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I'm fed up with it, so I'm writing a browser
(adayinthelifeof.nl)
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this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2023
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Dumb question, will it be possible to create a browser that will trick the shitty new web into thinking you're using an approved non-ad-blocking-browser while you still block the malware/ads?
Building adblock into the browser could enable better countermeasures for adblock detection, but uBlock Origin's filters usually work fine in my experience. Hiding that adblock is being used is essentially just an arms race between adblock detectors and ad blockers.
I believe they're asking about the DRM enabled browser tech that Google just rolled out and is pushing webmasters to support.
Ah, my bad. Bypassing such integrity checks should still be doable, either by reverse engineering and spoofing the communications between the browser and Google, or by modifying a "trusted browser" in a way that keeps it from detecting such alterations. It might not be very reliable though, as the internals could be changed arbitrarily with each update, and old versions blocked in the name of security.
I hope you are right about this moving forward. My experience so far has been the same as yours (re: the arms race, uBlock working well). My understanding is Google is being super aggressive about this and they are not dumb, they know about uBlock, Pi Hole, and other ad blockers that people use. They want to make it impossible to use them by basically profiling your browser and its extensions. However, that could just kick off a variation on the arms race. A lot of things about their attitude makes me angry, but they are just ignoring the fact that advertisements are a vector for malware and don't really care if they help spread malware as long as they are getting that sweet revenue.