Adblock Plus for Google Chrome 1.8.1

Winner Best software in 2014 - Ad Blockers/No Tracking.

Overview

Remember the times when you are watching your favourite song on YouTube, then suddenly you hear a corn-flakes video ad’s sound creeping in and ruining your quality time. Not to forget the times when you are viewing an important article on a website and some irrelevant ads keep flashing and distracting you from what you are doing. Yes, we are talking about those obnoxious ads that not only irritate you but also are the reason for slow loading of web pages. If you are using Google Chrome browser then you can set yourself free from these ads by installing Adblock Plus to the browser. It is basically a browser extension that not only blocks troublesome ads but can also disable ad agencies from tracking your online activities and browsing history.

Installation

This is a browser extension (in our case for Google Chrome browser), so no installation setup is required for it. Simply search for it in the Google Chrome extensions (Main menu > More Tools > Extensions) and add it from there in the browser. You will know that it has been added once you see the red “ABP” button in the Chrome’s main toolbar. It supports all the Window versions.

Interface

Adblock Plus does not have an interface and works just like any other extension of a browser. On clicking the ABP button, it will expand and show options to enable/disable the current website, block an element, number of blocked ads, and Options (to select filter lists, create own filters, and to add whitelist domain).

Pros

Adblock performs blocking operations with the help of filter lists that are basically a vast set of rules telling the extension which elements of websites to block. For frequently visited websites, you can even block some specific elements like pop-ups or banners that you want to be hidden on the page. You have two options to do so- first one is that you simply need to click on ‘Block Element’ option shown in the ABP menu, select the element to be blocked on the page and then add its filter syntax in the Add Filter window. The second way is meant for more advanced users who can manually type-in the Adblock Plus filter syntax for an element in the ‘Add your own filters’ tab (on Options page).

For every website you visit, Adblock by default filters out and blocks all the advertisements shown on that page including Facebook ads, flashy banners, pop-unders, video ads on YouTube, and much more. Additionally, it gives you the ability to disable or enable blocking of such ads on any site according to your desire. It displays the number of ads that have been blocked on the current page and the ones been blocked in total. You also have the option to share these numbers on popular social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus.

It cannot be denied that all the advertisements are not as annoying or flashy as rest of them; rather some of them can be useful and non-intrusive. To support such ads that need advertising for revenues, Adblock has given a feature which allows non-intrusive advertisements on the web pages. Still then, if you don’t feel like entertaining any ad, you can simply disable this feature from the ‘Filter list’ tab.

While you are working on the internet, numerous ad companies track your online activities and browsing history. No need to be scared of this thought as Adblock’s tracking protection filters can easily disable all sorts of tracking, so that you can browse the web safely and secretly.

If there are some websites for which you do not want Adblock Plus to work, simply add their domain in the ‘Whitelisted domains’.

Cons

None found.

Alternatives

Adguard for Google Chrome is a suitable alternative for Adblock Plus, as it is capable of blocking all types of ads such as Video ads (like YouTube video ads), interstitial ads, floating ads, unwanted pop-ups, banners and text ads (including Facebook ads). It helps to speed up page loading, save bandwidth, and even protects your privacy by blocking third-party tracking systems.

Conclusion

Adblock Plus is a dynamic and handy browser extension that keeps those irritating ads at bay which eventually leads to faster page loading, and of course, a trouble-free browsing experience. All the users using Google Chrome browser should definitely add this extension to the browser.

Winner Best software in 2014 - Ad Blockers/No Tracking.