Block banners and advertisements. The best programs to remove ads, viruses and malware

There is probably no need to say that advertising in Android applets or in browsers when accessing the Internet is incredibly annoying to all users without exception. But the system cannot get rid of this scourge using its own means. So what to do? Ad blocking on Android systems can be done either using special programs or manually by changing one of the key system files.

Where do ads come from in Android applications?

Probably every owner of an Android device has wondered where so much junk in the form of advertising comes from in programs. The answer to this question must be sought in the Google Play service itself, from which in most cases mobile applications are downloaded and installed.

The situation is that absolutely all free applications that are presented in the service have built-in advertising. All!!! The only exceptions are paid programs. They don't have this garbage. But not everyone wants (or can) pay a certain amount just to get rid of constantly pop-up messages and banners. But there is a way out. You need to use some kind of ad blocking application on Android, which can remove it from both installed applications and from the browser when the user surfs the Internet.

Types of advertising and ways to eliminate them

But before we begin to consider the question of how, for example, advertising is blocked in Chrome on Android or eliminated in installed applets, it is worth looking at what the main types of advertising can be found.

Many experts, having analyzed all possible situations, tend to divide advertising into several main types:

• static or dynamic (pop-up) banners at the top, bottom or full screen with a picture or video;
• built-in advertising directly in the program interface;
• advertising that appears after 2-3 days of using the application;
• “useful” advertising, after viewing which the user receives some points, bonuses, coins, etc.

As for the methods for eliminating it, in most cases, when installing additional applets, superuser rights are required, otherwise it will not be possible to achieve at least some significant result. But! If it doesn't work out, it doesn't mean it's impossible in principle. Advertising can also be blocked on Android without root rights. Let's dwell on this separately.

By the way, one of the simplest methods to prevent the appearance of advertising in applications is to download and install them not from the Google Play service, but to download their full analogues in the form of APK files and then install them from other sources. But the resources must be verified, otherwise no one can guarantee that you won’t catch the virus somewhere. Programs on such sites in most cases are already free of advertising, even in situations where the application requires constant Internet access to work correctly.

Ad blocking on Android: the most popular applications

On the Internet you can now find quite a lot of software applets aimed at ridding the user of annoying banners and messages. Not all of them are equivalent to each other. But in most cases, there are several of the most powerful, popular and interesting applications:

• AdAway.
• LuckyPatcher.
• AdFree.
• AdBlock.
• Adguard.
• Adblock Browser, etc.

This list is interesting because the first three applications necessarily require root rights, the second three can work without them. Let's look at several utilities. In principle, they all work on similar principles.

AdAway is the easiest app to use

Blocking ads on Android using this program is based on automatically changing the hosts file.

After installing and launching the application, you only need to use two buttons. First, click on the file download button, and then on the button to turn off advertising. True, as is already clear, the appearance of such programs is completely unprofitable for Google corporation, so it is pointless to look for it in the Market. You will have to download from other sources and install manually.

AdBlock is a program for Android. Ad blocking for free

As is probably clear from the name, this applet is a mobile version of a computer add-on for browsers, adapted for Android systems.

This utility, like Adblock Browser, which is a regular browser with a built-in blocker, is intended for use as an add-on (extension) to all existing browsers in the system. True, it has one drawback. If the system provides root rights, the application will filter absolutely all traffic, and to block without them, you will additionally need to configure the proxy server settings. And please note that this application may not work on all devices and not all versions of the Android operating system.

Lucky Patcher - a universal solution

Many experts believe that this application is the best ad blocking program on Android. And it's not even about the operating principles.

The program itself is in some way a slightly modified analogue of the AdAway applet in terms of interface. However, its possibilities are much wider. In fact, the application is a whole patcher complex for all occasions.

When programs are launched, it performs a full scan of the system, and distributes the results in the application category into several types, highlighting them in different colors:

• yellow - the application has been fixed and no additional action is required;
• green - Google license verification required;
• blue - presence of advertising.

A separate section contains programs that cannot be patched. By clicking on the desired application, the user receives an additional menu in which an action option is selected (removing advertising, installing a patch, etc.).

AdFree is another simple tool

This program almost completely repeats the AdAway applet presented above.

It not only uses the same principle of changing the hosts file, but also the procedure for eliminating problems in the form of using buttons to download a file and disable advertising.

Using manual mode

Blocking ads on Android in this case means downloading a modified hosts file from the Internet or creating it on your computer using any text editor (for example, Notepad). It looks like the image below.

To avoid trouble, the original system file must first be renamed (or backed up), after which the new hosts object should be placed in the etc directory, which can be located either in the system root or in the System directory, using a file manager like Root for this. Explorer. After that, all that remains is to reboot the device and rejoice.

What to use?

As for choosing the preferred method for getting rid of advertising, it is difficult to recommend something specific, since each program is focused on a specific type of task. However, if you have superuser rights, it is better to install LuckyPatcher (the application may be useful for other purposes). But optimally, in order to remove advertising from both installed programs and the browser, the optimal solution would be to install two applets, one of which will block the appearance of unwanted banners in applications, and the second will eliminate advertising when surfing the Internet. For example, in addition to LuckyPatcher, you can install AdBlock. However, here the choice is up to the owner of the mobile device. As for downloading or manually creating a hosts file, this option can be used if suddenly (which is unlikely) nothing else helps.

The demand for plugins that “cut” annoying online advertising is steadily growing. According to a recent report from Adobe and PageFair, custom browser extensions are now used by over 200 million people worldwide, up 41% from 2014. Read about the five best browser add-ons that will help hide annoying banners, pop-ups and other annoying ads in the Vestey.Hi-tech collection.

Not all advertising is bad. “Internet bugs” that collect information about the user’s activity without his knowledge, flashing and pop-up windows that interfere with or distract from reading, as well as banners with “bad” code that embed cookies into the browser to track movements deserve unambiguous blocking. visitors from site to site. However, sometimes running ads is the only way to earn money as an independent resource. So, if the ads are harmless and do not bother you, it would be a good idea to support the authors of your favorite sites and add them to the white list.

Before installing a blocker, we recommend enabling the Do Not Track (DNT) feature in your browser. This will let the site know that you do not want to be tracked by behavioral cookies that collect information about pages visited, online purchases, search engine queries, etc. Enabling this setting, however, does not mean that sites will immediately stop bothering you with “targeted” advertising. For now, DNT is advisory in nature. It only informs sites that users want to stop tracking them, but does not provide any guarantees that advertisers will comply with this request.

Chrome: open "Settings" → on the screen that opens, follow the link "Show additional settings" (below) → in the "Personal data" section, check the box next to "Send tracking denial with outgoing traffic."

Firefox: Go to “Settings” → select the “Privacy” tab and check the radio button next to “Tell sites that I don’t want to be tracked.”

Internet Explorer: "Settings" → "Security" → "Send Do Not Track requests" → click on the "Enable" button.

Opera: "Settings" → "Privacy and Security" section → check "Send a Do Not Track request with data."

Safari: "Settings" → go to the "Privacy" tab → and check the box next to "Prevent websites from tracking me."

AdBlock Plus

ABP is the most popular and ubiquitous AD blocker, with versions for both desktop and mobile devices. According to statistics from the startup Eyeo, based in Cologne (Germany), their product is regularly used by over 60 million people around the world. ABP can block anything from banners and pop-ups, hidden cookies and other tracking tools, suspicious domains, social media buttons and widgets, and video ads on YouTube or Facebook.

It is also possible to create your own lists of filters and allowed domains. ABP is available as an extension in all popular browsers: Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Internet Explorer, Safari, Maxthon, also in Yandex Browser and on Android devices.

Once installed, ABP will ask what content other than ads should be blocked. Optionally, the extension can deny access to potentially malicious domains, cut out spying cookies and social media buttons that can also monitor user behavior.

ABP has one feature - the so-called “acceptable” or “acceptable advertising”. Developers do not hide the fact that they receive payment from large partners (including Google, Amazon, eHow, Yandex and others) for being included in the white list. Additionally, to support independent creators, ABP can run ads on smaller sites and blogs for free. However, filters are allowed to bypass “no more than 10% of companies,” and users always have the option to completely limit any advertising. This can be done by unchecking the box next to "Allow some unobtrusive advertising" in the add-on settings.

Ghostery

The Ghostery plugin specializes in getting rid of Internet bugs rather than advertising. To date, the extension (the developers themselves call it a “privacy tool”) is aware of the existence of over 2 thousand trackers that can secretly collect information about user activity.

Disconnect

Disconnect's audience is relatively small (about a million users), and the add-on itself does not have a very beautiful interface, but it copes with its tasks. It also has a number of unique functions. For example, Disconnect clearly shows in the form of an interactive map which sites receive notifications that you have visited a partner resource.

In addition, the plugin displays how much Internet traffic has been saved and how much web page loading has increased. Overall, Disconnect is the type of program that you can simply “turn on and forget.” If some elements stop working (YouTube videos, Flickr photos), or the site is not displayed correctly, you can always click on the icon with the letter D and unblock individual scripts.

Disconnect does not have such flexible settings as Ghostery or uBlock. For example, you cannot see the blacklist of all bugs - it is created by the company itself. The extension is available in Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera.

This is a very relevant topic these days. removal of malware and viral advertising. Today on the Internet it is very easy to pick up an infection that embeds advertising in the browser, downloads and installs unnecessary programs, sets an unknown search engine by default, or sets the site to autorun. Often all this occurs together. On this page we will tell you about the best utilities for removing malware, viruses, and advertisements in the form of pop-ups and annoying sites.

AdwCleaner

Anti-Malware

Anti-Malware (mbam). Program for removing advertising, malware, viruses, Trojans.

It has an absolutely working free version that can be used forever without any trial periods, registrations or activations. The only difference from the paid license is that the free version does not provide real-time protection at all times. You can only scan the system on demand.

Anti-Malware successfully removes viruses, Trojans, malware, and potentially unwanted programs. But it may miss some relatively harmless things like adware extensions, which AdwCleaner detects and removes more successfully.

HitmanPro

HitmanPro - tool for removing malware, adware, winlockers

HitmanPro is renowned for its versatility and meticulousness. This utility uses two cloud antivirus engines to search for malware - Kaspersky and Bitdefender. Therefore, it finds even the newest threats. In my practice, there were cases when HitmanPro removed malicious programs that were able to recover independently after being removed by other antiviruses. The program has also proven itself well in removing Winlockers.

Contains a special tool, HitmanPro Kickstart, which allows you to disinfect the system if Windows is not working (for example, it does not boot or is blocked by ransomware). We learn how to create bootable media with HitmanPro Kickstart.

However, this utility is third on the list because it only works for free for 30 days. If the trial period has ended, then you can use HitmanPro on this computer only by purchasing a license and nothing else.

HijackThis

A good utility from a well-known antivirus software manufacturer, TrendMicro. Created to clean browsers from hijackers. To use the utility, it is highly advisable to have basic knowledge of what an extension, add-on, bho, hosts is. Inexperienced users can also use the program, but you should mark for deletion only those lines where a malicious element is clearly displayed - for example, the address of a hijacking site that you are tired of in your browser.

Resume

I would also like to say that it is not always possible to remove malware using programs. This is especially true for traces of activity: when the malicious program itself has already been removed and there is no infection on the computer, consequences such as corrupted browser shortcuts with incorrect paths, batch files that open an unwanted site, registry values ​​written by malware that open the site may remain. when loading. Quite often such things have to be cleaned by hand. For example, if the shortcut is completely changed, then no utility will help to return it. Therefore, in particularly severe cases, you will have to use manual shortcut correction.

Are you looking for a way to permanently remove ads from your browser for free without registration or SMS :)? He is. This is a simple and common plugin called Adblock. More precisely, there is not one, but two popular versions of this extension, as well as several ad blockers with similar functionality. There are versions for the Yandex browser, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer, Safari and other less popular ones. If these extensions do not help, most likely, your computer is already infected with a virus, and in order to eliminate it, you will have to work hard, but first things first.

Browser ad blockers

There are several types of ad blockers. The most popular and easiest to use are undoubtedly Adblock and Adblock Plus. Also, there are less common, but no less effective: uBlock, Adguard, Ghostery, Privacy Badger, Disconnect.

Adblock installation

Control occurs using a button in the control panel and LMB (Left Mouse Click) and RMB (Right Mouse Click) on it.

You can enable or disable certain types of advertising, and include sites in exclusion lists. All controls are easy and intuitive. You can disable unwanted objects on the page.

The settings look like this

As you can see, by default the option to display unobtrusive advertising is left. This means that advertisements that do not take up a lot of space and are marked as “advertising” will not be blocked. In principle, you don’t have to change the settings, and everything will work as it should, as they say, out of the box.

Website: https://adblockplus.org/ru

Description: A browser extension that completely blocks all annoying ads on websites, including Youtube and Facebook ads, share and like buttons, as well as spyware and malware.
On my own behalf, I’ll add that there is localization of the site into Russian, unlike the same. For me, this says something.

Supported Browsers:

• Chrome (on the WebKit engine: Yandex Browser, Google Chrome and the like)
• Mozilla Firefox
• Opera
• Internet Explorer
• Safari
• Maxthon
• Microsoft Edge

There is a mobile browser of our own production for Android and iOS - Adblock Browser.

Installation is also done in one click. As you can see, you can select your browser from the list

Management and configuration are also done using LMB and RMB on the button that will appear in the control panel (to the right of the URL input field) after installing the extension.

And here's what the settings look like from the inside

As you can see, in general, the essence is similar to Adblock: unobtrusive advertising is allowed, there is a white list of domains (a list of allowed domains, for which Adblock Plus is disabled). There are personal filters, where you can set your own parameters for what exactly needs to be blocked on sites (in general, an option for advanced users).
A warning has been issued that filter lists should not be too large, otherwise it may greatly slow down the browser.

In general, these are the two most popular methods for blocking unwanted content on sites, and they are more than enough for almost all occasions. Use them and do not forget to include useful sites in the list of allowed domains.

Description: the original Adguard is a firewall with the ability to filter ads and prevent phishing at the network level, that is, incoming traffic is processed before it reaches the browser. This is its advantage over Adblock and other browser extensions. It is possible to install the Mac version, as well as Android and iOS mobile devices.
Adguard firewall is paid, but the cost is far from prohibitive, around a couple of hundred rubles per year. For this you get a full-fledged commercial product with 24/7 support, ready to use right out of the box.

If you don't want to pay, there are extensions Adguard Anti-banner for different types of browsers.

Supported Browsers

• Google Chrome
• Yandex Browser
• Mozilla Firefox
• Opera
• Palemoon

What can we say - Adguard in comparative tests with uBlock, Adblock, Adblock Plus showed itself to be far from the worst. And blocking ads in mobile phones, in my opinion, is a rather useful feature, which is not provided at the proper level by all available free applications. And here, for a meager fee, a complete set with guaranteed service and support. In general, Adguard is an option for those who value their time and money.

Website: https://www.ublock.org/
Description: a relatively young, but very promising extension for blocking ads on a website. The main advantage of uBlock over Adguard, Adblock and Adblock Plus, its authors call the very low processor load and memory consumption for the plugin to operate. For clarity, comparison in memory consumption

As you can see, uBlock consumes almost no RAM, its level remains almost at the same level as in the absence of blockers

Things get even more interesting when it comes to CPU load.

Here it is clearly visible that uBlock leaves its competitors far behind. In general, if you use Adblock or Adblock Plus, and because of them your browser is slow, I advise you to try uBlock, it may be what you need

Supported Browsers:

• Chrome (Webkit: Google Chrome, Yandex Browser)
• Mozilla Firefox
• Safari

Installation:

uBlock is very similar to Adblock and Adblock Plus - the same white list, list of filters used, the ability to add your own. It is possible to import and export settings, so you can easily transfer all your settings to another machine and will not lose them when you reinstall the operating system.

Control is done using LMB and RMB on the button that will appear in the browser control panel.

Settings: Third-party filters - check RUS: BitBlock List and RUS: RU AdList.

Then you need to update the filters (find the Update Now button). The setup is complete.

Another point - some sites have scripts in their arsenal to detect and bypass Adblock and Adblock Plus. uBlock has an interesting Anti-Adblock Killer mechanism - it is a detector of sites with similar anti-blockers. With the help of this anti-block killer uBlock finds such sites and forcibly cuts out advertising on them. So, here's another plus for using this interesting plugin. Try it.

Description: the main task of the extension is to search and suppress hidden spy scripts built into the code of website pages, and suspicious objects. Also knows how to block aggressive advertising

Supported Browsers

• Mozilla Firefox
• Google Chrome
• Yandex Browser
• Opera
• Safari
• Internet Explorer

Website: https://www.eff.org/privacybadger

Description: essentially similar to Ghostery, functionality and mission are generally the same as most similar blockers

Supported Browsers

• Mozilla Firefox
• Google Chrome
• Yandex Browser

Description: software that is no exception among its own kind. Detects and suppresses surveillance, including from social networks, cuts advertising, reports on the work done, and does it well. This becomes especially clear in light of the fact that the author of the extensions is a former Google employee

Supported Browsers

• Mozilla Firefox
• Google Chrome
• Yandex Browser
• Opera

If Adblock doesn't help

If you already have an ad blocker, but pop-up windows with annoying VKontakte ads and other nonsense have not disappeared, I have bad news for you - most likely you have caught a virus or a Trojan. But don’t despair, every problem has its own solution.

Alternatively, you can start scanning your computer with 2 free utilities, from Kaspersky and Dr.Web:

And even if a regular antivirus did not help, special utilities for combating Spyware, Mailware and similar evil spirits will probably be able to help you. One of these programs can be downloaded here - https://www.malwarebytes.org/products/.
After scanning the system, all suspicious objects are sent to quarantine. If useful files are sent there by mistake, they can be restored.

Also where to look:

The above measures should be enough to eliminate problems with pop-up advertising windows.

How to use Adblock correctly

As you know, advertising is the engine of trade, and without the market we would be deprived of adequate prices for goods and services. Therefore, not all advertising is bad. In addition, advertising on a site is often the only source of profit on which the site lives and develops, and there are many of them on the Internet. I understand that some webmasters, in pursuit of profit, forget about the boundaries of what is reasonable, covering the site with advertising like a Christmas tree with garlands. Yes, there are doorway developers and those who do not shun the spread of viruses and Trojans, and here adblock will definitely help you. But there are also good, useful sites with unobtrusive advertising that you visit regularly, and which grow and develop thanks to the advertising placed on them. I’m not advocating that you stop using Adblock completely, but don’t forget to add useful resources to your ad blocker’s exclusion list, thereby thanking the authors for their efforts to create quality content.

08/12/18 13.4K

Below is a list of the best free ad blockers. But none of them is perfect, so it is most effective to use several solutions at once.

Types of Advertising

When choosing the best blockers, we adhered to the following criteria:

• Completely free;
• Good user ratings;
• No need to register an account to use;
• Recently updated (within the last 12 months);
• Implementation as a plugin for at least one browser or operating system;
• Blocks “media ads” (pop-ups, banners, videos, static images, wallpapers, text ads);
• Blocks advertisements in videos (for example, on YouTube).

To test blockers, we used several sites with different types of advertisements. Among them: Forbes.com, Fark.com, YouTube and OrlandoSentinel.com.
On Orlando Sentinel, we found aggressive ad formats that most ad blockers cannot block. In fact, only a few of them effectively blocked all ads shown on the Orlando Sentinel.

We've tested each of these free tools based on the criteria provided and given them a rating. In addition, the ad blockers listed below, with the exception of Stend Fair Adblocker, are open source software.

The best ad blockers - browser plugins and applications

The best option for blocking ads is to install a specialized plugin or use a browser with a built-in blocker. They interact with sites much more accurately than standalone programs running in the background on your computer.

Stands Fair AdBlocker
It is only available for the Google Chrome browser. With this plugin you can block all types of advertising. But it is only available as an add-on for the Google Chrome browser.
Stands Fair AdBlocker is not designed to block ad blocks, although it can be used for that as well. The development company believes in honest advertising and rewards users who create white lists of ads shown on sites.

Luckily, Stands does a great job of blocking all other ads. Including the aggressive advertising formats shown on the Orlando Sentinel. Plus display ads, autoplay videos, and YouTube ads.

Rating: 7/7

Key Benefits: Block ads on Facebook and Google search.

Works with: Google Chrome

AdBuard AdBlock
AdGuard AdBlock was able to block all types of ads. But the biggest disadvantage of this ad blocker is that all the features are only available in the premium version. However, the difference between blocker versions is explained only in the reference documentation.

Many users have rated AdBuard AdBlock positively. It has been downloaded over 4 million times and received high ratings.
When we tested it, it was one of the ad blockers that not only effectively blocked ads shown on the Orlando Sentinel website, but also blocked advertising frames with the word “advertisement.”

Rating: 7/7

Key Benefits: Possibility to convert whitelist to blacklist.

Works with: Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Microsoft Edge, Yandex Browser.

Opera Browser
One of the fastest and most productive browsers. He was one of the first to offer his users a built-in ad blocker.

Once you enable the ad blocker in your settings, it blocks almost every ad you come across. But the browser was unable to block interstitial ads on the Forbes website (blocks of quotes that appear before articles). Most other ad units were blocked.
In addition, the Opera ad blocker successfully blocked advertisements shown on the Orlando Sentinel.

Rating: 7/7

Key Benefits: built into a popular browser, easy whitelisting.

Works: with Opera.

Adblock Plus
Is the most popular ad blocking software with over 10 million downloads in the Google Chrome browser alone. This is a free and open source project. Adblock Plus is the basis for many other free blockers.

By default, Adblock Plus is designed to only block ads that are considered intrusive or potentially harmful. Therefore, it requires additional configuration.
If you want to block most ads (including auto-playing videos), you'll need to disable the "Allow some non-intrusive ads" option in Settings. But even in this case, ABP does not block everything.

Adblock Plus was one of the tools that failed to do anything about the ads shown on the Orlando Sentinel. Unfortunately, even the “element blocking” function could not help. ABP is good and popular, but far from perfect.

Rating: 6.5 / 7

Key Benefits: presence of anti-blocking filter.

Works with: Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, Yandex Browser, iOS, Android.

uBlock AdBlocker Plus
Unlike other tools, uBlock AdBlocker Plus is easy to use. However, there are some things that the developer could improve. For example, the blocker's website is just a page with the name of the plugin and no additional information.

Block AdBlocker Plus effectively blocks most advertisements, but still lets some through. For example, it did not block the automatic playback of advertising on one of the sites.

When some advertisements were loading, I used the "element blocking" feature to block specific advertisements on the webpage. For example, on the Orlando Sentinel, element blocking worked fine. And its use did not lead to a page reload (as was the case with other ad blockers).

Rating: 6.5 / 7

Key Benefits: easy to use, ability to lock elements.

Works with: Google Chrome.

uBlock Plus Adblocker
The biggest drawback of this plugin is that it has a clunky interface. There are several settings that are activated using switches. But most of the work involves digging into the parameters. However, uBlock Plus Adblocker effectively blocked all advertisements, including autoplay videos.

The main advantage of the plugin is the presence of a large library of third-party filters. The tool also includes advanced custom settings that allow you to create your own content filters.
During testing, uBlock Plus Adblocker blocked most advertisements. But I couldn't do anything about the banner ads shown on the Orlando Sentinel.

Rating: 6.5 / 7

Key Benefits: filters elements and unsafe advertisements.

Works with: Google Chrome.

AdBlocker Genesis Plus
If you have used uBlock Origin or AdBlock Plus, this plugin is for you. AdBlocker Genesis Plus is a fork of other popular plugins. It uses the same basic source code, but implements many of its own features.

Its user interface is slightly different, but the ad blocking functionality is the same. The plugin's developer claims to have specifically removed tracking code from the uBlock/AdBlock Plus source code to ensure greater privacy.

This ad blocker has a high rating (4.34 out of 5) based on over 100,000 ratings. But I found that Genesis Plus doesn't block all ads. The plugin blocked simple display ads on one site (Fark.com), but was unable to block a display ad on the Orlando Sentinel.

Rating: 6/7

Key Benefits: no tracking code, simple whitelist button, block items button.

Works with: Google Chrome.

Adblock Ultimate
Open source project. The tool allows you to deal with most advertisements. In testing, it was able to block YouTube ads and most display ads on websites. This ad blocker has high ratings: 4.84 out of 5 from Google Chrome users and over 600,000 installations.

The plugin was unable to handle the ads shown on the Orlando Sentinel. It did not block ads broadcast on this site at all. But for those who only need to cut out most of the ads, this is a good option. Unfortunately, the plugin has not been updated for over a year. Because of this, his rating was lowered.

Rating: 6/7

Key Benefits: Quick “item blocking” feature that allows you to instantly block any advertisements.

Works with: Google Chrome.

NoScript

This tool is only suitable for Firefox and is more of a script blocker than an ad blocker. NoScript prevents all types of scripts from loading on web pages: JavaScript, Java, Flash and others. You can allow certain types of scripts to be loaded. But by default, the tool applies a fairly “hard” filter.

As a result of its work, most display ads are blocked. This includes aggressive advertising on the Orlando Sentinel, which other tools could not cope with. But NoScript does not block ads in videos at all.

Rating: 5.5/7

Key Benefits: Complete blocking of scripts.

Works with: Firefox.

Why aren't Privacy Badger and Ghostery on this list?

You may have heard about the popular ad blockers Privacy Badger and Ghostery. The fact is that these plugins are not designed to block ads, but to refuse ads and other elements of sites that violate user privacy. As a result, they both block certain types of advertisements. But first and foremost, the tools are aimed at protecting privacy.

This means that by using any of these plugins, you will not see the ads you may be interested in. They also provide limited control over what types of ads are blocked. And given their “good advertising” policy, you won’t be able to block a certain part of the ads at all.

Google Chrome Ad Blocker

Despite the loud statements of Google developers, the built-in Chrome ad blocker is not capable of much. While testing it, we found that it skips almost all advertisements.
At the same time, control of the built-in blocker is very limited. Even finding a site that had ads blocked was a challenge. And since Chrome's ad blocker is designed to block certain types of advertisements, most of them are not intercepted.

Google's ad blocker looks like a fake. Perhaps its appearance has forced some sites to remove particularly intrusive advertising. But you will not be able to use this tool for full blocking.

A note about ad blocking and site revenue

Users hate advertising for several reasons:

• It may slow down page loading;
• Many ads are intrusive and annoying;
• Advertising often does not meet the interests of users;
• Ads may interrupt the viewing experience (particularly on video streaming sites such as Hulu or Crunchyroll);
• Many advertisements contain tracking code that sends information about user behavior to third parties.

The quality of the ads shown has become so bad that even Google has started using an ad blocker in its Chrome browser. But Google's intentions. The company owns a large advertising division and, most likely, Chrome does not block AdSense ads.
The advertisements shown to us have various disadvantages. And they can be used to spread computer viruses by hackers.

Before installing any of the blockers, keep in mind that the sites you visit often rely on advertising revenue to survive. Profit received from broadcasting advertising still remains the main source of income for many Internet resources. In recent years, the use of ad blockers has caused sites to lose $15.8 billion in revenue.
Whitelisting is a good way to ensure that sites you like receive ad revenue. Even if you never click on the ads, they still earn early income from ad views.

This publication is a translation of the article “ 10 best free ad blockers to remove ads and popups", prepared by the friendly project team

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