Review effectiveness of AdBlock and AdRemover

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In Windows 10, 2004 how effective are Ad Block and Ad Remover? There is no User Manual for these aps. Does this matter?

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[doriel]

Hello,
I use Adblock (free version) few years and I must say it really makes my life better (dont worry, Im not trying to sell you something 🙂 )
On the other hand, some webpages detect ad blocking utilities and they require to turn them off, before continuing.

To your question, I can give you exact numbers from few example sites. The number on the right is sum of all ads blocked for me.
Lets see some well-behaving website (like this one aswoody.com) – zero ads blocked

And some marketing-orientated webpage (youtube.com)

There is no User Manual for these aps. Does this matter?

To be honest, I never needed such thing. Tricky can be, that you can turn on/off AdBlock on specific websites, but I see no real-life problem there.

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• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by doriel.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by doriel. Reason: oh grammar

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adBlock allows ads with its ‘white list‘.
I use uBlock Origin + uBlock Origin Extra. No ‘White list ‘ of ads.
I haven’t seen a single ad in years.

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[dmt_3904]

Alex, I am using both Adblock and Ublock origin , but I don’t need both do I?  If so, I will remove Adblock.  What is Ublock origin extra?  I am also constantly deleting cookies manually on laptop.   I am using Firefox.

on iOS devices, using DuckDuckGo, I always click close data and clear data.
I check all sites on VirusTotal before deciding go there.  DuckDuckGo gives a privacy score.
I do get ads on some sites, but I always close out with that button.

I rarely, if ever see ads.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by dmt_3904.

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dmt_3904 & Alex5723:

Ublock origin extra addon has been recently discontinued by the creator and has been pulled from the Chrome web store.

note from this uBO-extra github page

Important: As of October 20, 2020, uBO-Extra is discontinued and is no longer present in the Chrome Web store. Instart Logic’s anti-user agent technology appears to have gone away and consequently the extension has become useless, as its main purpose was to foil Instart Logic’s 3rd parties obfuscation technology.

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It seems the uBlock Origin Extra extension is not needed by Firefox, but only in Chromium-based browsers.

It came as a surprise to me [Firefox + uBlock Origin] to be told that YouTube actually shows advertisements!  (Who’d a thought it!)

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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Well, since youtube is owned by GOOGLE, advertising is no surprise.

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Add these filters to Ublock Origin ‘my filters’ section to avoid YouTube popups 😉

www.youtube.com###dialog
www.youtube.com##.opened
www.google.com###lb
www.google.com##:root:style(overflow-y: visible !important;)
||www.gstatic.com/youtube/img/promos/growth/dmod_si_horizontal_ver1_240x400.png$image

Note: not to be used if you log in to YouTube

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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Erik_S47, Myst

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AdBlock Plus (paid version) keeps off all the adds in YouTube (*), so I have all the enjoyment without any of the pain. And all for free (except the adblocker, of course).

Which is fine, as long as one does not try to freeload off some laboriously maintained “channel” specializing on a particular type of music or artist. Because that’s not nice.

(*) Occasionally one in twenty or thirty suggested videos on the right-hand bar in YT might actually be an ad (a very quiet one) that has managed to sneak in. But I can live with that.

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? says:

thank you, microfix. i just added this to ff 81.0 plus the referer policy changes linked on the page. works as it should look ma no more tube vid interupts. now to check browser at GRC.

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I also forgot to mention Vivaldi, which somehow blocks ads in default. Cant tell how at this moment, but ads are really not shown. I did some not-so-deep research quickly on few sites and it really makes difference from Edge for example.

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Vivaldi teamed up with DuckDuckGo using the DDG privacy essentials to stop trackers. They use a common open block list (I think it is easy list) for ad blocking. Their Android browser also uses them so ads and trackers are blocked there too. Nothing else is needed.

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doriel

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I use Firefox + Adblock Plus, and never see any advertisements (although for caveats, see below)

Some sites detect this (and I’d guess other) Ad-blockers, and go “Purleeeese turn your Ad-Blocker off”. Irritating when it’s a site you actually want to visit, but for me the pleasure of never seeing adverts trumps any other consideration, so I don’t listen to their plaintive wailing

Very occasionally I’ve found Adblock Plus get turned off somehow (probably an update to Firefox or something), and when that happens it is absolutely ghastly. You forget what a pile of steaming excrescence most adverts are. I’ve always been able to turn it back on again eventually though, to huge sighs of relief

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doriel

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NaNoNyMouse wrote:

Some sites detect this (and I’d guess other) Ad-blockers, and go “Purleeeese turn your Ad-Blocker off”. Irritating when it’s a site you actually want to visit, but for me the pleasure of never seeing adverts trumps any other consideration, so I don’t listen to their plaintive wailing

You just need to up your game a bit!

Use a *monkey extension (Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey, Violentmonkey) and add the Reek AAK (Anti-Adblock Killer)  user script.  Then subscribe to the filter list by the same name (also linked from the site) with your adblocker (I use uBlock Origin).

Those sites shouldn’t bother you with those messages anymore.

One thing, though: If you use a script blocker like uMatrix or NoScript, you will probably need to turn it off for the sites with adblock-blockers for the AAK stuff to be able to punch through.

If there are ads that are free of trackers, don’t slow my PC or page load times perceptibly, and don’t cause annoyance (sound, animation, popouts, etc), I would consider whitelisting the site, and before Woody got rid of the ads, I did have this site (one of only a handful) whitelisted, but the state of advertising on the web now is just in too sorry a state to really consider that in a broader sense.

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BATcher wrote:

YouTube actually shows advertisements!  (Who’d a thought it!)

I don’t see any ads in YouTube with Chrome + uBlock Origin. I play YouTube videos using the ‘Magic Actions for YouTube’ extension.

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I use uBlock Origin with Chrome on the Mac and when I occasionally get online with the Win7, works great.

MacOS iPadOS and sometimes SOS

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I use Firefox with uBlock Origin.  For those sites that won’t display when an adblocker is detected, I copy the URL, open a New Private Window in Firefox, paste the URL in the address bar, and it displays.  The ads are still blocked.  When I’ve finished reading, I close the Private Window.  That same procedure works for most sites behind a paywall.

I don’t see any ads, anywhere, at anytime, so I haven’t seen the need to install any additional extensions.

To help defeat persistent trackers, I’ve developed the habit of jumping back to my browser homepage, DuckDuckGo, and from there navigating to the next site I want to visit.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

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I use AdBlock Plus, the paid version, in both my Mac and Win 7 PC. Not a single add shows up, ever, unless I turn the application off for some Web site, for some reason, which I very rarely do. One can also whitelist a site, so whenever one connects to it it can show its ads.

My concern goes beyond how annoying some ads can be; they can also slow down the loading of ad-heavy Web pages and, more worryingly, while the intention of those paying to get their ads displayed at a particular site might be only to promote their businesses, there is always the suspicion that, due mainly to poor cybersecurity practices, their ads might have been compromised and loaded with some malware ready to be downloaded onto susceptible machines.

It is a hard choice between supporting the work of those people putting up useful sites that rely only on ads to keep these going, and using the sites without contributing to their support. I think that, if practical, they should offer the choice to their would-be browsers between supporting them with donations through Patreon or PayPal, for example, or accepting to watch the ads.

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doriel

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Ascaris wrote:

You just need to up your game a bit!

Heh! Yeah, very true. (In practically every area of modern life)

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OscarCP wrote:

I use AdBlock Plus, the paid version

Why pay for something when you can get a better solution (uBlock) for free ?

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WSeikelein, Myst

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Why pay for something when you can get a better solution (uBlock) for free ?

Maybe cause he wants to support their work? I understand your point of view, I use free adblock plus, but it is good that somebody rewards this team with actual money 🙂

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You don’t have to buy a paid product to do that. I’ve donated to a number of producers of free software on Windows, Linux, and for select Firefox/Waterfox addons.

I used to use ABP, but when I saw that uBlock Origin was being described as being more efficient with RAM and CPU cycles, I tried it, and I’ve used it ever since.

 

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doriel wrote:

but it is good that somebody rewards this team with actual money

ADblock plus is already funded by those companies on the ‘white list’ that push you ads that you don’t want.

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Only if you want to be “pushed” . . . You can untick the option that allows Adblock Plus to show its “acceptable ads” by clicking on the gear.

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Microfix

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Alex: “ADblock plus is already funded by those companies on the ‘white list’ that push you ads that you don’t want.” Which, in my experience, never happened. If I whitelist a site, which I very rarely have done, I consciously accept seeing the adds in there in exchange for whatever information they provide that I consider to be particularly useful to me. The ads are not “pushed”to me. And I pay the developers of AdBlock Plus for their application, which might be the reason I do not have strange problems using it.

My main reservation about seeing ads is not so much that they can be obnoxious (which they can be), but that they may present a malware infection risk to my computer, as already explained in my previous comment.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
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OscarCP wrote:

The ads are not “pushed”to me. And I pay the developers of AdBlock Plus for their application, which might be the reason I do not have strange problems using it.

I don’t trust an adblocker that shows ads even if its only on the free version.

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[EP]

that’s why I (and several others here) use uBlock Origin instead of adblock plus, Alex5723

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by EP.

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Charlie

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[EP]

EP wrote:

that’s why I (and several others here) use uBlock Origin instead of adblock plus, Alex5723

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by EP.

Me too (with Chrome, Firefox ESR and ChrEdge)

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by Alex5723.

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[chaloots]

I typically run at least a half dozen assorted, reputable blockers in Firefox on Windows 10, all of which seem to function as designed. While it might be wishful thinking on my part, what I’d like to see are websites indicating in particular which specific blockers they’d like permissions on. The only alternative tried up to this point is to restart Firefox in Safe Mode, with all extensions disabled.

The duration of a minute depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by chaloots.

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[dmt_3904]

I generally do the same. It is unfortunate that we cannot avoid being tracked in today’s world.  I wish our government would give us better protections but I really don’t know how well things are working out for the Europeans with their online regulations.  Or California, I know, has a law too.  I don’t know much about it.

The best we can do is some of the things suggested here.  Or stay off-line !! 😆

That’s what I that’s what I think.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by dmt_3904.

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[doriel]

…but I really don’t know how well things are working out for the Europeans with their online regulations.

Hello, Europe here. The fact is, that GDPR somehow protects us. I dont know exact text of it, cause it has 88 pages of lawyers termins. See all versions here:
GDPR full

It really changed the way how personal data are handeled – I can confirm, that records from surveillence cams are affected, I can also confirm, that “paper version” of personal data have to be stored differently and thats not all.
On websites, I noticed, that every page MUST offer options to customize/decline cookies.

But does it really affect some backdoors implemented by code writers? Nah. I dont think so. Its invisible unless someone discoves it.

I really like AdBlocker (or uBlock), cause it saves me from the inhuman ammount of ads that are trying to flood me.

I wish our government would give us better protections

I think, that government is the hegemon with personal data. They can have every data on you, if you are suspect, or you are somehow involved in court case. Once I was victim of robbery, I signed paper that basically said “OK, you can access my personal data and pass them to the court please.”
And during the court, there was exact call and message extract. My bank account history and surveillence records. It took just one signature.

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• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by doriel. Reason: oh grammar

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dmt_3904, SueW

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doriel wrote:

Hello, Europe here. The fact is, that GDPR somehow protects us. I dont know exact text of it, cause it has 88 pages of lawyers termins. See all versions here:
GDPR full

@doriel, that GDPR link is showing that some parts of the page are insecure!
oh the irony 😀

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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doriel

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Microfix wrote:

that GDPR link

That link might be the problem, try this one instead.

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🙂 I apologize, it didnt show any insecurities to me 🙂 Irony indeed.

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Microfix

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There are many strong believers in uBlock Origin.  Too many for me to improve, so, succinctly, uBlock Origin does PERFECTLY for me.  Robb Thurston.

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My preference is to use BRAVE Browser which is based on chromium but is designed to block adverts without the need of any extension and also provides an apparently more secure environment. BRAVE works will the usual Chrome extensions. Unless you are a cryptocurrency fan and would like to receive payment for viewing occasional adverts you might like to turn off the “Brave Rewards” feature.

BRAVE can be found at: BRAVE Software

I’ve been using BRAVE for over a year now and love its performance, and being a cryptocurrency fan I do collect payment for seeing the odd advertisement. In fact, BRAVE will pay me a small amount of its cryptocurrency token “BAT” if you use the above link. If you prefer not to reward me then just search “brave browser”.

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Waterfox and Firefox with Ublock Origin. Zero ads.

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doriel wrote:

I use Adblock (free version) few years and I must say it really makes my life better (dont worry, Im not trying to sell you something )

Pardon my interjection but your signature HAL3000 got my interest piqued = Is that a specific Czesky pc manufacturer as I have never seen it in Electrodom or any of the Slovak shops near me?

As for the main topic did ad blocker not have a recent issue with malware or dodgy advertising embedded within its code and does it not impact on browser responsiveness – has anyone actually tested how much impact it has on the browser?

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doriel

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Hello,

As for the main topic did ad blocker not have a recent issue with malware or dodgy advertising embedded within its code and does it not impact on browser responsiveness – has anyone actually tested how much impact it has on the browser?

IExplorer can measure impact of plugins. I noticed several times, when it reported Java plugin as big “slowdown” – it took over one second and half to load that plugin. See attached screenshot, its the “plugin manager” from IExplorer, sorry for czech version, but there is column “loading time”, which shows impact of the plugin.
On chrome, I cat find such information. But my opinion is, that “not loading” ads can speedup the process of loading page. But thats just my guess.

To your other question:

Pardon my interjection but your signature HAL3000 got my interest piqued

Yes, its czech company that builts mostly gaming PCs. They buy components and make gaming series. They mostly build official machines for Czech Chanpionship in gaming. Then you can purchase those machines online in e-shops too. And for quite good price, cause design is simple and they focus on the performance.

Posílám pozdravy k našim sousedům 🙂

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I’ve used AdBlock Plus with Chrome, but since I’ve been using the newest Edge, I don’t use or  need any adblocker. With Edge, just go to Settings/Privacy, Search…/Tracking prevention. Set it to “Strict”. If any ads are appearing, I don’t even notice them. Lovin’ it!!!

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I thought there were concerns about being tracked by Microsoft when using Edge (new edge).  That is why others are recommending Firefox, Vivaldi, Brave, etc.  Is there a privacy risk with using the new Edge?  I would use it if I can be somewhat assured it’s not sending my data back to the mother ship! I think using the ‘native’ MS app would be best, but my concern with MS tracking/my privacy is why I am currently using FF with adblockers.

When it comes to tracking, I’m not going to even mention Google/Chrome here ; )  I’m not considering using that browser, nor do I want to have a Google account.

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I’ll never believe I’m NOT being tracked on the internet in some way. I just did a little experiment. I opened my “Home Page” (a general news media site) using three different ways, one at a time, immediately closing it then running CCleaner to see how much it cleaned out.

Edge (“strict” setting)- 13.6 MB

Chrome- 22.2 MB

Chrome, incognito mode – 11.7 MB

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doriel

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Hmmm I would not have thought of using cclean in that way.   what does it mean? There was more data/trackers in Chrome then the others?

I regularly clean out cookies and history on all devices.  Doesn’t that eliminate the trackers?  DuckDuckGo on iOS has close tabs and clear data button. On  Safari and clear history, cookies. On laptop w/Firefox I clean out all cookies regularly. I hope that is keeping me untracked.

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The “anonymous” post above was me; I hadn’t logged in. I was just trying to measure the effectiveness of using Edge’s “Strict” setting against Google Chrome and Chrome/incognito.  Browsers will collect info no matter what you do.

 

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doriel

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I think the conclusion should be, that there is lot of tracking(?)/downloading going on the background, when surfing the web. Not that chrome itself is to blame.

In Opera/Vivaldi you can see, how much data was tranfered on the address bar.

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