How do you block ads online?

Online adverts aim to be helpful, but can be a nuisance. They follow us around the web, advertising something they think we want because we searched for it once. If they prove irrelevant, they can grow tiresome.

Lately, these types of adverts have been used to propagate a security threat called malvertising. This is when the advert actually has malware contained within it that downloads onto your computer when you click the ad. In some cases, this software can be automatically downloaded when you load the webpage.

Many websites would prefer that you do not block the ads, as they need the revenue to pay the writers and keep the website going. Also, ad blockers can block other content on a website, so videos might not load, or the text on the site might not look right.

However, if you would like to block ads, here’s what you need to do:

Chrome

AdBlock is one of the most popular Chrome extensions. You can download and activate it from the Chrome Web Store. Once installed, you can configure it to block all ads that you see, even those on Facebook.

Safari

Adblock is also available for Safari, and can be downloaded here. With the release of iOS 9, Apple has allowed developers to release ad blocking software for iPhone. Crystal, Purify and Blockr will all let you block ads while browsing in Safari.

Firefox

Again, Adblock integrates with Firefox, so just download it, and your browsing will be ad free.

It is worth pointing out that if you are running ad blocking software, and are still seeing pop-ups and unwanted adverts, you might have malware on your computer. In this case, we recommend running some anti-virus and anti-malware software and you should be okay.

We hope you found this article useful. If you have any other questions you’d like the answers to, please let us know.