Image result for what is ad blockerNot everyone likes to be interrupted by unprecedented Ads. To block such ads, you'll have to use a software generally referred to as Ad blocker. This is a content filter and is an ad blocking extension which can be added to most popular web browsers. The Ad Blocking extensions work on Google Chrome,  Safari, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.
There are multiple reasons why you may want to block Ads. Some of the common reasons are:
  • Most Ads follow interrupt marketing where the main intention is to grab a user's attention. A lot of users find this intruding and annoying.
  • Another main reason is for security concerns such as malvertisement.
Ads in certain cases degrade the user experience and can result in losing visitors.

Malicious Advertisements
Over the past few years, there have been several instances of malicious Ads posing potential risks. There are a few reasons why Advertisements are risky:
  • The number of malicious Ads is on the increase. Cybercriminals employ newer and more sophisticated techniques to outwit users.
  • Malicious Ads can be globalized and can be over any website. These do not have any specific targets.
  • This is one of the cheapest forms of hacking and can be customized. This is not noticed by most users. Hackers can specifically target certain traffic types or users since advertisements can be targeted based on geographical location, browser type, traffic and etc.
  • These are across multiple websites and hence are hard to be detected. Providing malicious advertisement gives hackers continuous traffic.
  • Malicious Ads can spread ransomware, virus, trojans, worms and most forms of malware.
  • There is no specific way to detect malvertisement, unlike other malware. In short anyone, even an educated user can fall trap to such malicious Ads.
  • A lot of legacy cyber security solutions fail to detect such malicious Ads. There is no one solution to detect such Ads.
  • Malicious Ads can easily back on the security vulnerabilities of third-party applications. One of the reasons why users should always install the latest fixes and security patches.
A user can be a victim of malvertising in several ways. The most               common way in which users become a victim of malvertising is:
  • User unknowingly visits a reputed website containing malicious Ad.
  • This Ad would contain a malicious script which on click can initiate redirection. All of this remains unnoticed by the user.
  • The redirection from the browser ends up in installing exploit kit or malware. This again remains unnoticed by the user.
  • In certain cases, the user does not need to click the Ad. The moment the web page is loaded this gets executed.
    Reasons to use an Ad blocker
·             Safe Browsing: Though Ads can be annoying, a bigger fact is that Ads can also come with security risks. A lot of cybercriminals employ an attack commonly referred to as malvertisement, wherein malware is hidden within digital ads. In certain cases, you don't even need to click the ad. Just by opening the infected website, your system security would be compromised. This is a key reason why several users choose to use ad blockers.
·             Better experience: In case you want to browse websites more peacefully without any disturbance then using Ad blockers is the way forward. Many find ads annoying and disrupting their browsing experience.
·             Speed and Bandwidth: No one would want their bandwidth being wasted because of Ads. Ads contain a lot of data and drive a lot of analytics. This makes them heavy and in turn, increases the page load time. The pages take more time to render.
The absence of such Ads can save your bandwidth as well as owing to less content you can experience better page load time. This does change the user experience drastically.

How to choose an Ad Blocker
There are multiple Ad blockers available in the market. However, caution should be given while choosing an Ad blocker.
  • Full-proof solution: Certain Advertising companies pay compensation to Ad blocker vendors to not block their Ads. Before zeroing down on any specific Ad blocker, ensure the Ad blocker is full proof and can block all types of Ads.
  • Filtering: Ad blockers sometimes end up blocking content which are not Ads. To have better control, ensure the Ad blocker you chose has filtering capabilities. A pure whitelisting can help tell the Ad blocker which pages are safe for browsing.
  • Tracking: Few Ad blockers run their own analytics and monitor your behavior. In certain cases, this data is shared with the third party without the user's knowledge. To avoid this, ensure you read reviews about the Ad blocker and all fine prints about terms and conditions.
Are Ads always unsafe?
Ads are not always harmful. We all know that most websites offer free contents to site visitors. Site owners display advertisements to support their businesses of producing contents. If everyone blocks advertisements, site owners will stop producing useful contents or start charging for the information they're providing. To support those businesses, allowing Ads from certain trusted websites make both parties happy. You can whitelist such websites.

How to Disable AdBlock?

Disabling AdBlock or Adblock Plus in a Browser

Tips-1.
Open a web browser. This should be a browser in which you have AdBlock or Adblock Plus installed.
2.Go to your browser's "Extensions" page.
Chrome - Click : select More tools and click Extensions.

Firefox - Click = then click Add-ons.

Edge - Click : then click Extensions.

Safari - Click Safari, click Preferences, and click the Extensions tab.

3.Find the AdBlock or Adblock Plus option. In the list of extensions, find the name of the ad-blocker that you want to disable.

4.Disable AdBlock or Adblock Plus. To do so:
Chrome - Uncheck the "Enabled" checkbox to the right of AdBlock or Adblock Plus.
Firefox - Click Disable to the right of the ad-blocker.

Edge - Click the blue "On" switch in the ad-blocker's menu.

Safari - Uncheck the "AdBlock" or "Adblock Plus" box on the left side of the page.

5.Close and re-open your browser. This will confirm your changes and apply them to your browser. Your selected ad-blocker will be disabled until you decide to re-activate it.

Tips-2.
Disabling AdBlock on a Site

1.Open a browser. This should be the browser in which you want to disable the AdBlock extension on a specific website.

2.Go to the website. Open the website on which you want to disable AdBlock.

3.Open your browser's "Extensions" view. Most browsers have a section in which you can see the icons for the extensions that you've installed. To do so:

Chrome - Click : in the upper-right side of the window to prompt a drop-down menu. The AdBlock icon is at the top of the drop-down menu.

Firefox - You should see the AdBlock icon in the upper-right side of the Firefox page.

Edge - If AdBlock isn't in the upper-right corner of the page,  click Extensions, click AdBlock, and click the "Show button next to address bar" switch to make it appear there.

Safari - The AdBlock icon should be to the left of the address bar in the upper-left side of the Safari page.

4.Click the "AdBlock" icon. It resembles a red stop sign with a white hand on it. A drop-down menu will appear.

5.Click Don't run on pages on this domain. This option is near the bottom of the drop-down menu. Doing so opens a pop-up window.

6.Adjust the pages on which AdBlock is disabled. Click and drag the "Site" slider right to increase the number of site variations that are ignored. Clicking and dragging the "Page" slider to the right will prompt AdBlock to ignore specific pages on the site (the level of specificity increases as you drag the slider right) rather than all pages on the site.

Note -: all sites will require adjustment.
7.Click Exclude. It's in the bottom-right corner of the window. Doing so will save your changes and turn off AdBlock for your selected site and/or pages.

Tips-3.
Disabling Adblock Plus on a Site
1.Open a browser. This should be the browser in which you want to disable Adblock Plus on a specific website.

2.Go to the website. Open the website on which you want to disable Adblock Plus.

3.Open your browser's "Extensions" view. Most browsers have a section in which you can see the icons for the extensions that you've installed. To do so:

Chrome - Click ⋮ in the upper-right side of the window to prompt a drop-down menu. The Adblock Plus icon is at the top of the drop-down menu.

Firefox - You should see the Adblock Plus icon in the upper-right side of the Firefox page.

Edge - If Adblock Plus isn't in the upper-right corner of the page, click ⋯, click Extensions, click Adblock Plus, and click the "Show button next to address bar" switch to make it appear there.

Safari - The Adblock Plus icon should be to the left of the address bar in the upper-left side of the Safari page.

4.Click the Adblock Plus icon. It resembles a red stop sign with "ABP" written on it. This will prompt a drop-down menu.
Do not right-click the Adblock Plus icon.

5.Click Enabled on this site. It's at the top of the drop-down menu. Doing so will immediately disable Adblock Plus on the website in question.

If you want to re-enable Adblock Plus on this site, click the Adblock Plus icon again and then click Disabled on this site at the top of the menu.

Tips-4.
Disabling Adblock Plus on Mobile

1.Open Adblock Plus. Tap the Adblock Plus app icon, which resembles a stop sign with "ABP" written across it.

Adblock Plus is not available on Android phones.

Adblock doesn't have a mobile app available.

2.Tap the "Settings" icon. It's a wrench-and-screwdriver icon at the bottom of the screen. Doing so opens the Settings page.

3.Tap the green "Adblock Plus" switch  Image titled Iphoneswitchonicon1.png . This option is at the top of the screen. Tapping it will cause it to turn white  Image titled Iphoneswitchofficon.png .

This will deactivate your Adblock Plus protection until you turn it back on.