Browsing the web without an AdBlocker is painful. Pages load slowly, and you are constantly closing popups, cookie banners, and ads. Some pages are barely usable without one. Here are the main reasons everyone should use an AdBlocker:
- Reduce annoyances: ads, popups, banners, social media buttons, etc.
- Privacy: Remove trackers
- Performance: Don't waste bandwidth and CPU on ads
- Security: Some ads are malicious; blocking them prevents you from accidentally clicking on them
- Ecology: less data transferred, less energy used, and less incentive to buy unnecessary products
#How to block ads?
- DNS blocking: Not the most efficient method since it can be easily bypassed, but it works across all applications and is easy to set up
- Browser extensions: The most effective solution, but they only work in browsers
- uBlock Origin: Supports all browsers except Safari (documentation)
- You can also configure it to block additional things such as Shorts on YouTube (doc)
- The picker allows you to easily block any element on the page
- AdGuard: works for all browsers including on iOS
On mobile devices, use the web versions of apps instead of native apps so that browser extensions can work. For instance, instead of the Google News app, open https://news.google.com in Safari. You can add the page to your home screen for an app-like experience (iOS documentation).
A note on YouTube: blocking ads is great, but many content creators also include sponsored segments directly in their videos. You can skip these using an extension such as SponsorBlock.
By removing ads, you also remove revenue from content creators. Be sure to support the ones you like through GitHub Sponsors, Patreon, subscriptions, or similar means. You can also disable your AdBlocker on websites you want to support if their ads are not too intrusive.
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