With so much of the world now online, it’s no wonder that advertisers have shoveled countless dollars into embedded advertisements. Whether you’re reading articles, watching videos, or even scrolling through your social media feed, it’s expected that ads are a part of that experience—even though most people find them to be disruptive, annoying, and invasive. Many users have resorted to ad blockers in an attempt to make the Internet bearable.
But how do these ad blockers work? Let’s take a look.
Breaking Down the Ad Blocker
Simply put, an ad blocker is software (usually a browser extension) that removes or hides advertisements on the websites you access.
It’s a great way to ensure that your web browsing experience is safe from the irritating, distracting, and potentially dangerous ads you see on the Internet. Sick of those pop-ups, banners, and video ads that slow down your browsing? An ad blocker can put an end to them.
An ad blocker uses various techniques to keep ads off your screen:
List Filtering
An ad blocker works based on a set of predefined rules called a filtering list.
This list will contain patterns and identifiers that match with ad networks, trackers, or elements known to exist. When you visit a webpage, the ad blocker will scan the page and see if any of these elements are present on the lists. If the ad blocker detects any of these elements, it will keep them from loading.
You’ll typically see two types of filters:
- Blocking filters - These prevent ads from loading at all.
- Hiding filters - These remove or hide ad placeholders, such as blank spaces where ads would typically appear.
Script Blocking
Scripts, or tiny pieces of code, allow these ads to run from ad servers.
Most ad blockers can identify these scripts and stop them from loading before they execute. This keeps them from running in their entirety. This method of stopping an ad is preferred as it will cut them out at the source.
It’s kind of like killing the power to your home before performing any electrical work; turn the electricity off at its source so you don’t get shocked.
Tracking Prevention
One of the sketchiest parts of online ads is that they can come with tracking code, so it makes sense that an ad blocker will do what it can to stop this, too.
Ads with tracking codes can collect data on your browsing habits, such as which websites you visit and how often you find yourself on them. Ad blockers can keep these scripts from collecting this information and protect your privacy. You might also see fewer personalized ads in general, as there will be fewer ads that have that kind of data on your browsing habits.
It’s always a little unnerving to see ads tailored to your activity, so put an end to this with an ad blocker that effectively prevents tracking.
Customized Blocking
A good ad blocker will give you some control over the filtering rules.
For example, if you want to support ads appearing on various websites, you can add them to a whitelist. Some even allow you to block specific elements, like videos or banners, to make your browsing experience less obstructed.
This is a great middle ground between blocking ads entirely and letting them run rampant on your browser.
The Benefits of an Ad Blocker
In case it’s not already clear, here are some of the many benefits that an ad blocker presents:
- Faster page loading - Ads can slow down your browsing by adding extra elements that need to be downloaded. By blocking ads, websites load faster.
- Less clutter - Without distracting banners, pop-ups, and auto-playing videos, websites become cleaner and easier to navigate.
- Improved privacy - Ad blockers can stop trackers, which protects your browsing data from being collected and used to target you with ads.
- Reduced bandwidth - Blocking ads means less data is being used to load those elements.
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