Are you tired of those annoying popup ads that automatically appear on your computer screen when you browse something on the internet?
Do you want to block these flashy banners on the websites you visit?
Are you scratching your head to figure out which is better AdBlock or AdBlock Plus?
Looking for a comparison of AdBlock vs AdBlock Plus?
If the answer is yes, then bookmark this post right away as this detailed article will explain all the aspects.
It will discuss what these two ad blockers are all about, how to use them, and what are the pros and cons of these two ad blockers.
These two ad blocking applications (extensions for browsers) could improve your internet browsing experience by blocking the advertisements that you are forced to watch against your will.
The extensions are easy to install and use. Based on your preference, you can block the advertisement, block tracking, and also block those malware domains.
Why do you need an Adblocker?
While many are very much clear about why they need an ad blocker, some people aren’t aware of how adblockers could improve the internet surfing experience.
Those who are a bit tech-savvy must have researched about bypassing these flashy, mind-diverting, and annoying ads that you are forced to watch before proceeding to the main content.
Many others who aren’t much tech-savvy believe they must have to bear with these ads if they want to browse websites on the internet.
Absolutely not!
If it is your computer, it’s you who will decide which ads you want to see or whether you want to see an ad at all and you can do that with ad blockers.
It takes a few seconds to download the Adblock extension for different browsers, save settings, and block all these ads.
With AdBlock, you can block banner ads, text ads, popups, pop-under, intrusive ads, video ads on youtube, and Facebook that you are forced to watch before proceeding to actual video content.
Our AdBlock vs AdBlock Plus comparison will make you understand how AdBlock can block ads and which is better out of these two.
AdBlock vs AdBlock Plus
While both the ad blocks have their own unique features and perform the best as per their capabilities, you can choose any of these two based on the features you want.
We will be discussing both the Adblocks in detail that will help you choose the one that serves the purpose for you. Our AdBlock Vs AdBlock Plus comparison will make this task easy.
However, the common features of these two ad blocks are, they are lightweight extensions and easy to install for the available browsers.
Let’s go ahead and get to know AdBlock and AdBlock Plus separately.
AdBlock Extension:
Adblock is an extension created by an independent developer- Michael and later on a few more people were added to the team.
The idea of developing this extension originated from the old Firefox extension meant for blocking advertisements while browsing websites on the internet.
The developers solely depend on the donations by users like us to keep this extension alive.
AdBlock has been downloaded by more than 40 million people across the world on different browsers and it has been rated well 4.5 /5 as per their website.
AdBlock extension has been featured on reputed websites such as CNN, Yahoo, LifeHacker, Wired, etc.
Adblock can easily block those annoying ads that you do not want to see yet you are forced to see them.
This extension is capable of blocking Banner advertisements, Popup/ Pop-under, Text Ads, Intrusive ads, and those few seconds long advertisements on Youtube /Facebook that you can not bypass anyhow.
Adblock is a pretty clean, lightweight extension that can be installed with a single click and put to use the very next second.
It doesn’t take more than a few seconds to get it working. It is available for browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
It has been the most downloaded extension on Chrome and Safari for a long time. Once installed, you can configure the settings based on the preference as to what all ads you want to block.
Also see: How to Authorize a computer on iTunes
Unlike other so-called ads blocker, Adblock doesn’t access or save your personal information that could reveal your browsing pattern and habits.
It is available in 30 different languages for people living in different countries.
It is pretty easy to access the settings and save as per the preferences.
Once Adblock is installed while accessing a website, click on the Adblock logo and you will see the stats like how many ads have been blocked, whether do you want to block ads, particularly on this page or don’t want Adblock to run on this page or for this particular domain.
If you want to go to settings, click “Options”
On the options page, you can see General options and tick the checkbox based on the preference.
For example, if you want to allow some non-intrusive advertising, you can tick this checkbox. Go to Advanced options to further filter your preference.
Use Filter Lists to let AdBlock to automatically block those annoying ads you don’t want to see.
However, you can create your own Filter List as well and add the domains to be blocked manually.
AdBlock’s Filter Lists are compiled based on the users of the AdBlock community.
From the Customize tab, you can block ads for a particular page URL or domain itself.
In all AdBlock is a great extension capable of blocking a variety of ads including video ads on Youtube and Facebook.
It is an open-source extension and free to use for all browsers unless you want to voluntarily contribute some money.
Such kind of contributions helps developers to keep this great extension up and running for us users.
Pros:
- AdBlock is FREE.
- Block all ads – Banner, Popup, Popunder, Video, etc.
- An open-source Extension
- Easy to get and use.
- Available for Chrome, Firefox & Safari
- Downloaded by 40 million, they can’t be wrong!
- Block ads on a particular page or block the entire domain.
- Customized Filter List or use the one created based on the Adblock community.
- Available in 30 different languages.
Cons:
- It can sometimes slow down the browser.
- Some time due to AdBlock, the browser becomes non-responsive.
- Some video ads are passed (allowed) even if you’ve chosen not to.
AdBlock Pro:
Adblock Pro is one of the best Ad-block extensions that effectively blocks all types of ads.
Let it be text ads, those flashy banner ads that divert your mind, Video ads on youtube/ Facebook, popup/ popunder.
It also allows you to block tracking and activate settings to save your computer from malware.
So AdBlock Pro is not only blocked advertisements but it also gives you the option to block tracking & safety from Malware.
The extensions are available for all mainstream browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Maxthon, Yandex, etc.
It is a super lightweight extension that is very easy to install and put in use. It is pretty much effective in blocking the ads you intend to.
It was started back in 2006 by Waldemar and till now has been downloaded by several million users across the world.
It is a FREE open-source extension licensed under GPLv3 and available for mobile operating system Android also.
The Adblock Pro requires you to tell it what all advertisements you want to block. Unless you don’t do that it wouldn’t block any advertisement by default.
To block ads, you can either use EasyList meant for blocking unwanted ads, or create your own list.
The list is nothing but a set of rules that are meant for allowing or disallowing ads based on preference.
While the ads could be annoying for the users, the developers of AdBlock Pro take care of website financing as well as these ads could be a source of income for the website.
AdBlock Pro allows ads that are categorized as “Acceptable ads”. The “Acceptable Ads” are those ads that are meant for the good sake of the users. They believe not all ads are bad.
So if a company thinks the ads they want to show are good for the users who have installed AdBlock Pro can apply to be included under “Acceptable Ads”.
However, the developers check at their end and make sure these ads don’t harm the users before including them in “Acceptable Ads”.
The users are given chose to completely block all the ads including “Acceptable Ads” as well if needed.
Settings:
To access the settings, click on Adblock Pro extension and then go to “Options” It will open the settings.
From the Filter lists tab, you can Enable “Adblock Warning Removal list” or “EasyList” to activate AdBlock Pro and stop those annoying ads.
These lists are updated regularly, hence it is a great choice to update it by clicking the “Update now” button. Moreover, you can add a filter subscription as per the preference as well.
From the “Add your own filters” tab, you can add filters according to your need. They have given the guidelines on the use of this feature. There is the syntax that you will need to use.
If you want to block ads on a particular domain, you can add that domain by entering the domain name and hitting the “Add domain” button next to it.
When you add it will be added to the list below. The domain you have added can be removed as well easily.
The general tab has some general settings that you can configure based on preference. Also, you can file a request if there is any problem with AdBlock Pro.
Pros:
- FREE to download.
- Open-source software run by the community.
- Easy to use and configure.
- Block ads from a particular domain or all website’s
- Use Easylist to block harmful websites.
- Block tracking – your browsing habit.
- Block domains meant for spreading Malware.
- Allow ads categorized under “Acceptable Ads”
- Create your own Ad filter subscription.
Cons:
- Slows down browsers if many tabs opened simultaneously.
- Sometimes it causes the browser to non-responsive.
- “Acceptable Ad” list sometimes contains websites that could have annoying ads.
AdBlock vs AdBlock Plus: Summary
Both the AdBlock has their own specialty and features and one can choose based on their choice because at the end of the day, the users’ motive is to get rid of these annoying popup ads and both serve this purpose.
Some ads are so bad that they automatically install some kind of extension or software in your PC without permission that ultimately damages your PC.
Both Adblock and Adblock Pro allow you to create your own list of websites you want to block ads from.
Alternatively, you could use suggested lists to block ads as well. We hope our AdBlock vs AdBlock Plus comparison was helpful.
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