Supporting websitesīlocking ads also blocks ad revenue for publishers, an effect Vivaldi is sensitive to. Vivaldi Technologies' shift embodies the more aggressive approach browser-makers are taking to shield people from online ad technology that, even as it supports free online services, has also brought significant downsides to privacy, performance, convenience and security. Extension authors have warned that the change, called Manifest v3, could severely limit their ability to block ads and trackers. The second impetus for blocking ads is Google's planned change to how extensions interact with Chrome and, by extension, browsers like Vivaldi that are based on its open-source Chromium foundation. Chrome statistics show declines in data usage and slower website loading speeds toward the end of the month as people hit their monthly limits and are throttled to slower-speed networks. Vivaldi users aren't alone in struggling with monthly network data limits. Testers told Vivaldi an ad blocker is 'imperative' to speed up page loads and reduce mobile data use, the Norway-based browser-maker said.

The development of a version of Vivaldi for Android phones, the first stable version of which arrived Wednesday alongside an update for PCs, helped prompt the change. The new features, designed to improve performance, too, are set to arrive Wednesday with the release of Vivaldi 3.0. Vivaldi now has built-in options for blocking online trackers and ads, a change of heart for a web browser-maker whose founder had hoped regulators would step in to protect privacy.

Vivaldi extension