We all get spam in our inbox that must be deleted, we fast-forward through the commercials during our favorite tv shows, and we almost immediately toss the junk mail we find in our mailboxes into the recycle bin, so why wouldn’t we want to eliminate those obnoxious and distracting ads that ruin our browsing experience? If you're a working professional, you need to get and ad blocker.
What is it!?
Quite simply put, an ad blocker is a piece of software that works to block and/or alter the way built in advertisements will work on a system or within an application. Specifically, for web browsers, our ad blockers will usually come in the form of an extension or plug in that will need to install in addition to the base software itself.
Why to use it?
First and foremost, and adblocker will provide you, the user, with a much increase experience in your day-to-day web browser use. For many, simply killing ads at the beginning, and throughout, a video on YouTube is enough of a reason to use one, though there are many other benefits as well. As we mentioned above, many online articles and resources are littered with inline advertisement images and hyperlinks. An ad blocker will simply remove all of that junk from our favorite webpages and allow us to enjoy the content we choose in peace. I know I’d kill all commercials from my television programming if I could, but, sadly, I do not have the power to do so. Fortunately, that is not the case for our browsers and web traffic!
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, is ad blocker software will serve to increase our overall privacy and security. As mentioned above, all those ads are collecting data on us while trying to sell us on something. By stopping/blocking the ads, we are also putting a stop to any associate tracking and data collection. Additionally, with the rise of malware delivery via advertisements, we are also working to shut down another threat vector into our work and home systems!
Where to get one!?
If you are interested in acquiring an adblock for your browser, here are some that we recommend:
AdBlock Plus – One of the most popular ad blockers out there currently. Has extensions available for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, and Edge browsers. Comes with a wide variety of preset lists with the ability to create/edit custom block lists. Adblock Plus does allow ‘non-intrusive advertising’ (paid to allow) ads through by default, but this option can be disable via settings, allowing all ads to be blocked.
uBlock Origin (no central site, check specific browser app/extension stores) – uBlock bills itself as a ‘wide-spectrum content blocker’ and works to block a large amount of know advertising/malware content via its extensive filter lists. Like AdBlock Plus, uBlock also support custom list management and editing. As an added perk, uBlock Origin carries one of the smallest/lightest system resource utilization footprints out there compared to other ad blockers.
PiHole – For the truly ambitious/curious, I must recommend checking out the PiHole project. PiHole works to create a DNS sinkhole/blackhole on your local network designed to send false information back to any advertising, or otherwise malicious request, virtually shutting them down before they even gain access to your network.
Now that our browser is squared away, if you're concerned about securing your other business components, give CTTS a call today: (512) 388-5559.
By Brandon Kaylor
Desktop Support Technician
Central Texas Technology Solutions