Trying to watch a Youtube video on the power of blockchain but can’t get there without sitting through at least 20 seconds of Aroma Candle and Personal training ads?
You may find that, just because you searched for some Ninjago Lego for your siblings’ Christmas presents, you find yourself bombarded with Popups, offering great deals on Lego wherever you go in the digital world.
If you find all these ads annoying and intrusive, you’re not alone. 91% of people say ads are more intrusive today than 2–3 years ago (Source). At the end of last year, Youtube changed its terms of service to display ads even on channels that didn’t opt in to (or couldn’t opt in to) its monetization program.
Unfortunately, this means they’ve started showing ads on some of our videos as well, without giving us a way to turn them off. In case you needed an illustration of why basing revenue models solely on advertising isn’t the most valuable for content creators and users, there you have it.
Reasons for getting rid of ads include that they’re simply annoying, ruining one’s (work)flow, and can even pose security concerns.
Most websites these days host ads served by third-party ad publishers. Therefore, a website often has no direct control over the ads’ quality or ways to enforce security measures. Forbes experienced this in 2016 when they asked users to disable ad-block to access their content, and the first thing they were served was a popup with malware. Technically, publishers are responsible for vetting ads, but regardless Forbes absorbed the majority of the outcry.
If you’re tired of seeing ads on our or anyone else’s video, try using an adblocker — you might be surprised how much faster some websites suddenly load.
AdBlock
The customizable Browser extension is available for Android, iOs, Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. It has been around for decades and has grown a significant user-base, with more than 65 million users and support for 40 languages.
It doesn’t just block annoying popups but also frees your browsing experience from banner ads, video ads, and any other ad you might be seeing. On top of blocking ads and providing a nicer browsing experience, AdBlock also ensures that third-party trackers can’t get hold of your browsing history by blocking them — ultimately increasing your privacy online.
Please note that, as a member of the Acceptable Ads program, the extension doesn’t block non-intrusive ads by default. However, you can easily change that setting if you wish. You can find the extension here.
uBlock Origin
uBlock is an open-source, cross-browser extension that filters content, with the primary aim being to reduce privacy invasions in a user-friendly fashion. The extension is available for all the most widely used browsers, including Chrome, MS Edge, Opera, Firefox, and Safari releases before 13.
uBlock leverages community-based blocklists to find and block intrusive ads. Additionally, users can create custom lists. Unlike AdBlock, uOrigin doesn’t consider any ads “acceptable.” Blocking happens on a local level, without any third-party handling your data. The extension is easy to use for the layperson yet offers considerable depth for those looking for greater control. All the details can be found here.
Lastly, while not an adblocker, if you’re serious about maintaining more privacy online, you might want to consider switching to Brave — a browser blocking all ads and third-party cookies, and make a habit of using VPNs — Until we enter Web 3.0.
As always, these are merely suggestions on how you can improve your browsing experience. Similar to buying any crypto, DYOR (do your own research) before installing any extensions. The ones introduced here feature over a decade in the market and have a solid user base and reputation.