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There are many people resigned to the fact that the “free” of the Internet, in many cases means living with absurd amounts of advertisements.
Really?
If you’ve come this far, it’s because, like most people, you’re looking to find a solution.
Know that it exists for many cases and that’s what we’re going to deal with today, as well as the main issues related to ad blockers.
Why block ads?
Ads on the World Wide Web are almost as old as the first websites and emerged as one of the ways to deliver free content on the Internet.
After all, even if a blog is hosted on the free WordPress platform, the time its creator dedicates to producing and publishing content has a price and nothing fairer than resorting to ads as a monetization alternative.
The big problem is not having to “live with” one, two or maybe even three ads carefully inserted along the page of a publication and that don’t get in the way of viewing the content or browsing. The issue is that the excess of online advertising has often made the consumption of some content a real exercise in patience and persistence.
Even worse if access is via a smartphone, when there is no precision to tap the tiny button intended to close the ad that was displayed in front of the content and take it to the advertiser’s website.
The “traps” on such sites are many, making something that should consume 30 seconds of your time, turn into 3 or more minutes of clicks / touches, notifications, pop-ups, alerts, confirmations, new windows or tabs / tabs being opened… Anyway, almost a nightmare.
Everyone experiences this all the time and, therefore, it would be enough to justify the decision to put an end to it. But there are other reasons to block this “spree”:
- Internet Speed – Like every element on a page (text, buttons, photos, videos, icons, etc.), ads need to be downloaded from the server they are hosted on. The more ads there are, the more they consume bandwidth and compromise browsing speed. Since not everyone has a high-speed and/or stable connection all the time, the page can take a few seconds to load;
- Data – if the access is made using the telephone operator’s data plan, valuable bytes of the plan are consumed with each access;
- Memory – the consumption of memory by web browsers has been a cause for complaint, especially in the case of Chrome, which is aggravated in each tab / tab that is opened to display a website. And advertisements, like any content, increase the demand for RAM. If consumption is exaggerated, the device starts to slow down;
- Processing – just like RAM, displaying everything on the screen requires processing and in the case of advertising in video format, which is increasingly common, it is even greater. If the notebook, desktop or smartphone does not have a good processor, it can slow down the system;
- Cache – the more advertising there is on each page, the more space consumed by the browser’s cache increases. Those who are not in the habit of cleaning it periodically will suffer degradation in performance and in the case of smartphones, they may even be left with little or limited storage space on the device;
- Security – digital security is minimized both because of malicious ads and because a device that has its performance affected has its security tools also compromised in terms of efficiency;
- Privacy – there is still a large number of sites / services that do not respect the legislation (LGPD and GDPR) and which record cookies, especially third-party and tracking cookies, which allow us to obtain information about your browsing behavior and therefore violate your online privacy.
What is an ad blocker?
An ad blocker is usually a browser extension / AddOn – but it can be a software / application – that has the function of blocking online advertising.
By means of a set of technologies and filters, blockers prevent the loading on your device of the advertising contained in the websites, the respective cookies, the pop-up windows relating to advertising, but which are sometimes also used by malicious websites to simulate notifications or false alerts and even collect private information.
Functionalities may vary according to the chosen solution, as well as the degree of efficiency.
Do ad blockers work?
When you research more deeply about the most popular ad blocking tools, some inform on their own websites that they are among the options that block the most, which by deduction means to say that blocking more or less is not the same as blocking all.
Therefore, objectively, each option has a different level of efficiency.
So, before we list the most popular options, we need to make some considerations:
- Not all options are available for all operating systems (Windows, MacOs, Linux, Android, iOS, etc) and all browsers. We will favor the largest number of users;
- The degree or efficiency of blocking is not the same for mobile devices as it is for notebooks / desktops. We note that in the second group, efficiency tends to be noticeably better;
- We also found that this efficiency varies from browser to browser, and combined with the native features that some browsers have, such as Firefox, the end result can be better;
- There are browsers that already have native blocking tools that offer acceptable blocking patterns, eliminating the installation of an extension and consequently consumption of memory / processing;
- It is important not to install any blocking extension without first doing extensive research, as there is a history of malicious add-ons that introduced vulnerabilities into the system and even those that affected performance;
- Some features of certain sites may not work 100% with some blockers activated, and it is necessary to deactivate them when this happens.
5 ad blocker options
Below we will present 5 blocker options that are usually listed as the most popular and whose order does not mean hierarchy from best to worst or vice versa.
The criterion of popularity, rather than efficiency, was chosen because a larger user base usually presupposes more updates, a larger universe of tests / experimentation and more anticipated users.
1. AdBlock
AdBlock is one of the oldest ad blocking solutions with the largest user base.
Available to Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, iOS It is android which also makes it one of the solutions with the widest range of users, which is why we started with it.
In the tests we’ve done, the blocking efficiency is quite satisfactory in different browsers for Windows, but leaves something to be desired on mobile devices.
Contains a useful feature which is to allow ads to show on sites and content creators you support, in such a way that you don’t hurt the monetization of those you follow or favorite.
Another important advantage is that it proved to be very efficient in removing advertising from YouTube and Twitch videos.
Furthermore, AdBlock is an important ally in digital security, as it uses constantly updated filters, which block access that has been marked as spreading malware and phishing. We must point out that this should not be a reason to relax or neglect other precautions with digital security.
It’s a free extension, but once the installation is complete, a step appears where you can make a contribution.
2. uBlock Origin
Our second alternative, uBlock Origin is often listed as the least resource intensive (memory and processing) extension on the device it is installed on.
It appears as a browser extension edge, firefox, Opera It is chromebut only for Windows users, leaving out mobile device users.
In addition to the fact that it is the least demanding in terms of resources, like AdBlock, it is one of the few blockers that is efficient with YouTube ads.
3. AdBlocker Ultimate
AdBlocker Ultimate is one of the tools that has the highest level of blocking in the category and promises low consumption of system resources, compared to most competitors.
But just like uBlock, it doesn’t serve everyone. MacOS and Safari browser users are excluded.
In addition to extensions for chrome, edge, firefox It is Opera it provides an application for Windows, which promises to work by blocking everything in different browsers and even in communication applications, although it does not say which ones. It is important to note that in the latter case, it is a paid option, with a 14-day trial.
on devices android It is iOSyou need to install an app.
It was also able to block ads on YouTube.
4. Opera
Unlike the previous options, the Opera it is not an extension, but a browser that has native ad blocking feature. You can easily activate it with the shield icon located in the search bar to get rid of ads.
The degree of efficiency, in turn, is not as good as the previous three extensions, especially with pop-ups, but manages to reduce it to a satisfactory level.
We calculated in our tests, something around 90% reduction in the display of online advertising. Therefore, it is an option to consider if you are one of those people who do not like installing extensions.
Another benefit of Opera is that its default configuration is already quite restrictive in terms of privacy protection, especially third-party cookies and even blocking sites with malware.
Like Chrome and Edge, Opera is open source based on the chromium.
5. brave
Our fifth alternative is also not an extension, but a browser that incorporates some different concepts that we have already discussed in a separate article – the Brave browser.
Despite being a browser largely dedicated to blocking cookies and the most varied forms of tracking and, therefore, well oriented towards privacy, like Opera, it also offers blocking of advertising natively, dispensing with the installation of extensions.
And also for the same reason, it is not 100% efficient in the task of eliminating online advertising.
It counts in its favor, the fact that it is very undemanding in terms of consumption of system resources, which is particularly interesting for those who have more modest devices.
It offers as a highlight, the “Tor Mode”. While most browsers just don’t record incognito browsing history, it does try to hide your location from the websites you visit, routing your browsing through various servers before reaching your destination. These connections make use of encryption to increase anonymity.
Conclusion
Internet ad blockers, in addition to making browsing less annoying, can make it safer, faster and improve your privacy.
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