Do you also get bombarded by advertisement, news alerts, memes, notifications? Well, at least we can get rid of ads. An ad blocker is a software, typically a browser extension, capable of removing or preventing ads from displaying on content viewed by a user. It targets all kinds of distractions such as pop-ups, banner ads, YouTube ads and other forms of online ads so that users may enjoy surfing the Internet calmly. This does not, however, mean 100% ad removal, as some websites manage to tweak the code to counteract ad blockers (Facebook for example), and some adblock software earn profits by whitelisting companies that pay them to be excluded.
Total Adblock works as part of TotalAV antivirus, where it implements web and internet protection. As an independent extension, it can be used only during a 7-day term of trial. It is available for Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari and Edge. It is also one of the few extensions that allow you to evaluate the real indicators of page loading speed and traffic savings. There's also the ability to exclude trusted pages from blocking (whitelist) and Quiet Mode which blocks browser notifications.
One of the most popular adblockers as rated by real users, working on the following browsers: Chrome, Opera, FireFox, Microsoft Edge, Safari (macOS). Depending on the region, it installs necessary filters automatically and allows a user to create a personal filter. It contains a large database of filters, and offers numerous functions. It does not break the structure of a website after filtering and blocking. uBlock Origin extension is perfectly capable of removing contextual advertising (e.g. Google AdSense), banner advertising (picture, flash banner, animated GIF banner), analytics and metrics (e.g. Yandex metric, Google analytics). It also aids in web anonymity and prevention of local IP address leaks, disabling JavaScript.
AdBlock promises to remove YouTube video ads before you see them, though sometimes they slip through, especially in the middle of video playback. It is the only adblock software that allows whitelisting specific YouTube channels. And this extension gives more control. Left-click on the extension icon to pause it on a current site yor to select a specific ad to remove. We noticed that AdBlock completely removes ads from a page and changes the layout so you won’t even see where ads would be. Unfortunately, with multiple tabs open, Adblock is working somewhat slower than other similar ad blockers. Also, it successfully blocked banners (pic, flash, gif) and Google AdSense.
This is the only ad blocker so far that allows whitelisting specific YouTube channels. And it offers even more flexibility in decisions left-click and pause it on a current web page, or select a specific ad to remove, pause it for all websites. AdBlock Plus really does help pages load faster without ads, although they still occupy a blank spot on a site. Note: it is impossible to add ABP Chrome extension if IP address is in the USA; for Android devices the choice is either ABP app working with Samsung Internet and Firefox mobile browsers or ABP browser. Also, in Firefox there is a “block an element” feature to manually block (missed) ads.
Less known but decent ad blocker from Adaware, mostly famous for antivirus products. It has many filters and ability to add personal filters. It blocks website ads, popups and video ads. Available for Google Chrome, Mozilla, Mozilla for Android. It provides lots of control options for users: block ads and tracking software, accelerate browsing speed, whitelist web pages and/or YouTube channels, get antivirus-level protection, and disguise digital footprints at the same time. So basically, we have an ad blocker and anti-malware/anti-spyware 2-in-1 tool. In result, smooth web surfing, uninterrupted videos, protection from dangerous content.
Chrome, Samsung browser (Android), Safari (iOS) or Opera extension + web acceleration make up Adblock Fast. It is free to download and install, and moreover the source code is available too for those who want to modify the product. Unlike other ad blockers, these guys went the other way, meaning not stuffing the app with thousands of filters (useless anyways, as they claim) and instead have just 7, to be able to speed up page loading and use less CPU. It seems like its developers have unfinished business with Fast because it misses out many ads still, and all functionality is enable/disable only.
Even the trial version, without configuration options, does a good job of keeping ads away. When you visit the official site to download, it automatically detects your browser and offers a proper extension (overall available for Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge). No free version, only 7-day trial and then two options: pay $10 per month, or buy annual subscription for $40. When “Disable on this website” button is pressed a web page will reload with exception enacted. In the right top corner it also displays the number of ads blocked on a given site and a total number. 4.9 of 5 user reviews in Chrome Web Store.
An excellent product – a browser adblock extension for Chrome, Opera, Mozilla, Edge, Safari, Yandex, IE. With very similar set of features to the top-5 blockers, incl.AdBlock, ABP, AdLock, uBlock, it is also the one that consumes the least PC resources (50 Mb of memory, 4 Mb disk size, 0-12 CPU load). It is completely free, and unfortunately does not provide whitelisting options. Watching videos, playing games or simply getting work done without misleading, flashing and often intrusive ads is enjoyable with Adblocker Ultimate, which also takes care of user data tracking, malware, spyware, etc.
Comes in 3 forms: desktop version for Windows, browser extension for Chrome and mobile app for Android. AdLock costs $29 annually for Windows and $14 for Android devices, plus there’s a 14- day free trial. The ad blocking feature is based on advertising filters (EasyList technology), so the set of rules helps to prevent ads from appearing on a given web page. To effectively do so, AdLock checks all requests sent from the website page to the server and applies filters. AdLock also adapts webpage layout for proper appearance, removing blank ad spaces as well. Users can exclude domains and apps from filtering. Regarding performance, it was the only adblock software to stop absolutely all ads on a test websites from all products in the current category, including shareware of installed programs.
AdGuard blocks all ads and adware, including video ads, pop-ups, rich media advertising, text ads. It also ensures user privacy by blocking third-party tracking systems and even spyware. AdGuard is available for many browsers (Chrome, Opera, FireFox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Yandex Browser) and platforms – Windows, Mac, Android, iOS. It is really also appropriate when family members use several browsers, as all settings are centralised in a single interface. It can even hide ads in applications such as uTorrent and Skype. On the other hand, in many cases it seems to be impeding Internet connection noticeably, and productivity in terms of blocking ads varies (on Chrome and Firefox seems to be best).
