Advertisements are like sand: they're irritating and get everywhere. So here's how to rid yourself of them where you'll see them most: your web browser. On computers, it's easy; on mobile, it's slightly more involved, but worth it. I say, turning off your adblocker will feel like going from streaming back to cable TV.
When it comes to blocking adverts, uBlock Origin by Raymond Hill (gorhill on GitHub) is the lightest and most robust choice I could find. Unsatisfied with adverts alone, this little add-on can target all manner of annoying rubbish on websites with the power of filter lists. These are sets of instructions for which parts of web pages to block. You can pick and choose lists depending on how strict you wish to be. To install uBlock Origin:
Under Installation, find the section for your browser
Click on the link to your browser's add-on store and then Install
Confirm the installation if asked, and a new icon should appear in your browser's toolbar. You're done!
uBlock works well on default settings, but it never hurts to know how it works. The interface will look a bit like this:
See the list below for details
The website you're currently on, where any changes you make to the options below will be for this site only
The power button, which turns blocking off and on if clicked on
The per-site switches, which give you some quick controls
The tools, which have more advanced functions, one you'll see below
The More button, which adds extra details to the interface, but knowing these are not strictly needed for our purposes
Clicking on the gears next to the tools opens the dashboard. The Filter lists tab is where the fun begins. To start, feel free to switch on every list aside from:
Duplicates: when lists have similar names, such as EasyList – Annoyances and AdGuard – Annoyances, it's safe to only choose one
Non-English lists: only enable the lists under Regions, languages that match languages you surf the web in
If you ever spot an unblocked advert, here's what you do:
Click the toolbar icon to open the popup interface
Click the Element picker tool (the pipette in the middle-left)
Hover over the advert, making sure the whole thing is highlighted, and click to make a dialogue box appear
Click Preview to check it works and then Create to block it
Since this is only an adblocking guide, I will stop here, but let it be known this is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to uBlock Origin features, detailed in the official wiki for those curious.
Chromium-Based Browser Alternatives
If, for whatever reason, a Firefox-like is not an option for you. Hereinbelow I detail two Chrome alternatives with built-in adblockers, bypassing the new Manifest V3 limitations I spoke of earlier[2][3].
Cromite
Cromite is a web browser, mostly for Android. To install it, you will need an F-Droid client: an app that lets you download other free, open-source apps more readily than Google Play. Don't worry, it's easier than it looks:
In your current browser, go to F-Droid's website and click Download F-Droid, the client is a file ending in .apk
On opening this file, give your browser permission to install other apps (you can turn it off right after)
Open the F-Droid app and give it the permissions it asks for
Back on F-Droid, tap on Settings, Repositories, the plus icon, Enter repository URL manually, and then paste the link you copied and tap Add
Behold the available apps on the next screen, choose Cromite and tap Install
Cromite integrates Adblock Plus, with its own filter lists. To see these, tap the three-dots icon at the top-right, Settings, Adblock Plus settings, and then Filter Lists. As before, feel free to switch them all on aside from the non-English lists, named something like EasyList+[Region/Language]; you only need the ones for languages you browse in
Brave
Brave is a more popular choice; being easily installed on everything with a decent out-of-the-box setup is nothing to complain about. However, amongst other things, I take issue with its internal advertising. You can switch this off through the steps below:
Click on the bottom-right gear icon to open Brave's settings:
Under Appearance and then Toolbar, disable Show Brave Rewards button
Under Shields, turn Trackers & ads blocking up to Strict and disable all options under Social media blocking
At the bottom-right of the new-tab page, click on Customise:
Under Background Image, disable Show sponsored images
Under Cards, hide both Talk and Brave Rewards
Much cleaner!
Why Block Advertisements?
I understand if you have ethical concerns with adblocking, so I present, for your consideration, my reasons for doing so:
They slow you down: Every web page is made up of many elements that are loaded in by your browser whenever you visit; not only text boxes and pictures, but also the manifold scripts that modern websites rely upon. If a page includes elements dedicated to advertising, then it will have more to load than if they were not present, slowing your browsing down. It may be hard to quantify how much you in particular will save, but a small-scale study has shown an average loading time reduction of between 11-28% on some of the world's most popular websites by way of an adblocker[4].
They annoy and manipulate you: Whenever you see an advert, you subject yourself to the myriad tricks advertisers use to manipulate you.[5]. The best way to fight back against these tactics is to avoid them entirely.
They track you across the web: Advertiser networks like Google AdSense have many tricks up their sleeves—including, but not limited to, those cookies every website tells you about—which they employ to learn all they can about you[6]. This is why you often see similar adverts on many sites based on things you've seen or researched before
Adverts don't give creators much anyway: for instance, YouTube pays out US$2.50 per 1,000 views on the average gaming video. That's one quarter of a cent per view[7]. If you truly want to support a creator you love, then a one-time donation of just $1-2 would do just as well as watching one advert per day for a year, without subjecting you to all the bother listed above.
Acknowledgements
The many filter lists I've spoken of are maintained by a bunch of absolute champions who make surfing the web much more pleasant. The links below lead to advice on how to contribute, should you desire to. Now allow me to name and acclaim:
The Easylist and Fanboy filters by Fanboy, MonztA, Khrin, Yuki2718, and PiQuark6046 with help from their forum
