Best Ad Blockers and Privacy Extensions
1Best Ad Blockers and Privacy Extensions.
Online advertising can be a divisive thing. On the one hand, ads support the free content model of the internet, with advertising subsidizing many of our favorite websites. On the other hand, badly designed or intrusive ads can be disruptive, to say the least, and tracking cookies and similar advertising trackers raise many privacy concerns. This is where ad blockers and anti-tracking software come in, allowing users to block irritating ads, save bandwidth, opt out of intrusive marketing systems and, in extreme scenarios, block malicious ads that seek to infect computers. Check out our favorite ad blocking extensions and apps to take control of your browsing experience.
NOTE: Ad blocking takes away revenue from publications like the one you're reading and risk the ability of media to provide otherwise free content.
AdBlock Plus (ABP) is among the most popular ad blockers, with versions available for Firefox, Chrome, and Opera. ABP features a quick setup, loading preset filter lists that allow users to quickly block most ads, as well as the option to filter malware and social media buttons. Savvy users can chose additional block lists as well as set custom filters or whitelist their favorite sites to keep their ad revenue in the black. AdBlock Plus allows what it calls "non-intrusive advertising" through filters, which may irk some users, though this can be disabled in settings. On Android, the AdBlock Browser provides a Firefox-based browser that blocks incoming advertising, while on iOS, the AdBlock Plus app integrates with the content blocker system to seamlessly block advertising on Safari with minimal setup.
AdBlock (no relation to AdBlock Plus) is the other major ad blocker extension of note, available for users of Chrome, Opera and Safari. AdBlock uses a series of filter lists to automatically block ad content coming from known ad servers and providers. Users can stick with the default block lists, subscribe to additional ones, or even create their own, as well as whitelist their favorite websites. As one of the most downloaded Chrome and Safari extensions, AdBlock has the trust of many users worldwide.