Browsing is fun until the pop-up ads ruin your overall experience. No one wants to get annoyed with ads that appear randomly while you’re streaming a video or simply surfing the web. These ads are intrusive and have a much darker side that most of us don’t know.
These ads are big privacy abusers. By tracking your online behavior they gather information about your browsing activities, likes, dislikes, and preferences and then share the data with advertising companies that target you with ads. The Global Web Index revealed that 48% of ad-block users found many ads while browsing, while 47% found these ads annoying, and 33% found that the ads slow down their speed.
Undoubtedly, online ads are becoming more intrusive, and it’s high time to do something to block them. To keep websites free from ads, ad-blockers have become popular among users. This comprehensive guide informs the readers about the best ad-blockers that help avoid annoying and intrusive ads. So, let’s jump into this.
7 Best Ad Blockers to Use Today
- AdLock : Best for Videos Ads
- AdGuard: Block cookies
- AdBlock: Blocks Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube ads
- Ghostery: Best For Web Pages tracking block
- Privacy Badger: Smart adblocker
- uBlock Origin: block malware as well
- AdBlocker Ultimate: Protection againest online tracking
Websites give a more appealing and cleaner look when they are free from intrusive pop-up ads. All thanks go to ad-blockers that help in preventing all such ads that disturb your online browsing experience. They boost browsing speed and also maintain your digital privacy.
Considering the importance of ad-blockers in protecting your privacy, below are the best ad-blockers that you shouldn’t ignore using. So, let’s get started with them:
1. AdLock
- Blocks ads on videos
- Offers impressive ad-on features
- Works on multi-platform
- The free version has limited features
AdLock is one of the best standalone ad-blockers that enables users to get rid of all types of intrusive pop-up ads. When tested on YouTube and other ad-supported streaming sites, AdLock efficiently blocks all the ads ruining the user browsing experience.
The service comes with a handful of impressive features. It allows users to whitelist any site by just navigating to the settings menu. You can also add a few filters that can further enhance your browsing experience.
You can download it on various devices, including Android, Chrome, Safari, iOS, macOS, and Windows. It has a free browser extension for Chrome and Safari, but you have to opt for a paid subscription if you’re a Windows or Android user.
2. AdGuard
- Blocks cookies
- Anti-phishing and anti-malware protection
- Works on all major devices and operating systems
- The premium plan is more featured-packed
The next best ad blocker on our list is the AdGuard. It works as a standalone app rather than a browser extension. It claims to efficiently block ads before they’re loaded and saves bandwidth. When tested, they live up to their claims. The AdGuard blocks all forms of advertisements, including cookies and trackers on YouTube and other streaming apps, and also improves page loading speed.
AdGuard offers various adjustable features that make it one of the best ad-blockers. The most impressive features include a cookie destroyer, anti-malware, and anti-phishing feature that improves your privacy and security standards while you browse the web. Moreover, it also comes with other supported privacy tools like parental control and privacy protection that make your browsing experience safer.
You can easily install the AdGuard on Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows platforms and get rid of irritating pop-up ads. However, unlike other ad-blockers AdGuard is not entirely free. It charges a monthly fee of $2.70 per month and comes with a 60-days money-back guarantee offer.
3. AdBlock
- Blocks Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube ads
- Highly customizable
- Protects against malware
- The premium version is limited to three platforms and offers more features.
AdBlock is another best ad-blocker that effectively blocks pop-up ads on websites and video streaming services like YouTube. By doing so, it ensures that you enjoy fast internet speed. It was designed to give users more control of their browsing activities and maintain their online privacy. Besides blocking the intrusive ads, AdBlock also blocks third-party trackers and ensures that you remain protected from targeted advertisements.
Moreover, AdBlocker offers customizable features like whitelisting, preset filters, and individually blocking ads while allowing relevant ads to appear. It also protects against malware, cryptocurrency mining, and Facebook ads. AdBlock is soon going to launch its VPN that will further boost your online protection.
The ad-blocker is available on Android, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, iOS, and Edge. Although it is free, you can upgrade the browser extension of Chrome, Edge, and Edge to AdBlock Premium that offers more features.
4. Ghostery
- Smart blocking features automatically blocks web page trackers
- The anti-phishing protective feature that protects against fake websites
- Custom blocking
- Ad-free private search engine
Ghostery is yet another impressive ad-blocker available for various platforms, namely Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Safari. Like all other ad-blockers mentioned in this list, Ghostery effectively blocks unwanted ads and trackers that risk your online privacy. By blocking ads, the ad-blocker saves bandwidth and enhances your browsing speed, improving your overall browsing experience. Since it promises to prevent online tracking, it blocks targeted advertisements and makes your website look cleaner and attractive.
It also comes with an extension that focuses on managing website trackers. The ad-blocker reveals which tracking cookies are active on the website and enables you to block them. You can download it on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, and Safari and get rid of annoying pop-up ads. You can now use it on Android and iOS via the Ghostery Privacy Browser and enjoy an ad-free browsing experience even on mobile phones.
However, its biggest drawback is that it is not free. The premium version costs $3.25 per month on a yearly plan.
5. uBlock Origin
- Completely free
- By default blocks ads and malware
- Prevents against tracking
- Allows whitelisting
uBlock Origin is also among the best ad-blockers that promise a safe and secure browsing experience. It is basically a browser extension that’s built-in in various web browsers and automatically blocks pop-up ads. The privacy and malware protection filters are enabled by default and they ensure protection against malware and boost digital privacy.
This ad-blocker believes in giving users more control over the content they view online. Thus, they offer a range of customizable options like Easy list, Easy privacy, uBlock Origin Filters, and an online malicious URL blocklist. All these features work collectively to ensure a secure browsing experience.
You can use uBlock Origin on Chrome, Firefox, Mac, and Safari. The best thing is that it is entirely free to use and download.
6. Privacy Badger
- Works on multiple platforms
- Free to use
- Automatically blocks invisible trackers
- Doesn’t block all ads.
Privacy Badger is a free and impressive ad-blocker developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Once installed, it automatically blocks intrusive ads and invisible trackers that pose risks to your online browsing experience. It closely monitors the trackers present on each website you visit and efficiently blocks them.
It is completely free to use. You can easily download it on Android, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera and get rid of trackers and advertisers. However, since it is a privacy tool and can only filter out some intrusive content, it doesn’t block all ads.
7. AdBlocker Ultimate
- Free to use
- Whitelisting option available
- Protection against online trackers
- Open-source browser extension
Another best ad-blocker you can consider using is the AdBlocker ultimate. It is available in both free and premium versions and guarantees safe and secure browsing experience. It comes with a free browser extension that protects against online tracking and blocks out all ads, malicious websites, and trackers.
With the whitelisting option, the AdBlocker Ultimate allows users to create their own list of reliable and trustworthy websites.
It is user-friendly and compatible with all major platforms and devices, including Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Safari.
Why Should One Use An Ad-Blocker?
Online advertising is one of the most fundamental and successful tactics used by marketing companies. It is cheaper as the advertisers can easily get information about the targets via cookies, internet searches, and browsing history. This raises significant concerns over users’ online privacy and security. Here ad-blockers come into play.
An ad-blocker improves your overall browsing experience and protects you from malicious adware, online trackers, and suspicious websites. They’re integrated within your web browser and use a set of filters to block specific content. The filters determine various elements of the websites according to their URLs and inform the browser not to load the content that matches with the filters. Ad-blockers are helpful in several ways like:
Ensures a Secure Browsing Experience
The threat actors use a new malvertising technique to spread malware and viruses on victims’ devices via ads. Clicking on such ads infects the device with malware, spyware, or viruses. The best ad-blocker blocks all such ads and ensures a secure web browsing experience.
Prevents Tracking and Targeted Advertising
Websites track visitors to gain insight into their browsing habits so advertisers can use it to target you with personalized ads. Ad-blockers prevent web browsers from monitoring and gathering information about you that is used for targeted advertising.
Increases Page Load Speed
Online ads have content in the form of graphics, text, and images that take much time to load. The best ad-blocker prevents such ads from loading and allows the browser to focus on displaying the actual content that in turn increases the page loading speed.
Improves User Experience
By automatically blocking irrelevant ads, ad-blockers display only relevant content that improves your overall browsing experience.
Can a VPN Help in Blocking Ads?
A VPN is an excellent anonymity tool that enhances users’’ online privacy. Some VPN providers come with built-in ad protection features that block intrusive pop-up ads and ensure a secure and ad-free browsing experience. It’s recommended to use a reliable VPN that provides an ad protection feature. You can simply enable the ad protection feature from the VPN’s app settings option and secure your browsing experience.
Is an Ad-Blocker Legal?
Protecting internet privacy is an individual’s fundamental right so, there is nothing illegal about using an ad-blocker. The primary purpose of using an ad-blocker is to eliminate ads that interrupt the browsing experience. However, since websites profit from these ads, some websites use filters that often block users who use an ad blocker. Hence, it is recommended to use a VPN along with an ad-blocker to guarantee maximum protection.
Do Ad Blockers Stop Viruses?
Some ad-blockers do have this feature that prevents certain page elements from loading. This prevents viruses and malware from infecting your device. However, the ad-blockers are not very effective antivirus tools. They are not security products and only reduce the chances of getting infected with a virus.
Are Ad-Blockers Safe to Use?
Ad-blockers ensure a safe browsing experience; thus, they are safe to use. They block out the malicious and pop-up ads and enhance your digital privacy. However, not all ad-blockers are reliable to use or give off an exceptional performance. For instance, a security flaw was found in Adblock Plus that allows executing arbitrary code in the web pages that can prove harmful for your online privacy. Hence, it’s recommended to choose an ad-blocker wisely. Do thorough research before starting using an ad-blocker.
Do Browsers Come With Built-In Ad-Blockers?
Private web browsers allow users to surf the web anonymously. They protect against malware, online trackers, and ads. Most of them come with a built-in ad feature or privacy extensions that block unwanted ads. Thus, if you want an ad-free browsing experience, you can opt to use some of the best-known private browsers for privacy.
Final Thoughts
Even though online advertising is boosting business, it emerges as a significant privacy abuser. The unwanted pop-up ads are not good for your privacy and browsing experience. They consume more bandwidth, slow speeds, and increase the risks of online threats.
Hence, it is time to do something to protect your web browsing experience. With the best ad-blockers, you can safeguard yourself from such privacy intruders. The above-recommended ad-blockers are some of the best; hence, you should use anyone and enjoy a secure and hassle-free internet browsing experience.
