SUMMARY: #adblockers are often super shady, and two of the few trustworthy ones are uBlock Origin and #Firefox Focus.
Please Stop Using Adblock (But Not Why You Think)
https://medium.com/@trybravery/please-stop-using-adblock-but-not-why-you-think-13280e76c8e7
@gcupc @Treppenwitz just what I wanted to add right now
been using it for a good while with no issues
@Michcioperz @gcupc @Treppenwitz
Some neat projects worth checking out:
Privacy Badger is interesting as it blocks things blacklists won’t catch. I use it daily.
Brave is an interesting browser that bundles creator incentives. I use it occasionally.
@sillystring
@Michcioperz @Treppenwitz
I don't recommend Brave, because it has the same bad incentives that Adblock Plus, and the money goes to worst person in the world ™ Brendan Eich.
@sillystring @gcupc @Treppenwitz Brave only works reasonably if the creator has signed up for the payments, thus it is worthless at the time. Not to mention that the desktop version of it is an Electron app.
I tried using Flattr (as a Firefox desktop extension) for a while, which has a similar concept, but is a bit more centralized and bound to a fiat currency instead of a crypto token, but it's also barely used.
@sillystring @Michcioperz @gcupc @Treppenwitz I am going to add to the suggestions pile #AdNauseum
It is based on uBlock Origin, but also acts as a protest of obfuscation: https://adnauseam.io/
Paper explaining the general method: https://cs.nyu.edu/trackmenot/resources/trackmenot2009.pdf
@gcupc
I posted this before remembering that that is the exact configuration I use!
LB:
Mild caveat, but not about the plug-in's usefulness:
The uBlock Origin link goes to Github, which then has a link to install it for the Firefox desktop browser, for mobile and for Chromium (no version for Chrome yet). Just fyi
I have a gripe about when devs do this "you have to run through a maze to get to the binary" thing, but I'm 86ing getting into it in detail.
@Treppenwitz okay but the next step following the article is supporting the people who maintain the blocklists! Where can I donate?
@Treppenwitz @KitRedgrave I'd like to add one point: This only discusses the browser end of things.
Any app that has its own web connection can display ads independent of the browser. This is especially prevalent on mobile devices.
To block ads for such apps, you'd need a systemwide adblocker, which requires either rooting your device or using the built-in proxy system.
If you also use a firewall or proxy server app, your only choice is to root.
@Treppenwitz @KitRedgrave Also worth noting that Google has decided that systemwide adblockers violate their developer's agreement, so they are banned from the Play Store. Any you find there are not real & likely ripoffs of the open-source versions that could contain malware.
As such, we're forced to sideload them, preferably using an alternative app store like F-Droid. AdAway uses root, while DNS66 uses the proxy system. These are the most reliable adblockers for Android.
@Treppenwitz
One minor addition: Firefox (non-Focus) fully supports uBlock Origin on Android.