Ad block

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Ad blocking Is a form of user customization of information presentation. For instance, to selectively not display information of little interest to the user, or content the user deems harmful or offensive, or to conserve resources by not processing some information. Blocking ads can increase security, improve accessibility, speed up devices, and make devices more reliable (decrease network traffic, decrease processor/memory usage).

Consumer impact summary

Advertising is pervasive online, and increasingly showing up in devices (e.g., refrigerators, cars, operating systems, televisions). Ad block can help consumers own their own devices by controlling what the devices do. Advertisements can be dangerous, by misleading or distracting the user, and by tracking or damaging the device. Many sources, including US government agencies, suggest ad block as a way of enhancing security. There are efforts to use copyright law (e.g., DMCA/spotify/revanced, and German court case) to force consumers to play ads or run other programs on devices.

Ad Blocker Examples

Some of the add-ons / extensions / plug-ins below are not necessarily ad-blocking software but do contribute to blocking advertisements or reduce or eliminate the amount of data you share online.

Internet Browsers

A for Android, i for iOS, L for Linux, W for Windows

Browser base: C for Chromium, F for Firefox

If a browser is not listed "officially" for an add-on in the table below but shares the "Based on" attribute with a browser that is, it may (but is not guaranteed to) work with that browser.

	Based on	"Do Not Track" feature	DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials	NoScript	Privacy Badger	uBlock Origin
Brave	C
Chrome	C			L, W
DuckDuckGo	C	A
Edge	C			L, W
Firefox	F	A, L, W	A, L, W	A, L, W	A, L, W	A, L, W
Firefox Developer Edition	F	L, W	L, W	L, W	L, W	L, W
Mullvad Browser	F	L, W		L, W		L, W
Opera	C
Safari	-
Tor Browser	F	A, L, W		A, L, W
Vivaldi	C
Waterfox	F	L, W	L, W	L, W	L, W	L, W

Ad block Countermeasures

Dishonest countermeasures

2. Utilizing pop-ups & overlays to deter ad block usage

Owners & developers of domains & websites can detect ad blockers & make it significantly harder to access content by putting in countermeasures such as Pop-Ups & Overlays. Sometimes they go as far as using techniques that somewhat resemble the Consent-or-pay method in order to encourage others to disable their ad filtering tool.

File:3840px-Ad blocker warning example.svg.png

Example of an anti ad block pop up resembling the "Consent-or-pay" tactic

See also

• Bloatware

Further Reading

• Advertising overload