Ad Overload in Chrome Pushed Me to Reevaluate My Browser — and My Workflow

Rethinking My Browser Changed the Way I Work

For a while, I’d toyed with the idea of switching browsers. It came up now and then — usually after a moment of minor annoyance — but never felt urgent enough to act on. Chrome had been my default for years. It did the job, and I had Firefox and Safari on my MacBook as backups. On Windows, I bounced between Chrome and Firefox. Microsoft Edge? Not a chance — I’ve never been a fan.

But one day, I opened Chrome and was instantly overwhelmed by a barrage of ads. Thanks to Google’s Manifest V3 update, which changed how extensions like ad blockers work, my browser felt cluttered and invasive. I don’t care for ads — I’ve never been swayed by them, and I research everything before I buy. I value minimalism and longevity, and ads only disrupt that focus — they’re visual noise that waste energy and attention.

Sure, I could’ve returned to Firefox. I’d used it as my main browser at various points in the past. But this time, I paused. I’d been reading pieces by tech writer Adam Conway about alternative browsers and started wondering: What if I didn’t just swap browsers out of frustration? What if I used this as a chance to rethink how I work online?

So, I started searching — not just for a better browser, but for a better way to browse. What began as a simple irritation turned into a meaningful exploration. I wasn’t just changing software. I was reassessing how I manage focus, information, and time in an increasingly distracting digital world.