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Anyone who wants a low overhead and trusted ad blocker should use uBlock Origin. The developer even refuses to take any donations (for some good reasons). For

Anyone who wants a low overhead and trusted ad blocker should use uBlock Origin. The developer even refuses to take any donations (for some good reasons). For those who want a lot more control and a content blocker, uMatrix would help. Anything named as “Adblock” or “Adblock Plus” or similar is just a way for advertisers to decide what ads users see and don’t see, depending on how much they’re willing to pay and be held hostage to such extensions.

IntelMiner 8y ago
+1 to uBlock Origin Amusingly, trying to load the uBlock website was initially blocked by uBlock Origin!
- NextHendrix 8y ago
  Was also blocked for me which confused me until I noticed the different shape of the logo
- tmikaeld 8y ago
  Still blocked for me
  - detaro 8y ago
    I guess the parent meant "until I confirmed I want to look at the page". There's no reason for uBlock origin to remove the block.
skybrian 8y ago
The Adblock Plus ad policy seems to be somewhat different: https://adblockplus.org/acceptable-ads#criteria https://adblockplus.org/acceptable-ads#criteria I mean, sure, uBlock origin is most often recommended around here. But let's not be misleading about products we don't like.
- bhhaskin 8y ago
  I don't think that description is misleading at all. Adblock Plus does not block all ads and they control which ads are displayed and which aren't. If anything the name Adblock is miss leading.
  - skybrian 8y ago
    Yes, it's true that they don't block all ads by default; apparently this is a setting. And in selective mode, they control the policy for which ads get displayed, which would be the whole point of installing a selective ad blocker. It's not inherently wrong to do that; if you more or less agree with their policy, maybe that's the setting you want?
    - shpx 8y ago
      Taboola is one of the companies that paid Adblock Plus millions of dollars to not block their ads[0]. Taboola is the billion dollar company shoveling the "mom's $5 wrinkle tip, doctors hate her" trash[1]. Adblock Plus plainly acknowledge that those aren't "acceptable ads"[2], but unfortunately they've handed over the whitelist to a completely, 100% independent committee. It's out of their hands now and they're "hopeful" that those people will remove Taboola soon. There's a thread from 2015 asking them to remove it[3]. Convenient. We both know most people don't spend time reading the options page of their browser extensions. If you download an ad blocker it should block ads. Having to check a check box to get the functionality you paid for is unexpected. Adblock is able to make millions of dollars because most don't know to check it. Most people just want to not see ads, a "selective" ad blocker happens to be the most famous because it was the first popular ad blocker that pivoted into a lucrative rent-seeking operation after becoming a household name. I've heard the euphemism "default opt-in". According to the author of uBlock Origin it uses less resources[4]. Unless you work for Adblock or Adblock Plus or the companies that paid the bribe there is no reason to recommend it. [0] https://www.businessinsider.com/google-microsoft-amazon-taboola-pay-adblock-plus-to-stop-blocking-their-ads-2015-2 https://www.businessinsider.com/google-microsoft-amazon-tabo... [1] https://www.theawl.com/2015/06/a-complete-taxonomy-of-internet-chum/ https://www.theawl.com/2015/06/a-complete-taxonomy-of-intern... [2] https://help.getadblock.com/support/solutions/articles/6000092027-why-does-adblock-allow-non-intrusive-ads- https://help.getadblock.com/support/solutions/articles/60000... [3] https://adblockplus.org/forum/search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&keywords=taboola&fid%5B%5D=17 https://adblockplus.org/forum/search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&keyw... [4] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock#performance https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock#performance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking
tpush 8y ago
If only gorhill made uBlock Origin for Safari. Safari's got a lot of content blockers but none of them seem to block as much (and well) as uBlock Origin did in Chrome, sadly.
- jeffvogelsang 8y ago
  Have a look at: https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari. Available for download in the Safari extensions gallery.
  - heavymark 8y ago
    When installed, under settings for that plugin Safari shows a warning saying, "This extension will slow down your web browsing." Other content blockers such as 1Blocker do not show that warning by Apple.
  - apple4ever 8y ago
    I’ve tried using it, but its just not that great. The UI is pretty terrible and its really hard to unblock needed sites.
kertis 8y ago
But why donation is bad? Wikipedia also asks for donation but it doesn't mean that companies/people influence on it in a bad way.

IntelMiner 8y ago

+1 to uBlock Origin Amusingly, trying to load the uBlock website was initially blocked by uBlock Origin!

NextHendrix 8y ago
Was also blocked for me which confused me until I noticed the different shape of the logo
tmikaeld 8y ago
Still blocked for me
- detaro 8y ago
  I guess the parent meant "until I confirmed I want to look at the page". There's no reason for uBlock origin to remove the block.

skybrian 8y ago

The Adblock Plus ad policy seems to be somewhat different: https://adblockplus.org/acceptable-ads#criteria https://adblockplus.org/acceptable-ads#criteria I mean, sure, uBlock origin is most often recommended around here. But let's not be misleading about products we don't like.

bhhaskin 8y ago
I don't think that description is misleading at all. Adblock Plus does not block all ads and they control which ads are displayed and which aren't. If anything the name Adblock is miss leading.
- skybrian 8y ago
  Yes, it's true that they don't block all ads by default; apparently this is a setting. And in selective mode, they control the policy for which ads get displayed, which would be the whole point of installing a selective ad blocker. It's not inherently wrong to do that; if you more or less agree with their policy, maybe that's the setting you want?
  - shpx 8y ago
    Taboola is one of the companies that paid Adblock Plus millions of dollars to not block their ads[0]. Taboola is the billion dollar company shoveling the "mom's $5 wrinkle tip, doctors hate her" trash[1]. Adblock Plus plainly acknowledge that those aren't "acceptable ads"[2], but unfortunately they've handed over the whitelist to a completely, 100% independent committee. It's out of their hands now and they're "hopeful" that those people will remove Taboola soon. There's a thread from 2015 asking them to remove it[3]. Convenient. We both know most people don't spend time reading the options page of their browser extensions. If you download an ad blocker it should block ads. Having to check a check box to get the functionality you paid for is unexpected. Adblock is able to make millions of dollars because most don't know to check it. Most people just want to not see ads, a "selective" ad blocker happens to be the most famous because it was the first popular ad blocker that pivoted into a lucrative rent-seeking operation after becoming a household name. I've heard the euphemism "default opt-in". According to the author of uBlock Origin it uses less resources[4]. Unless you work for Adblock or Adblock Plus or the companies that paid the bribe there is no reason to recommend it. [0] https://www.businessinsider.com/google-microsoft-amazon-taboola-pay-adblock-plus-to-stop-blocking-their-ads-2015-2 https://www.businessinsider.com/google-microsoft-amazon-tabo... [1] https://www.theawl.com/2015/06/a-complete-taxonomy-of-internet-chum/ https://www.theawl.com/2015/06/a-complete-taxonomy-of-intern... [2] https://help.getadblock.com/support/solutions/articles/6000092027-why-does-adblock-allow-non-intrusive-ads- https://help.getadblock.com/support/solutions/articles/60000... [3] https://adblockplus.org/forum/search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&keywords=taboola&fid%5B%5D=17 https://adblockplus.org/forum/search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&keyw... [4] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock#performance https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock#performance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking

tpush 8y ago

If only gorhill made uBlock Origin for Safari. Safari's got a lot of content blockers but none of them seem to block as much (and well) as uBlock Origin did in Chrome, sadly.

jeffvogelsang 8y ago
Have a look at: https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari. Available for download in the Safari extensions gallery.
- heavymark 8y ago
  When installed, under settings for that plugin Safari shows a warning saying, "This extension will slow down your web browsing." Other content blockers such as 1Blocker do not show that warning by Apple.
- apple4ever 8y ago
  I’ve tried using it, but its just not that great. The UI is pretty terrible and its really hard to unblock needed sites.

kertis 8y ago

But why donation is bad? Wikipedia also asks for donation but it doesn't mean that companies/people influence on it in a bad way.