If you have had uBlock Origin running for years and suddenly noticed ads creeping back into your Facebook feed, you did not break anything. What actually happened is that the developers behind the ad blocker have decided to put an end to the cat-and-mouse game with Facebook.
The story started on the uBlock Origin subreddit, where a member of the team shared the details. They called Facebook a “disgusting anti-user site” and said the developers there spend their time watching open-source projects like uBO and then quietly changing their code to slip ads past the filters.
If that sounds like an exhausting game of whack-a-mole, that is because it is one. And the small group of volunteers behind uBO has decided it is no longer worth playing on Facebook specifically.
One thing worth noting is that this has nothing to do with the bigger shift happening on Chrome and Edge, where they’re ending support for MV2 extensions, which the likes of uBlock Origin rely on.
In case you’re wondering why it’s becoming harder to block ads on Facebook? Well, it turns out that the company hides the word “Ad” by splitting it across random bits of code and stuffing in junk text that your browser does not show but the filters still trip over. On top of that, the labels change names on their own. A team member confirmed this has been going on for a while, saying they “randomize the order and used to add fake letters.
This kind of endless back-and-forth is not unique to Facebook either, and we have watched Brave go through the same struggle keeping YouTube ads out.
The team was honest about why they are stepping away, and it comes down to numbers. As one of them put it, the “by users” part of the project is basically two people, while the “for users” side is tens of millions.
That said, uBO isn’t immediately removing all the filters to make ads disappear on Facebook. What’s happening is that they will no longer chase new ad tricks anymore. So if Facebook developers manage to patch uBlock Origin’s filters, you will start seeing ads again. In fact, some users have already started reporting seeing ads on the platform.
Meanwhile, the developers also added, “anyone else who wants to deal with this disgusting site is free to make pull requests with working solutions themselves.” So if you want to contribute to the project, you are free to do so.
Dwayne Cubbins
2897 Posts
I cover fast-moving stories across apps, online platforms, and everyday tech — phones, wearables, consoles, and whatever else people are fighting with this week. Bugs, rollouts, scams, policy enforcement, and the occasional internet-culture rabbit hole are all fair game. My goal is simple — make confusing tech news readable. When I'm not working, I'm working out or chilling with my dog. Got a tip? You can find me on X @dcubbins.