1y ago

Do you guys even know of Adblock Plus?

I literally haven't seen anyone even mention it anywhere on the internet as if it never existed, when it comes to Ad blockers I always see uBO recommended with absolutely no mention whatsoever of ABP why? What makes it better than ABP? What happened to it? or maybe I'm wrong and ABP is not as well known as I think it is.

I have been using ABP for many years until someday don't remember when I switched to uBO because I read that it is "the best ad blocker".

I maybe need a history lesson as everything on the matter seems so vague to me and the whole situation is super weird

84 comments

Yes we know of it. That's why we actively avoid it. It doesn't take many searches to figure out its downfalls. AdBlock, AdBlock Plus, and the non Origin uBlock are all owned by the same company and they allow corporations to pay to let ads through.

Adblock Plus is not recommended as by default it allows certain promoted ads to show if it deems them unobtrusive. I think they actually receive profits from ads, which is asinine for an adblocking entity.
On the other hand, uBlock does much more than just block ads. First of all, it blocks all ads, and it blocks other trackers and annoyances from Facebook, Google, as well as having the ability to add custom rules for bypassing certain types of popovers, and to clean up tracking data that often gets appended when you click a URL.
- Ublock doesn't freeze my YT videos when it rolls over a midroll ad. I'll never use anything else (maybe a Pi-Hole)
  
  A pi hole is great, but I don't believe it's effective against YouTube ads because of the way they're delivered
  
  ublock origin + sponsorblock
- it blocks all ads
  Am I the only one that has a problem with this? Unless you're paying for use of a site then aren't you basically being entitled to someone else's labor?
  Someone made the site, created the content, and hosted it for consumption. Until money isn't necessary for survival it seems reasonable to make sure they're compensated for it.
  
  Ads nowadays are
  More and more obnoxious and obtrusive
  Also serving as trackers
  That's a no from me
  
  I do feel bad about it on occasion. But then. I remember getting the ol’ rootkit/worm combo from gamefaqs and forgive myself. These sites have long since lost my trust.
  
  You've got yourself mixed up. They're not entitled to my compute, or my eyeballs. They handed my browser a pile of HTML, and I'll do what I want with it.
  
  My issue is more with trackers than ads anyways, altrough ads that block so much that using the site normally becomes a pain in the ass are the other extend which is sadly also getting more and more common. But sadly most websites and services that let you pay to get rid of ads will still put everything full of trackers...
  Also, there are quite some sites that just copy content or or have an AI write content, made to rank high in searches, then is putbfull of adds to make money. Those are automated money-farms, and deserve blockers.
  I block everything, ads and trackers alike. Somewhat regularily I'm on the web without and it's always a great reminder why I normally do use them.
  But I also pay for multiple websites and services I use regularily despite them working fine without paying or having "free" alternatives. After all, nothing is free and I rather pay with money than with data. And I also want to be paid for my work, and I can only imagine so do others. So I do agree with you there, and I highly encourage people to pay for stuff.
  But I won't feel bad for blocking that shit, also not on the websites I don't financially support. Because most of the time they are the ones that made it impossible to use their website privacy-friendly without blocking stuff anyways, even if I'm willing to pay.
  
  I'm not in a position nor pay grade to subsidize someone else's income with my time or attention
  I try to find freely contributed materials when I can; for instance, I try to watch non-monetized YouTube channels and visit sites that are freely made and shared, but I'm not so high on my horse that I'm above clicking a link to a news article on a site like this one and using an ad blocker
  
  @Doug @LinkOpensChestwav I used to think this way but so much advertising today is malware. I'm happy for sites to write simple text or image ads that won't even be detected by adblockers, much less actually blocked. It's the pile of JavaScript that's the problem, and it's the pile of JavaScript that adblockers block.

It was recommended until they changed their business model to charging advertisers to be allowed through the blocking because they were "the good type of advert"

Here is one reason.
https://uk.pcmag.com/web-sites/39469/adblock-plus-extortion-or-smart-business

UBO AdBlock
- I agree

There's a bunch of history there https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adblock_Plus#Controversies

Other folks who've commented on Adblock Plus have hit the important stuff. I just want to follow up with the comment that it also tends to bog down the browser after a certain point; browsing just got painfully slow on Firefox with it. I didn't bother troubleshooting it because that was around the same time they started allowing ads, so I bailed and didn't look back.

I used to use it, but switched away to uBo because abp didn't work properly

I use blokada
- On PC?! Is it that good?

84 comments