Popular Twitch Ad Block Shuts Down After Twitch Breaks Extension

After much demand, the popular Twitch AdBlock addon was taken down from the Chrome Web Store and the Firefox Addons site.

For those who wish to limit the number of advertisements they see while using Twitch, Twitch AdBlock is the extension of choice. Up until the time the extension was taken down, the ad blocker had over 150,000 users and was blocking an average of 6 million ads each day, as reported by the extension’s creator.

Chrome and Firefox Have Removed the Twitch Ad Block Plugin

twitch adblock

Many users this week discovered that the Twitch AdBlock addon was suddenly removed from the Chrome Web Store and the Firefox Addons site. I’d been using a top-notch twitch adblocker for weeks, and it finally stopped working today.

Both the Firefox and Chrome web stores have removed the add-on. Totally unusual. One person said, “But I had backed up the chrome extension / exported it as a crx file,” in a GitHub thread about the problem.

Some users believed that the creator of Twitch AdBlock had pulled the extension after receiving legal threats or threats of retaliation from Twitch.

One of the forum participants claimed they had gotten a DMCA takedown notice from Twitch over their 230,000-strong user base for the Android software Xtra for Twitch.

According to BleepingComputer, Xtra for Twitch is no longer available on the Google Play market despite previously being available there.

In a comment that has since been removed, the extension’s developer boasted that Twitch AdBlock had 150,000 users and 6 million views each day before it was taken down.

In addition, developer ChoosenEye remained cryptic and brief in a subsequent thread comment: “Twitch Adblock is gone.” There won’t be an update. The programmer mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

BleepingComputer has contacted out to both Twitch and Google, as well as the developer, to learn more about this issue.

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Since Twitch Made Adjustments that Prevent Ad Block from Working, Hacking Is No Longer Viable

When asked by BleepingComputer why they took the extensions off of Firefox and Chrome, ChoosenEye said they made the decision on their own.

The developer confirmed that they had not received any notices, emails, or other communications from Twitch, Amazon, or any other organisations.

I was unable to make custom, ad-free playlists on Twitch because that option was removed. Moreover, they banned a few accounts related to these [extensions],” ChoosenEye said in an email conversation with BleepingComputer.

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There Are Now Two Additional Ways to Disable Adverts on Twitch

twitch adblock

the developer told us, and one of them involves the extension making (illegal) use of a Twitch Turbo Subscription in order to prevent ads for every user’s browser.

Twitch, however, could quickly detect and disable premium accounts that are being used fraudulently for such purposes due to account sharing.

The developer also mentioned to BleepingComputer that they considered setting up a server to filter out ad segments from Twitch feeds, but they just didn’t have the time to do so in light of the recent changes made by Twitch that rendered their addon useless.

To avoid “another level of struggle,” including the requirement of funds for the Turbo Accounts, ChoosenEye ultimately chose to terminate the extension.

The developer stated, “This extension began as a basic proof of concept work shared with few pals, but reached dimensions I didn’t conceive about which may possibly result in a lawsuit in numbers I [can never] pay.”

Users of Twitch AdBlock may be disappointed and eager to discover a workaround, but the developer has erred on the side of caution rather than risk breaking Twitch’s standards by rewriting the addon. Until now, BleepingComputer’s request for a statement from Twitch on the topic has gone unanswered.