How do I block advertising?
I have already looked for answers but the only thing I can find is how to block pop-ups, which are already blocked.
Anyways, I was wondering how you block advertising. I'm pretty sure you can block it since I had advertising blocked for quite a while until I updated to Firefox 7 that advertisements started to show up again.
It slows my computer down by a lot, and it also causes to stop scripts from running.
So my question is my title..
All Replies (1)
You need to install the "Adblock Plus" extension along with subscribing through its options to both "EasyList" and "Fanboy's" as both will be needed to handle tvguide.com
In addition some filters you add yourself, that block additional stuff on tvguide.com
- (see below)
- ||cim.meebo.com^
- *addthis.com/*
- http://www.google-analytics.com/*
I can't get the first of the four items to appear it should be without the spaces
|http://ad. doubleclick. net/*
Adblock Plus does nothing by itself -- it needs filters. Be sure to install the "EasyList (US)" filter subscription.
Known Adblock Plus subscriptions
Adblock Plus - Open blockable items list - Ctrl+Shift+V (right-click on icon) shows all the urls on a page and if blocked by a filter shows the filter
- http://img213.imageshack.us/i/2010020591647pm.png/
- http://img651.imageshack.us/i/adpblockableitems.png/
- http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/671/adblockplustvguide.png
Each filter you install and your own are separate, so they can still be maintained separately, but it only applies to the Firefox profile you install it in.
Adblock Plus is easily enabled/disabled at the Status Bar, so you can be more aggressive in what you block compared to a hosts file.
What to do when Adblock Plus blocks too much: You can immediately enable/disable the extension at the ABP toolbar icon or add-ons bar icon with right-click to check/uncheck "Disable everywhere".
Style formatting (.css), Script (.js) files at a site among others may be blocked on purpose or inadvertently by Adblock Plus filters.
You can see what is blocked, and the filters used, as well as being able to enable/disable Adblock Plus in its options, which can also be reached by right-clicking on the ABP toolbar button.
- Open Blockable items [Ctrl+Shift+V] Searchable has columns Address/Filter/Type/State/...
- Preferences... [Ctrl+Shift+F] Filter rules / subscriptions / Options
Suggest sorting Blockable items on State (toggles filter on/off). Right-click on a row brings up additional information about a filter.
Additional protections and Warnings:
"WOT" (Web of Trust) extension provides ratings on search results, so can be used to warn you of a bad site, it is based on user experience and often just what people seem to think a site is about based on the name. The extension will block access to bad sites, but you can override the warning. I don't put much stock in their ratings but do use the extension when "McAfee Site Advisor" is not working well with Firefox.
- Sample report -- http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/mylife.com
"McAfee Site SiteAdvisor" extension provides a better rating system for your search results, it is based on analysis of site tracking with virtual machines to every link to see what happens. Both WOT and SiteAdvisor place warning symbols on Google search results. This extension is not on addons.mozilla.com so the code is not subject to review by Mozilla. The extension gobbles up a very large area on the add-ons bar with an unwanted search bar (using Yahoo search) and a grossly oversized site warning color indicator for the site you are already on. Provides the best rating system for search results.
You can however get a site report with or without the extension
- Sample report http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/mylife.com (affiliations look good, but community reviews look bad)
Phishing protection comes from your browser using collected phishing data -- not from the Google search itself where you might see a warning.
- (Google Chrome) http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?answer=99020
- (Firefox) already covered what you need to set in security options, turned on by default.
- Google - Highlight harmful site alert - Themes and Skins for Google - userstyles%46org
Firefox has a reporting system for reporting Web Forgeries (Phishing) under the HELP menu, which does not apply to either site. ABP has a reporting mechanism in their options to report sites so they will be blocked, but unless you can identify a specific portion that is bad, I doubt that they would add a filter as reunion.com is used by a lot of people.
Tools > Options > Security
Known attack sites can be blocked here, uses information reported to Firefox and to Google.
[x] Warn me when sites try to install add-ons
[x] Block reported attack sites
[x] Block reported web forgeries
You should also install a hosts file on your system which will help with all browsers and applications.
Having a good hosts file on your system can protect your entire system cross-application and all browsers and all your Firefox profiles against a lot malware. The hosts file must coded for www.example.com, example.com, anything.example.com -- Adblock Plus is more generic and can do more with less coding. See links below.
More information: on extensions and keyword shortcuts
- Adblock Plus :: Add-ons for Firefox
- Writing Adblock Plus filters
- McAfee SiteAdvisor Software -- Website Safety Ratings and Secure Search
- Web of Trust - Safe Browsing Tool :: Add-ons for Firefox
- Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts File
- Google - Highlight harmful site alert - Themes and Skins for www.google - userstyles.org
- Problematic extensions - MozillaZine Knowledge Base (McAfee Site Advisor is listed as problematic)
- My notes on extensions -- http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/firefox.htm#ext_table
- Firefox Keyword Shortcuts (and bookmarklets)
more
Modified by David McRitchie