For right now, uBlock Origin is still on the Chrome Web Store for Chromium browsers which support Manifest V2. If you use a Manifest V3 only version of Chromium, it is hidden.

They're not blocking uBO, they're removing the features in the browser that allowed uBO to work by releasing new plugin APIs, "Manifest v3". They're eliminating the key APIs needed for uBO to identify things that it shouldn't load, and then not load them. Google claims this was for "performance" or "security" reasons. Of course, the only major 'performance' or 'security' affected is the ability to identify, intercept, and stop harmful or ad related downloads before they start.

Does this affect extensions that know every website you visit even if it doesnt need to know, and has nothing to do with the extension’s functionality? (ie the ones that Similarweb buys)

Not updating your browser is also hazardous - much better to switch to FF, and have a browser that gets updates and also fully supports uBO.

They’re doing a slow phase-out over a long time to try to avert a wave of bad publicity that threatens their browser monopoly, but that timeline has already started as of June.

https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/develop/migrate...

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/google/google-chrome-w...

Honestly, it probably is going to depend on whether the US continues to have an administration that's willing to take blatant monopolists to court.