ad-sales-business/)

------
Tempest1981
Microsoft made it relatively easy to port your Chrome extensions to Edge.
(Smart when you're playing catch-up): [https://developer.microsoft.com/en-
us/microsoft-edge/platfor...](https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-
edge/platform/documentation/extensions/guides/porting-chrome-extensions/)

------
wjossey
What is your take on the morality / consequences of ad-blocking?

Having worked in the ad-industry for almost five years, I'm remarkably
conflicted. Malware, duping users, and scams are a real issue on the modern
web. However, blocking ads comes with significant consequences for businesses,
as most users aren't willing to pay direct for content.

What's the alternative most feel comfortable with? Google contributor?
Patreon? Something that I'm not aware of?

~~~
aikah
> What is your take on the morality / consequences of ad-blocking?

Since I block ads, I don't get any viruses on my computer anymore. And no I do
not visit porn sites. Many prominent websites have served malware to users in
the past.

Second, my laptop battery lasts way longer since there is less Javascript to
serve. Pages display faster and most auto-play video don't even show up
anymore.

> What's the alternative most feel comfortable with? Google contributor?
> Patreon? Something that I'm not aware of?

How about publishers serve ads from their own main domain ? I'm sure they'll
be more careful what kind of bullshit is actually loaded , since there is no
cross origin policy protection for them. And since they'll have to pay for the
bandwidth, they'll also ask for lighter ads from networks. Ad networks can
also offer campaigns that are not driven by pay per click or impression , but
renting space on websites for a limited period of time at a fixed price.

~~~
timonovici
> How about publishers serve ads from their own main domain ? ...

Yeah, I'm a big fan of the idea. Imagine this - what if advertisers would give
you a small PHP script to include in the website source code, that would run
random code on the server, instead of ga.js? Would they think twice before
including that crap? I bet they would.

As it stands, I've encountered sites that wanted me to run even 10 different
scripts on a page, for ad networks I haven't even heard about.

~~~
piaste
Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but this would make it virtually impossible for
the ad provider to reliably measure how often their ads are _viewed_ , forcing
them to consider only _clicks_ in their business model.

This may be a pro or a con, I'm not sure. Would optimising for ad-clicks
instead of ad-views encourage more valuable and interesting ads, that one
would actually want to know more about? Or would it encourage (literal) big
mouse clickbait at the expense of understated, informative, Google Analytics-
style text ads?

------
cuddlybacon
Nice. I've been using the version from off github. It works well, but it is
annoying to have to confirm that you want to start it every time you start
Edge.

Happy to see it in the store.

~~~
slipstream-
If you sideload it as an unpacked appx in developer mode rather than an
unpacked extension it doesn't do this.

~~~
ctolkien
Did not know this, thanks.

------
cobalt
Ooh finally. I've been using the github build for a while and Edge has this
annoying design where any 'untrusted' (not from the store) extensions are
disabled every time you (re)start the browser

------
intrasight
Not (yet) an Edge user, but as a UBlock Origin user, it's nice to know this
will be there when I need it.

------
roryisok
Nice to see more extensions for Edge. I don't use it a lot, but when I do I'll
be glad to not have ads.

------
partiallypro
Would really like to see Ghostery and Privacy Badger make their way to edge.
I'm sure once they actually roll out extensions out of beta we'll get more.
Supposedly porting is extremely easy from Chrome.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
I asked the EFF about Privacy Badger, they said it was in the works.

------
bitmapbrother
I like uBlock Origin, but I find that it breaks functionality on a lot of
sites. Case in point, go to:

[https://www.walmart.com/ip/Samsung-Galaxy-
Tab-A-9.7-Tablet-1...](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Samsung-Galaxy-
Tab-A-9.7-Tablet-16GB/43803328#about-item)

With uBlock Origin the "Customers also considered" section is hidden and the
Read More link doesn't work. But they show up and work in Adblock Plus just
fine.

~~~
xeromal
Worked for me.

Chrome 55 and UBlock 1.10

~~~
bradyd
Works for me as well. Firefox 50.0.2, uBlock 1.10.0, Windows 10

------
gnuarch
Love to see uBlock Origin for Microsoft Edge on Windows Mobile.

------
gressquel
I may actually give Edge another try. Wish they would have chrome like
developer tools, I would be sold!

------
joe563323
Why not just use firefox or chrome ?. What is that firefox does not offer that
edge offers ?

------
SnowingXIV
Awesome, one of my bosses has been wanting adblocking for awhile but loves
using Edge and wouldn't switch to Chrome like I've advised. He's going to be
pretty happy knowing he can have the "best of both worlds."

------
shaunol
It is unfortunate that you are required to use the MS Store (sign-up required)
to install Edge extensions. This is not a requirement of the base browser
application itself. Chrome doesn't force you to sign-in to install extensions,
why does Edge?

~~~
MikusR
I just tested on Windows 10 Home. You don't need to sign-in to install
extensions.

------
chrisper
I'd love to switch to Edge, but my only problem is that you can't synchronize
your history, settings, etc. without having to convert the whole account to an
MS account.

------
cm2187
Does anyone know if uBlock origin will be ported to iOS?

~~~
mindful_dev
Chrome for iOS doesn't support extensions, Firefox for iOS doesn't support
extensions, and iOS Safari supports Content Blocker extensions, which is a
very different API from how uBlock Origin currently functions on the desktop.

A simple port has nowhere to go on iOS right now. (Though there are rumblings
that Firefox might introduce some sort of add-on support for their iOS browser
in the future.)

------
anotheryou
As a web developer I really hate that someone makes edge bearable :)

No sprinkles on that turd please!

------
ryuuchin
Now if only I could use extensions in private browsing mode...

------
pawadu
uBlock Origin on Edge is a dream come true, but this port was not made by the
original author.

Who is "Nik Rolls" and why should I trust him with ALL my browsing data?

------
waspleg
Worst browser. Best ad block. Interesting combination.

