The technological advancement of the present world is constantly developing, improving, and testing the limits. A big part of the digital age is online advertisements. These take the shape of both social media feeds, news websites, videos, and they sometimes even make their way into your email inbox.
These online ads constitute a revenue source for many websites and content creators. However, ads can also become intrusive, they can slow down your browsing speed, and it can compromise user privacy. This is where an ad blocker come into play: These ad blockers are tools designed to enhance your online experience. This is done by blocking unwanted ads.
Introducing ad blockers
Basically, ad blockers are software tools which can prevent advertisements from appearing on web pages. There are many ways to have ad blockers. They can come as a browser extension, a standalone application, or as a feature integrated into the web browser.
It is possible to use a combination of methods. By doing this, you are increasing your prospects of getting rid of unwanted ads from your screen. The methods you can use include blacklists of known ad domains and specific content filtering rules.
The various ways ad blockers work
Since there are various types of ad blockers, the ways these software tools work also varies. What they all have in common is that ad blockers analyze the content of a web page, and then they identify the elements that match a known pattern for advertisements. One type of ad blocker is blacklists and whitelists. This type of ad blocker includes a list of URLs that are known sources of ads. These are then blacklisted, so when a web page requests content from one of these URLs, the ad blocker will act and block it. On the other hand, whitelists are lists of URLs that are permitted because you as a user trusts the sources.
Ad blockers can also be through element hiding. This involves identifying and hiding specific HTML elements which match an ad pattern. This could for example be to target banners, pop-ups, and sidebars and hide these. Another type is script blocking. Many ads are delivered through JavaScript, and by blocking scripts known from ad servers, an ad blocker ensures ads can load. Lastly, there is heuristic analysis. There are some ad blockers using heuristics to identify ads based on behavior and characteristics.
Why it can be beneficial to use ad blockers
There are many reasons why people choose to use ad blockers on their devices. It especially depends on your needs and preferences for using devices for browsing on the internet. For many it comes down to improving browsing speed, since ads can slow down the page loading times. So, by blocking such elements, you can enhance both speed and performance of your browser, so it becomes a smoother and more efficient browsing experience.
For others, blocking ads is related to enhancing privacy. Many ads come with tracking scripts which collect data on your browsing habits. By blocking ads, you prevent these trackers from running, so you can protect your privacy and reduce the amount of personal data shared. Using ad blockers can also be related to reduced clutter and lower data usage. Blocking ads declutters web pages by removing distracting advertisements, making it easier to focus on the actual content of the webpage. And you reduce the data usage, since ads require an amount of data to run.
The downsides to using ad blockers
When you choose to use an ad blocker, it is important to also being aware of the downsides to making this choice. Because an important part of that choice is the revenue loss it causes for content creators. There are many websites that rely on ad revenue to fund operations. Blocking ads can result in reducing the income that supports free content and services.
There are some websites that detect ad blockers, and based on this they restrict access to their content, unless you disable the ad blocker. It can be frustrating to enter a website where content is missing and having to temporarily disable the ad blocker to get access to it. Lastly, you can risk compatibility issues, since not all ad blockers work seamlessly with every browser or website.
Ensuring the best experience with ad blockers
When you decide to use ad blockers, you should do whatever you can to ensure your best experience with ad blockers. This firstly entails choosing the right ad blocker. Since there are many ad blockers available, some will have unique features and strengths. Research your options so you can make an educated choice. Once installed, you should ensure to regularly update your ad blocker, since they rely on updated lists of ad sources and filtering rules.
To optimize your experience, you should consider whitelisting websites which you trust. This way you can still support content creators while blocking out intrusive ads. You can also choose to combine ad blockers with other privacy tools such as VPNs, anti-tracking extensions, and privacy-focused browsers. In this way, your privacy stays the main focus when you browse online, which is a good investment in yourself and your future.
