Guide | How To How To: Block Ads

[Chromatinfish 123]

Advertisements are more than just plain annoying (which they are).

I ran the survey To Block Ads Or To Not? to see whether I should post this or not and I did!

#1: Block Ads Through A Web Extension

Blocking ads through a web extension is by far the easiest method of ad blocking.

Several ones are:

Adblock Plus (All Platforms)

AdBlock (Chrome, Opera, and Safari)

AdGuard Extension:

For Firefox (Direct Download Link)

For Chrome

For Opera

uBlock


uBlock Origin Original Version:

GitHub
Adblock Plus is great for its no-nonsense interface and its availability for all platforms. AdBlock claims to use less RAM than Adblock Plus.

uBlock and AdGuard use the least RAM of all, and both have extensive user base.

A Word Of Caution:

Some chrome adblockers are phony and actually induce its own ads to replace the blocked ones. Simply Block Ads, for one, is one of them. Never use an Adblocker Extension that is not one from above.

#2: Block Ads Through A Standalone App

This option is great for users who don't like to install extensions, or click install, install, install, millions of times for each of their browsers.

Unfortunately, much fewer applications are in this category. These are some recommendations:

AdGuard (Paid, $19.95 for 1 yr, 1 pc standard license) *Caution: Is paid*:

Windows

Mac

Android

AdMuncher (Freeware) *Hasn't been updated in quite a while*:

Windows

AdFender (Freeware) *Uses EasyList, which is Adblock Plus's list*:

Windows

Unfortunately, of these three only AdGuard supports Windows 10 Metro App and HTTPS filtering. The others only support desktop browser filtering and HTTP.

I would suggest to use AdGuard if you can pay the license. You can get a free license for 1 yr by recommending 4 friends to use AdGuard also. If you are interested click here.

#3: Using HOST To Block Ads Without Any Extensions
Psst: If you don't like manually tampering with your system, check out #4!
Ahh... I bet the moment you saw this you wished you had a method to block ads without the need to install a specialized app or extension!

Now you have it:

Follow directions CAREFULLY!

#1: Copy this file, press Win+R, paste inside, then search.
%SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\

#2: If you have a hosts file already, make a backup just in case something goes horribly wrong *gasp*

#3: You need a file of places to blacklist. The reason why is because an adblocker is just a huge blacklist of places you deny to go to. hpHosts.com is a great place to go to: hpHosts Online - Simple, Searchable & FREE!

#4: Copy your file into the location that was in #1.

#5: Remember to put a .hosts or put hosts in the filename line- we don't want a txt file!
P.S.: If you use hpHosts they supply instructions too.

#6: Yay! Ads, malware sites, and tracking sites: all blocked!

#4: Blocking ads, and other annoyances with HostsMan

You can download HostsMan here.

HostsMan does all the editing for you so you don't have to rummage through your system yourself!

Just paste all content from that huge file that you got from hpHosts Online - Simple, Searchable & FREE! into the Add section and you're all set!

 

[OneDay]

Let me add this version of uBlock, which is the original from gorhill:
gorhill/uBlock · GitHub

 

[frogboy]

Nice article,i have tried most of these ad blockers starting with Adfender before finally settling on uBlock origin with some white listing and Webrtc disabled.

 

[Chromatinfish 123]

Update: thanks to @OneDay:

Added:

+ uBlock Origin

Removed:

Nothing

 

[Chromatinfish 123]

Update: YIKES! Forgot to put the directory in where the hosts file is located

 

[Andytay70]

i use peerblock and hostman to block ADs

 

[Amiga500]

Only problem with a hostfile solution is that it will slow your browser down in time,

 

[Chromatinfish 123]

i use peerblock and hostman to block ADs

Hmm... good idea should add peer block

 

[Andytay70]

Only problem with a hostfile solution is that it will slow your browser down in time,

I have not had any speed issues whilst using Hostfile, infact my internet is a lot faster as there are no ads loading!

 

[LahiruRajinda]

Ghostery is a great adblocker. It shows which types of ads are being blocked in realtime. However, you can't create custom filters like in AdblockPlus.

 

[Chromatinfish 123]

Ghostery is a great adblocker. It shows which types of ads are being blocked in realtime. However, you can't create custom filters like in AdblockPlus.

I'm holding off Ghostery because:

A Popular Ad Blocker Also Helps the Ad Industry | MIT Technology Review

 

[Amiga500]

I'm holding off Ghostery because:

A Popular Ad Blocker Also Helps the Ad Industry | MIT Technology Review

I think that only applies when ghostrank is enabled.

 

[Chromatinfish 123]

I think that only applies when ghostrank is enabled.

Yes it is but I don't want to support any company that makes money off of what it prevents.

 

[Amiga500]

Its interesting to note that most adblock software is coming pre-installed with an "allow acceptable ads" function enabled at default.
The only exception in my experience is ublock origin which is what i use.

 

[Chromatinfish 123]

Its interesting to note that most adblock software is coming pre-installed with an "allow acceptable ads" function enabled at default.
The only exception in my experience is ublock origin which is what i use.

Yes I really don't like this function.

Adguard's checkbox is disabled by default so that's fine

but Adblock Plus I really don't like that it's enabled by default. They should call it Someblock plus.

 

[Amiga500]

I quite like adguard and was running it with noscript,however i chose ublock origin because it performs more or less both functions in just one extension plus resource usage is low too.

 

[jamescv7]

@Chromatinfish 123 : Well for Adblock Plus, its been really attack by criticism as block numerous advertisement including Google which why they need to implement a feature to be enabled by default unlike others which are optional only.

 

[jackuars]

If you want to go with a freeware standalone app then AdFender will serve you the best. And in the case of extensions I find uBlock really light and even blocks various bundleware sites like CNET Download.com etc.

 

[tallorder]

Yes I really don't like this function.

Adguard's checkbox is disabled by default so that's fine

but Adblock Plus I really don't like that it's enabled by default. They should call it Someblock plus.

Occasiablock= Adblock

 

[Caramello222]

Hi everyone, Has anyone heard of Desktop AD, I think it's a part of Doubleclick, I'm not 100% sure, but it's just as intrusive has doubleclick. I'm someone has heard of it and knows how to block it. Also I choose Adblocker Plus from above and I have no clue how to open it to add lists to it. I don't see an icon but it is enabled in add-ons. I working with Windows 8.1 and IE 11 with both desktop and immersive view being used. Thanks for help. I almost forgot. Does installing google's permanent opt-out plug-in really stop google from cookie tracking and should the same be done at NAI website for other ad publishers?