The Chrome team says they're not going to pursue Web Integrity but...
it is piloting a new Android WebView Media Integrity API that’s “narrowly scoped, and only targets WebViews embedded in apps.”
They say its because the team "heard your feedback." I'm sure that's true, and I can wildly speculate that all the current anti-trust attention was a factor too.
Many said we couldn’t stop it. We, like many, applied pressure, and they backed the fuck off.
We have no room for complacency now though. Google cannot be allowed to dictate web standards. Firefox needs to eat into that Chromium market share.
Since Android Webview is Chromium, this reads to me like it's making it into Chrome anyway.
It's behind some restrictions, but now that it's deployed Google can
test it in live environments, making sure everything works
more easily enable it for Chrome proper with fewer to no restrictions
They'll probably do this in the future using a staged rollout similar to what they did for Youtube and adblockers.
The fact that it's making it into production means the only concession Google made was admitting that they know that some of us vocally oppose it.
I'd continue encouraging friends and family to use Firefox.
It seems to me that as more people are fighting or ditching them, google are having to be more and more desperate and controlling to maintain their position. Which in turn leads to yet more people getting fed up with them. I'm not sure they have anywhere else to go tbh. Alternatives to all of their 'services' are constantly becoming more viable and more visible, whilst they are becoming shitter and more hated.
What happened to manifest 3 that was going to limit adblocking? This seems like a temporary setback that they'll introduce all at once in a few months.
They moved too quickly and the backlash was too intense. They will 100% try to push this shit again as soon as they think the market/userbase might bear it.
They moved too fast, and got negative response and backed off on panic. They will rebrand, and try this again but slower. If you care about freedom, start using Firefox or another gecko based browser.
They got cocky, because chrome currently dominates browser market share.
Redemption implies there was a character to redeem.
It's a business, and it's business is intricately locked into goals that match what Web Integrity API stood for. It may be gone now but everyone needs to watch twice as hard. They'll just try to ease people into the idea more carefully.