Articles about AdBlock Plus

There has been a lot of talk recently about Facebook tracking users (and non-users) as they browse the internet. Ever a proponent of user empowerment, Adblock Plus has unveiled new features that make it possible to block tracking through social media buttons.

The company notes that Apple promised at WWDC to block social tracking, but with Adblock Plus this feature is available right now, regardless of whether you're an Apple customer. The only limitation is that you need to be using either Chrome or Firefox as your web browser.

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Adblock Plus is using the disappearance of the popular Android app UC Browser from Google Play to promote its own mobile web browser.

An open letter to people looking for the currently-unavailable UC Browser calls on mobile web users to give Adblock Browser a try. The privacy-focused browser includes, obviously, an adblocker and, as Adblock Plus cheekily points out, "we haven't been kicked out of the store."

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News broke recently that a fake version of the Adblock Plus browser extension had made its way into the Chrome Web store. It is thought that 37,000 people installed the phony version, and now Adblock Plus -- the real one -- has responded to the news.

While acknowledging that the fake extension was removed from the store fairly quickly, Adblock Plus questions how it got there in the first place. It also provides instructions for anyone who is concerned that they may have a malicious version of the extension installed.

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The proliferation of online ads means that more and more people are turning to ad blockers, and Adblock Plus remains one of the most popular. Taking advantage of this, fraudulent developers pushed a fake version of the Adblock Plus extension into the Chrome Web Store, bypassing Google's checks and filters.

In all, 37,000 people were tricked into downloading the fake version of Adblock Plus. Google has now acted and removed the fake listing from the store.

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Facebook -- like many companies who exist solely online -- is highly reliant on ad revenue. As such, it goes to great lengths to outwit ad-blocking tools that seek to rob it of income by giving users a more enjoyable experience.

Adblock Plus is a well-known name in this field, having already had something of a back-and-forth with the social network as Facebook took steps to block adblockers. But now Adblock Plus has a new filter available to block ads on Facebook -- and improve privacy -- and it says it is more resilient than ever.

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Cryptocurrencies have been in the news a lot recently as the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum bounces up and down. But cryptocurrency miners have also been in the headlines after it was discovered that the Pirate Bay had secretly embedded a miner in its code, and then that the SafeBrowse extension for Chrome was also mining in the background.

To help protect users who do not want their computers to be used for such things without their permission and who don't want to give up CPU cycles to generate profit for others, Adblock Plus has released a filter that will block hijacks by cryptocurrency miners. It works with Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Android.

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It's news that -- on the face of it -- makes very little sense; the Wall Street Journal reports that Google is going to include an ad-blocking feature in its Chrome web browser. For a company that makes so much money from advertising this seems like something of a strange move, but in the light of recent ad controversy, it could be sensible business.

Just last month a large number of big companies started to pull advertising from Google and YouTube after finding that their ads were appearing on sites hosting extremist material. This, coupled with the fact that there is a general backlash against advertising from consumers (hence Adblock Plus pushing its Acceptable Ads program), could explain why Google is keen to be seen to be doing something that will give uses a better ad experience with greater control.

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Advertising agencies, search engines and cybersecurity specialists should work collectively to tackle the security threat from rising malvertising.

According to Ben Williams, head of operations and communications at Adblock Plus unless this happens more users will be exposed to potential security compromises such as malware and phishing, and this will drive further adoption of adblockers as a solution to these threats.

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In a perfect example of poacher-turned-gamekeeper, Israeli company Shine -- known for producing ad blocking software -- has rebranded as Rainbow and will instead offer an advertising service. Rainbow will work primarily with telecoms companies, and will have a strong focus on targeted advertising.

The company says that it wants to provide "a better ad experience for consumers", having apparently decided that blocking ads was not working for everyone. Rainbow aims to win round consumers by providing an opt-in service that means people will see only advertisements that comply with industry standards and observe privacy rules.

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Online advertising is a divisive issue, and one that sees many people turning to ad blockers to improve their online experience. The biggest name in the business is Adblock Plus which has come under fire in recent months for its Acceptable Ads program that allows certain ads to be whitelisted.

The company behind Adblock Plus, Eyeo, today published an extraordinary blog post in which it attacks "crazy accusations" made about it and its program. Introduced in the format of an election-style fact checker, the post from Ben Williams drips with barely disguised fury at what are described as "slants, spins and downright lies".

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It has been difficult to ignore the issue of online ads recently. Facebook’s approach to ads has been in the news in particular, but the battle between advertisers and ad blockers is one that has rumbled on for some time -- and looks set to continue to do so. At the forefront of ad blocking is Adblock Plus, and the company has just announced a new ad platform that aims to deliver ads that will not irritate internet users too much.

Acceptable Ads is an idea that has been bounced around for a while now, but today it has been relaunched as a completely new platform -- the Acceptable Ads Platform, funnily enough. It has two primary directives: to increase the transparency of Acceptable Ads, and to provide website creators with easy access to a database of pre-whitelisted ads that they can use to monetize their sites.

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Mobile operator Three had hoped to roll out a network-wide ad blocking system that would prevent the appearance of up to 95 percent of adverts has been shot down by a European regulator.

Citing net neutrality, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (Berec) says that Three's plans were incompatible with providing an internet access service. The decision comes despite the fact that Three's ad blocker would have been optional for customers.

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Following on from Facebook's decision to override users' ad blocking tools, Adblock Plus has fired one more shot, saying that it will continue the fight for the right to an ad-free social networking experience.

After finding a way to prevent Facebook blocking ads, which Facebook then bypassed once again, Adblock Plus says that while the game of cat and mouse may continue, it wants to use what it describes as "probably be the last time we talk about it for a while" to say that the open source community will fight the good fight for users.

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Facebook's announcement that it would start to punch through ad blockers to make sure everyone sees ads was met with understandable condemnation and consternation. One of the best known ad blockers, Adblock Plus, soundly criticized the move, saying that it was an example of 'cat-and-mouse games'.

And so it begins. Facebook may have said that it will circumvent ad blocking tools, but now ad blockers are fighting back. The open source community has worked is magic and come up with code that circumvents Facebook's circumvention. How meta...

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Facebook's plans to show adverts to everyone regardless of whether they are using an ad blocker was always going to prove controversial. The decision to bypass the privacy and security tools that many people have put in place has riled one company in particular -- Adblock Plus.

Describing the social network's latest move as being 'all anti-user', Adblock Plus's Ben Williams says that it is an 'unfortunate move' that 'takes a dark path against user choice'. He goes on to pooh-pooh the idea that Facebook made the decision based on what users want.

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