New Update A first look at SmartAdblock for Firefox and Chrome

smartadblock

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Jan 17, 2019
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You might check the Dutch translation, because it seems reversed
View attachment 210023


Text in red should be "deactiveren Smartblock ..etc" Text in green should be "activeren Smartblock ...etc"


Also the text in black is strange (it translates to English as "SmartAdBlock is blocked 1 request". So better to change it "SmartAdBlock blokkeert 1 verzoek" (meaning SmartAdBlock blocks 1 request" or alternative text in Dutch could be "SmartAdBlock is actief en blokkeert 1 verzoek" meaning in English SmartAdBlock is active and blocks 1 request).
This is now included in the V1.1.2 in chrome and firefox, another user corrected also the russian translation.
The 1.1.2 includes filter choice (radio button style) in the options page as well as an easy button to reload filters (right click smartadblock -> reload filters)
Thanks!
 

smartadblock

From SmartAdBlock
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Jan 17, 2019
33
We kept working on this and the V1.1.3 is out with:

-New popup defusers block a lot of popups before trigger (like openload)
-Upgraded to Jquery 3.0
-Fixed a false positive on some websites when pressing mouse middle button

And still the lightest memory usage.
Feedback is welcome!
Thanks
 

Windows_Security

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@smartblock

The arrow on the icon symbolizing update of filters, suggest it takes longer for the browser to load. Smartadblock always updates on browser launch, why not update the filters only once a day?

Regards Kees
 

Moonhorse

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We kept working on this and the V1.1.3 is out with:

-New popup defusers block a lot of popups before trigger (like openload)
-Upgraded to Jquery 3.0
-Fixed a false positive on some websites when pressing mouse middle button

And still the lightest memory usage.
Feedback is welcome!
Thanks
Very impressive, no need to add any filterlists... and wont break sites...all worst cookie sites like space.com, twitch.tv and Breaking News, World News & Multimedia gets cookie dialogies blocked, when in ublock/nano you need specific filters

On browserleaks it only detects easylist aswell

Cpu usage is around same than with ublock/nano, memory footprint is smaller than in nano/ublock, wich is obvious since smart doesnt need filterlists to be added

On last version it was coughing a bit, but now it seems to be competive against ublock/nano
 

smartadblock

From SmartAdBlock
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Jan 17, 2019
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@smartblock

The arrow on the icon symbolizing update of filters, suggest it takes longer for the browser to load. Smartadblock always updates on browser launch, why not update the filters only once a day?

Regards Kees
That's a fair point that we discussed multiple times in the team. We thought so far that the filter refresh was quick enough and it was good practice to reload filters at browser launch in case there was a filter change and it shortens the normal autoupdate (24Hrs). We also thought that people rarely close completely their browser. But comments seem to indicate that many people agree with you, so we will be working on this for the 1.1.4. Thanks.

Very impressive, no need to add any filterlists... and wont break sites...all worst cookie sites like space.com, twitch.tv and Breaking News, World News & Multimedia gets cookie dialogies blocked, when in ublock/nano you need specific filters

On browserleaks it only detects easylist aswell

Cpu usage is around same than with ublock/nano, memory footprint is smaller than in nano/ublock, wich is obvious since smart doesnt need filterlists to be added

On last version it was coughing a bit, but now it seems to be competive against ublock/nano
Always great to hear positive feedback, thanks. Our feedback/update loop is fast and hopefully we can improve a lot in the next few months. Also we are always looking for publications - communication about smartadblock to keep the growth steady and have more time to focus on code improvements. So if you know a blogger or a good forum please let us know.
 

Moonhorse

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Nytimes is bit tricky, either they update their cookie policies all the time...but having i dont care about cookies+ fanboys the dialogue still comes up.....smart will just block it without filters...so the name makes sense:unsure:
212958


Anyways i will keep it installed on my secondary browser , if you need finnish translation to web store just whisper

You can post to wilderssecurity, if you yet havent..i dont lurk often there but i can make thread on finnish tech forums
 

Windows_Security

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@smartadblock

Thanks, I have one other feature request. When you look at data of W3techs.com there are only a limited number of advertising networks supported by analysis/tracking/tagmanagement services. I would like to use Smartadblock's own rules set only (and disable Easylist). When you look at Ghostery and DisConnect, they also use a blocklist of less than 3000 rules. So I am not the only fan of small (and effective) blocklists.

In stead of the bulky dead wood easylist filter I would use my personal blocklist of less than 200 rules (W3tech data explains that with less than 1% of easylist rules, I achieve 80% of the block results of easylist). So please provide an option to import personal blocklist as uBlock0rigin and AdGuard also offer.
 

smartadblock

From SmartAdBlock
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Developer
Jan 17, 2019
33
@smartadblock

Thanks, I have one other feature request. When you look at data of W3techs.com there are only a limited number of advertising networks supported by analysis/tracking/tagmanagement services. I would like to use Smartadblock's own rules set only (and disable Easylist). When you look at Ghostery and DisConnect, they also use a blocklist of less than 3000 rules. So I am not the only fan of small (and effective) blocklists.

In stead of the bulky dead wood easylist filter I would use my personal blocklist of less than 200 rules (W3tech data explains that with less than 1% of easylist rules, I achieve 80% of the block results of easylist). So please provide an option to import personal blocklist as uBlock0rigin and AdGuard also offer.
I agree with you easylist contains a lot of useless rules, smartadblock actually trims easylist (using the ignore list) and ignores for example the specific easylist rules targeting ... dead websites! (or websites below Alexa million). But it remains the most updated and reliable base, (If you know a better base we would be happy to have a look).
You can already add your own filter list: save it in a txt file and save it in some hosting service (github for example) and add the file url in the custom filter table. But you know what, how about you send us your list (admin@smartadblock.co.uk) and we will add it in the radio button menu with the label of your choice in the 1.1.4 !

Nytimes is bit tricky, either they update their cookie policies all the time...but having i dont care about cookies+ fanboys the dialogue still comes up.....smart will just block it without filters...so the name makes sense:unsure:
View attachment 212958

Anyways i will keep it installed on my secondary browser , if you need finnish translation to web store just whisper

You can post to wilderssecurity, if you yet havent..i dont lurk often there but i can make thread on finnish tech forums
Please feel free to send us a corrected finnish chrome description by email, the finnish menu texts are in the github link below, please feel free to correct it too, we will include it in 1.1.4.
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/s...er/smartadblock_113/_locales/fi/messages.json
I will try wildersecurity, thanks!
 

Windows_Security

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I agree with you easylist contains a lot of useless rules, smartadblock actually trims easylist (using the ignore list) and ignores for example the specific easylist rules targeting ... dead websites! (or websites below Alexa million). But it remains the most updated and reliable base, (If you know a better base we would be happy to have a look).
You can already add your own filter list: save it in a txt file and save it in some hosting service (github for example) and add the file url in the custom filter table. But you know what, how about you send us your list (admin@smartadblock.co.uk) and we will add it in the radio button menu with the label of your choice in the 1.1.4 !
Nice gesture thanks (y)

I have send the list to you, It is also attacheed as text file to this post (w3techs_top200.txt)

Because it is based on the data of w3techs.com I would suggest to call it the 'w3techs top 200-list'. Note that this top200 are the most common advertsing/analytics/tag management/search engine/tracking companies used in CAN-US-UK-EUR.

Maybe you could also offer Disconnect Simple malvertising filter: download link https://s3.amazonaws.com/lists.disconnect.me/simple_malvertising.txt

Regards

Kees
 

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  • W3techs_top200.txt
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DeepWeb

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Following this thread, seems like it's worth the try. Thanks!

Edit: I just wanted to say that the comparison to Nano/uBlock is not really fair because SmartAdBlock appears to make 3 extensions obsolete: Nano Adblocker/uBlock Orign, Nano Defender and I Don't Care About Cookies. So its overall memory and CPU footprint is even smaller.
 
Last edited:

DeepWeb

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So I've been using it for a day and I'm definitely ditching Nano Adblocker, Defender and I Don't Care About Cookies.

1. But some less popular news sites like USA Today, non-English sites like Zeit.de and some tech blogs detect the adblocker. I know this is the new one in town but it's great enough and I hope that the anti-adblock blocker component will be built out to support lesser known websites. :)(y)

2. Sometimes links in drop down menus behave strangely. Such as on ebay.com when you go into Purchase History and click the drop-down menu of an item. There is a mysterious delay before I get to the site. I am trying to figure out a pattern and whether it's due to a conflict perhaps with HTTPS Everywhere?
 
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Windows_Security

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thanks for the w3techs_top200.txt. I like small filter lists too. Does this list get updated much?

The source is updated yearly (W3techs website). It is a webtechnology survey website which says it investigates the Alexa top 10 million websites on the technology it uses. So when their research sample sets are a good representation of the technology used, the data should be reliable as well.

These types of actual usage investigation websites are the reason that I always say that advertisement blocklist of more than say 3000 entries are nonsense. Simply because it takes money, infrastructure and a client base to develop a webservice, like any real world business. This applies to all webservices like advertising, tracking, tag management, web (usage) analytics or user choice optimization services.

There only are a few big IT-platforms (Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Huawei, Ali Babi, Tencent, Baidu, Yandex, etc). Same as there only some big smartphone companies and a few dozen smaller ones. That is what happens to every market in the end. The bigger the cost of infrastructure and go to market, the lower the number of companies remain in a mature market (there are less car makers than smartphone vendors for instance). That are simply laws of economy.

Any advertising service is bound to these laws as well. That is why an easylist with 90.000 rules is nonsense. When there would be 90.000 webadvertising networks, you would also see 90.000 different supermarkets in your neighborhood to buy your groceries, 90.000 different brands of petrol stations in your city to buy fuel for your car. That is simply not realistic.

I will promise to update it once a year, when smartadblock incorporates them in their standard lists.
 
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Moonhorse

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1. But some less popular news sites like USA Today, non-English sites like Zeit.de and some tech blogs detect the adblocker. I know this is the new one in town but it's great enough and I hope that the anti-adblock blocker component will be built out to support lesser known websites. :)(y)
You can add:
https://1hos.cf/mini/
https://1hos.cf/mini/list.txt

This will solve the sites you have mentioned, and is less common to break sites than 1hosts.complete

Basically im using currently smartblock+ 1hosts.mini and looking if the https everywhere is conflicting

But the memory usage going up as you keep adding lists, so making some kind of built-in list that is blocking the worst trackers with minimal rules would be cool
 

Handsome Recluse

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Any advertising service is bound to these laws as well. That is why an easylist with 90.000 rules is nonsense. When there would be 90.000 webadvertising networks, you would also see 90.000 different supermarkets in your neighborhood to buy your groceries, 90.000 different brands of petrol stations in your city to buy fuel for your car. That is simply not realistic.

I will promise to update it once a year, when smartadblock incorporates them in their standard lists.
I doubt the web is just your neighborhood.
We should also consider that people who use adblock might browse vastly different sites with vastly different advertising domains and thus have vastly different complaints. Easylist could've come from these vastly different complaints - Adguard's optimized filters only halves Adguard Base filters and still misses a few ads and popups.
 

DeepWeb

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Even 1hosts mini is too aggressive on some sites so I just went back to default. I will wait for the SmartAdBlock team to make the best decision.
 
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Windows_Security

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I doubt the web is just your neighborhood.
We should also consider that people who use adblock might browse vastly different sites with vastly different advertising domains and thus have vastly different complaints. Easylist could've come from these vastly different complaints - Adguard's optimized filters only halves Adguard Base filters and still misses a few ads and popups.

Websites like w3techs.com collects data about top 10 million websites. Trends.buildwith.com collects data about the 1 million most popular websites. This data clearly shows it is not about the website but the infrastructure those websites use.
Just look for example at the image (source).


213056


It is a long tail curve: two companies facilitate 47% (source trends.buildwith) of the most popular websites, the top 10 serves 80% and the top 200 serves 90% (source W3techs) of the 10 million most popular websites. Easylist ads & privacy over 100.000 rules probably block 95% of the top 10 million websites. According to internetlivestats.com there are over 1.5 billion websites. This means that even with a blocklist of half a million rules, your adblocker will probably miss an advertisement every now and then.

For CAN+US+UK+EUR region a blocklist of 200 will probably be 90% as effective as a blocklist of 100K rules. For me the cut-off point is around 3000 (approxiatematly the number of rules used by Ghostery, Disconnect, Trace extensions and for instance Peter's Low list). But mileage may differ as are people's preferences.
 

Windows_Security

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Simple Malvertising Filter of Disconnect now seems to stick (it loaded with errors previously) (y)

used this link (change XX into tt) hXXps://s3.amazonaws.com/lists.disconnect.me/simple_malvertising.txt
 

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