>This is not targeted to ad blockers specifically.
At superficial inspection it's not obviously targeted at ad blockers. It might still be. Most of google's revenue comes from advertising, fighting against ad blockers wouldn't be unexpected for them.
The fact that they are leaving in the functionality to view/record/forward anything you visit makes it clear to me that the target is adblockers. Removing solely the ability to cancel a preflight request is, er, pretty specific.
At superficial inspection it's not obviously targeted at ad blockers. It might still be. Most of google's revenue comes from advertising, fighting against ad blockers wouldn't be unexpected for them.