Brave overhauled its Rust adblock engine with FlatBuffers, cutting memory 75%

Re:Brave overhauled its Rust adblock engine with FlatBuffers... by theultdev on Tuesday January 06, 2026 @12:51PM (#46515811)

It was an interesting experience.

I'm still not entirely sure it's for the best or not.

On one hand, it is a concentration of power into hands a few people.

On the other, it is for a good cause, to maintain a list of ad network and site banners that drain resources, cause privacy issues, etc.

The Easylist people aren't saints. They get paid off by Google to allow "Acceptable Ads". So you just show a different campaigns if your user is running adblocker nowadays.

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Re:Brave overhauled its Rust adblock engine with FlatBuffers... by satvikpendem on Tuesday January 06, 2026 @12:57PM (#46515903)

Well, I run EasyList for most ads and then also other filters to remove "acceptable ads" so it works well for me.

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Re:Brave overhauled its Rust adblock engine with FlatBuffers... by theultdev on Tuesday January 06, 2026 @01:00PM (#46515950)

I wasn't implying there weren't workarounds.

Just that Easylist is indirectly funded by ad revenue (google)

When it comes to ads, it's about the bulk of people, most don't run anything other than the default lists.

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Re:Brave overhauled its Rust adblock engine with FlatBuffers... by antonok on Wednesday January 07, 2026 @12:46PM (#46529649)

You're probably thinking of Adblock Plus? Acceptable Ads is their program; EasyList has no such policy or ties.

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