are ad blockers any good for web browers?

[brianmanahan]

i dont have an ad blocker but have thought about getting one. has anyone used one and if so would you recommend it?

 

[lxskllr]

You kidding? I consider them essential. It's not even so much for blocking ads per se. It's to block tracking, and the occasional /malicious/ ads adservers sometimes serve up. You want Adblock+, and be sure to use the Fanboy lists; all three of them. Also use BetterPrivacy. That gets rid of Flash cookies which aren't easily handled within the browser.

 

[ultimatebob]

Yeah... ad blockers are almost a requirement on some sites now. I found that it can cut the load time of many sites by more than half.

Of course, I don't block Anandtech... that would just be rude!

 

[BlueWeasel]

...and be sure to use the Fanboy lists; all three of them.

Was using his adblock, but didn't know about the other two. Thanks!

 

[lxskllr]

Was using his adblock, but didn't know about the other two. Thanks!

Using all the lists should eliminate the need for Ghostery. I still have Ghostery installed, but may try disabling it for a bit to see how it goes. I do like seeing how many trackers get blocked though. It's a barometer for individual sites, and the web in general.

I'm a bit ambivalent about Ghostery's business practices. They're playing both sides by removing trackers, but selling that information to companies to create new trackers. I guess that doesn't affect my use of it, but I find it a bit distasteful.

 

[gevorg]

 

[Auric]

Using all the lists should eliminate the need for Ghostery. I still have Ghostery installed, but may try disabling it for a bit to see how it goes. I do like seeing how many trackers get blocked though. It's a barometer for individual sites, and the web in general.

Ghostery may still be useful for cookies, while 3pes can be disabled as redundant to Adblock.

 

[cl-scott]

Not a lot that can be added, except that while there is an AdBlock Plus for Chrome, it's a somewhat neutered version compared to the Firefox version, just because of the limitations of Chrome's extension system.

I would also recommend something like NoScript. There's a NotScript for Chrome, which is a somewhat lesser version of NoScript... Again based on limitations of Chrome's extension system. NoScript goes an extra step further and blocks scripts on websites by default. Once you have NoScript installed, and you have to start manually whitelisting sites, you'll be amazed at how many different sites are supplying content to whatever site you're on. Anandtech is a bit light with only three. It's not uncommon for sites to have content drawn from 10+ external sources.

 

[bononos]

Not a lot that can be added, except that while there is an AdBlock Plus for Chrome, it's a somewhat neutered version compared to the Firefox version, just because of the limitations of Chrome's extension system.

I would also recommend something like NoScript. There's a NotScript for Chrome, which is a somewhat lesser version of NoScript... Again based on limitations of Chrome's extension system. NoScript goes an extra step further and blocks scripts on websites by default. Once you have NoScript installed, and you have to start manually whitelisting sites, you'll be amazed at how many different sites are supplying content to whatever site you're on. Anandtech is a bit light with only three. It's not uncommon for sites to have content drawn from 10+ external sources.

Problem with noscript is that some sites with many external sources don't tell the browser/noscript what sites are needed in advance (loaded on demand) and you'll have to keep allowing and reloaded and repeating until you get all you need (and either having to remember what sites to load in the future or put them on the whitelist). One site that does this is THG.

 

[QuantumPion]

I didn't even know youtube had commercials in their videos until I tried browsing it on someone else's computer without adblock.

 

[cl-scott]

Problem with noscript is that some sites with many external sources don't tell the browser/noscript what sites are needed in advance (loaded on demand) and you'll have to keep allowing and reloaded and repeating until you get all you need (and either having to remember what sites to load in the future or put them on the whitelist). One site that does this is THG.

Very true, and while annoying, security and ease of use often are on opposite ends of the spectrum. If there were a way for a website to signal to NoScript that scripts X, Y, and Z are needed for site functions, how long until sites are just putting every script in that list?

The first time you go to any new site will require some patience as you go through and figure out just which domains to allow, but the upside is that you're significantly less likely to be hit by a malicious script, you can block all those site metric scripts that quite often spy on you, etc.

 

[buggers]

i use a Adblock and Flashblock on my chrome,it's very useful

 

[forumuser]

I didn't even know youtube had commercials in their videos until I tried browsing it on someone else's computer without adblock.

Absolutely. Adblock is crucial for Youtube. I haven't installed No-script yet, but I'm getting a lot closer to it. I'm seeing websites hiccup on certain things involving ad networks, even with Adblock.

 

[Socio]

You kidding? I consider them essential. It's not even so much for blocking ads per se. It's to block tracking, and the occasional /malicious/ ads adservers sometimes serve up. You want Adblock+, and be sure to use the Fanboy lists; all three of them. Also use BetterPrivacy. That gets rid of Flash cookies which aren't easily handled within the browser.

If you use ie9 32 or 64bit you can also get the fanboy and other lists for it, here is a list of the different lists;

http://www.iegallery.com/en-us/trackingprotectionlists


You can also get an app called Do Not Track Plus that works in ie9 32 or 64bit and functions like BetterPrivacy.

 

[zokudu]

Fanboy produces his lists for Opera as well. http://www.fanboy.co.nz/opera.html

 

[plion]

Theres no fanboy list for chrome is there? I only see easy list + easyprivacy. I guess I could enter it manually but I worry it might break something. I'm using regular adblock

 

[HeXen]

How in the world does anyone use the internet without one? I mean i'm astonished at the level of self discipline and tolerance this must take to wait until recently before considering using an Adblocker.

 

[lxskllr]

Theres no fanboy list for chrome is there? I only see easy list + easyprivacy. I guess I could enter it manually but I worry it might break something. I'm using regular adblock

It works with Adblock+ on Chromium for me. I'm not familiar with other ad blocking programs for desktop systems. I started with Adblock+, and saw no reason to change.