The furniture retailer asked its ad be shown to a certain demographic, and she fit the bill. Businesses can show Facebook ads to people within certain parameters. Excel 2013 xlsx. This targeting can get pretty. But while Tor still displays ads, those ads won't be able to track you, which is a plus. Tor fully anonymizes you and how you appear to online trackers, ads, and ISPs so as to make you.
Lichess is safe, because it is free of ads and trackers.
But browsing the rest of the Internet exposes us to the following threats:
- Advertisement sells our screen estate and influences us
- Tracking sells our personal information to increase advertisement effectiveness
These don't benefit us, the website users, in any way. In fact, they use a lot of our computing power and bandwidth against us.
Fortunately, there are simple and legal ways to protect ourselves from these invasions.
Protect your computer
uBlock Origin
Hands down the best ad-blocking browser extension. It's free software (GPLv3), blazing fast, and will effectively block most malware. We heartily recommend that everyone installs it. uBlock is available for most browsers on Windows, MacOS and Linux. Install it now!
Note that other browser extensions, such as the popular 'AdBlock', are unsafe: they have accepted money to expose you to some ads. Don't fall for it, just use uBlock Origin instead.
AdGuard
This is a DNS server that can block ads and trackers throughout the whole system. This includes video ads and ads in your favorite apps, browsers and games. It can be used as a replacement or, better, a complement of uBlock Origin.
It's very easy to set up, check out the instructions on the AdGuard website on how to do this.
Custom hosts file (advanced)
An alternative to AdGuard is to directly manage your hosts file. Here's a list of dangerous hosts to block, with links to raw hosts files available. To modify your current hosts file, look for it in the following places and modify it with a text editor.
Where to find your hosts file:
- mac OS (until 10.14.x macOS Mojave), iOS, Android, Linux: /etc/hosts
- macOS Catalina (10.15+): /private/etc/hosts
- Windows: %SystemRoot%system32driversetchosts
Protect your Android device
Blokada
Gets rid of ads and trackers across all of your apps, not only the browser. It doesn't require root, supports both Wi-Fi and mobile networks, and is perfectly safe and simple to use.
Ads And Trackers Block
Once installed, select the AdGuard DNS in the Blokada app.
Protect your iPhone or iPad
BlockBear
Blocks ads and trackers directly, but only within the Safari browser. Sound snipping tool.
About blocking ads
It's important to note that blocking ads is NOT theft. Don't fall for this creepy idea, which is the criminalisation of the inalienable right to privacy.
Ads and trackers violate our privacy, make websites much slower, and deliver dangerous malware. We say no to them.
We have the right to decide what we download from the Internet, what we send to it, and what we display on our screen.
We have the right to refuse downloading source code that works against us. It's our bandwidth and computer, and no-one can decide for us what to use them for.
A service that has valuable features should be able to sell us a subscription, without blackmailing us with ominous ads.
So many ads, so little patience… It's time to stop the madness.
The average person sees an average of 4,000 ads a day. If you think that's too many, an ad blocker is your new best friend.
An ad blocker is a piece of software that can be used to block ads, and they work in two ways. The first way is when an ad blocker blocks the signal from an advertiser's server, so the ad never shows up on your page. Another way ad blockers work is by blocking out sections of a website that could be ads.
These ads might be loud video ads, ads that follow you around the web, trackers, third-party cookies, and more. To use an ad blocker, you can search for ad blocker add-ons that are available in your browser. Firefox, for example, has this list of approved ad blocker add-ons. Click on this list (or ad blockers that are approved for your browser) and see which fits your needs.
Find the right ad blocker for you
There's AdBlocker Ultimate that gets rid of every single ad, but buyer beware. Some of your favorite newspapers and magazines rely on advertising. Too many people blocking their ads could put them out of business.
Popup ads are the worst. Block them with Popup Blocker and never deal with another annoying popup again.
Popup ads are the worst. Block them with Popup Blocker and never deal with another annoying popup again.
One of the most popular ad blockers for Chrome, Safari and Firefox is AdBlock. Use it to block ads on Facebook, YouTube and Hulu.
Create a tracker-free zone with Content Blocking
On Firefox, you can use Privacy or Content Blocking settings to get even more control over ad trackers that serve you the ads.
Choose your level of protection
To start, click on the Firefox menu in the top right-hand corner of your screen. It looks like three lines stacked on top of each other. In the drop-down menu, click on Content Blocking. You should see a blue pop-up with different selections.
Go easy with Standard mode
If ads don't bother you and you don't mind being followed by trackers and third-party cookies, then the Standard setting should work for you. To get trackers off your tail in Standard mode, use a Private Browsing window.
Ads B Aircraft Tracking
Get tough with Strict mode
Ad Tracker Online
If seeing too many ads ruins your day, then the Strict mode is a better fit. This mode will block known third-party trackers and cookies in all Firefox windows.
Do-it-yourself Custom mode
The Custom setting gives you the ultimate choice. You can decide what you're blocking, including trackers, cookies and more. If you allow cookies from a website, you'll automatically be in Custom mode.
Cover your trail, block trackers
Click on the Trackers box and you'll be able to block trackers in two ways. One way to block trackers is to do it when you're working in a Private Window. Another way to do it is to block trackers in all windows. Keep in mind that if you choose to always block trackers, some pages might not load correctly.
Take a bite out of cookies
Cookies are sent by websites you visit. They live on your computer and monitor what you've been doing on a site. When an airline hikes your rates because you've looked at plane tickets once that day, that is the handiwork of a cookie.
In Firefox, you can block all third-party cookies or just those set by trackers. Be aware that blocking all cookies can break some sites.
Send a Do Not Track signal
If you don't want your online behavior used for ads, you can send websites a polite 'thanks but no thanks' letter by checking the Do Not Track option of Firefox. Participation is voluntary, but the websites that participate will stop tracking you immediately.
Speed up thanks to ad blockers
In some cases, an ad blocker can help your browser go faster. When an ad is loading, it can slow down a website. At the same time, it takes longer to find what you're looking for if you're too busy closing yet another ad.
If you want to learn more about ad blocking, there are hundreds of ad blocker extensions available for Firefox and other browsers. If want to try out the ad blockers Firefox uses, click here to download a browser that puts privacy first.
