A Crisp Ad Blocker Guide – 2023 Edition

We Found 7 Adblockers that work; Total Adblock was the best among all.

While having an online presence is great, ads are not too great. Too many of them will ruin your entire experience of being online. Not only are ads annoying, but they are also a potential threat to your data as adware attacks hack the device/data.

Having the aid of an ad blocker is a great relief, as it will keep disturbing and damaging ads at bay. But is it enough? What makes an ad blocker an effective solution? How did the ad blocker work? Is it always a good deal to use an ad blocker?

These are a few questions that should be resolved for a prospective ad blocker user. It’s a lot of information to gauge on. This is why we present you with this crisp guide on an ad blocker. Go through it and enrich your understanding of ad blockers.

To write this guide, we have tested 20+ ad blockers and finalized 7 top-performing options. Test results for those 7 blockers are added to the article for your reference.

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Best Ad Blockers To Use In 2023

Ad blockers, if used in the right manner, can be of great use. But, you must have the aid of the best ad blocker by your side. The market is flooded with options, and it’s not easy to pick one. After extensive research, we managed to find out some of the best adblocker extensions or software for 2023.

Quick Comparison

#1 – TotalAdBlock

TotalAdBlock has to be in first place in this list of best ad blocker browser extensions in 2020. It works on Microsoft Edge. It’s a highly advanced solution that helps you improve the browsing experience by removing annoying ads.

Ads of all sorts, like pop-up ads, banners, and video ads, can be blocked easily with this adblocker extension. You can also disable the notifications and improve a peaceful online browsing experience.

If you’re worried about the trackers disguised as trackers, then there is nothing to worry about, as such ads are also identified early and blocked immediately.

As mentioned above, an ad blocker for Chrome can block useful content as well. But, this is not the case with the TotalAdBlock as it allows you to make a list of acceptable ads. You can select the website and put it on the ‘Acceptable Ads’ list. That’s it. Content from that website won’t be blocked at all.

TotalAdBlock offers a highly intuitive mobile app for Android and iOS platforms. We checked the app rating on Google Play Store and App. Shockingly, the ratings are good. Both apps win people’s hearts because of the easy setup and installation process.

Highlights

Its performance is best in the North American region as it can increase the page load speed up to 57%. The average page load speed in this region is 20819 seconds which goes up to 5458 seconds with TotalAdBlock.

With its premium subscription, you enjoy a little more than standard service. For instance, there is an anti-virus feature as well. In addition, it can help you block malicious websites. Its data encryption feature is highly useful for protecting sensitive data. As it works on all sorts of ads, it’s indeed the best choice to make.

How Does It Work In Real Life?

We tested Total Adblock in real-time. Those who are using The Huff Post website know how annoying ads are on this website. They are in abundance. So, this was the best option to test the utility of this adblocker extension for Edge.

Before using the adblocker extension of Total Adblock, there were video and pop-up ads on the website.

Video ads were annoying the most as they slowed down the overall speed as well.  Then we installed the Total Adblock extension. As per the stats, 9 ads were blocked. 9 are too many.  The right-hand side of the webpage was totally blank after the adblocker.

When we click on the stats, it does provide a details review of blocked ads as well.  All in all, it was a great relief as an ad-free experience was certainly there.

Pros

• Free trial for 7 days
• Instant increase in page load speed and online privacy
• Blocking of all sorts of ads
• Dedicated app
• Responsive customer care support

Cons

• Limited browser support

Test Total AdBlocker here

#2 – AdLock

AdLock is a standalone ad-blocking solution for all your devices. This one solution will help you block annoying and dangerous ads on websites and mobile apps. This is certainly a great feature that most other ad blockers miss out on.

There are dedicated browser extensions for Safari and Chrome that are very easy to set up and start. This Safari ad blocker can block ads, malware, and malicious websites in one go. So, you have to perform different scans. If you’re worried about trackers logging your information, then rejoice, as it is an effective tracker blocker solution as well.

You can stream ad-free on YouTube and streaming platforms like Netflix and download torrent files. This perfection is seen in mobile phone ad blocking as well. If you’re annoyed with ads during gameplay, the mobile version of this ad blocker is superb. You will experience hardly any ad annoyance on your mobile phone.

Highlights

If you’re a hardcore gamer, then this ad blocker is a must-have for you, as you won’t experience lagging and too much bandwidth consumption.

As it’s a lightweight solution, you can easily run it on a mobile data connection. At the same time, it will block ads on websites and on apps that are connected with a single internet connection. If you’re worried about the few websites that will end up blocking the ad blocker, don’t worry. This Firefox ad blocker can surpass these restrictions.

How Does It Work In Real Life?

Once again, we took The Huff Post as a test subject as the website really has the guts to throw ad after ad. See, it’s all about ads.

Installing AdLock was way too easy. We just went to the Microsoft Edge Extension store and got the extension with a single click.

After the installation, we again visited the Huffpost website, which looked clear and clutter-free.

There were no videos or popup ads to disturb you. Only posts and articles to read and grab information.

Even though it worked, it didn’t tell us about the number of ads blocked, like Total Adblock. This was a little disappointing, but as long as it’s working and blocking the ads, everything else is manageable, right?

Pros

• Free service for Android and Windows
• The paid version can protect 5 devices at a time
• Risk-free money-back guarantee

Cons

• Customer support isn’t responsive

#3 – AdGuard Ad Blocker

Our next recommendation is AdGuard. It works on Windows, iOS, Android, and Mac platforms. As far as ad blocker browser extension is concerned, you have adblocker Safari, adblocker Chrome, ad blocker Opera, ad blocker Edge, and ad blocker Yandex.

Along with ad blocking and supporting safe internet browsing, it can easily handle ad-block circumvention scripts. Its assistance goes the extra mile and is delivered in the form of AdGuard Assistance.

AdGuard Ad Blocker is offered for full-fledged program users and keeps them free from the need to download an extension for browsers running on Windows or macOS. This one software is enough to perform various tasks.

Highlights

With the AdGuard protection key, you can protect all sorts of devices with a single solution. This is a great option for those who use a different browser and want uncompromised protection on all of them.

What sets it apart from other browser extensions is its ability to provide only updated software versions. Recently, the AdGuard Browser extension 4.0.181 was released, and it certainly features some impressive improvements.

How Does It Work in Real Life?

Try opening the website of The Washington Post, and you’ll be flooded with ads. You have to struggle to find the news of your interest. Ads are so many on this website.

So, what could be better than this to test the efficacy of an adblocker?

This is what was the home page of the website after AdGuard Adblocker became active.

Need details on blocked ads? Click on the extension, and you’ll be able to see impressive stats.

21 ads blocked!  It’s impressive. You can also check the website security with the help of this adblocker. Want to how ads were filtered? Check the Filtering log option, and you’ll have details by your side.

Pros

• 14-day free trial
• Constant release
• Lightweight
• Capable to remove social media ads

Cons

• Apps become unresponsive at times

#4 – uBlock Origin

If you’re looking for an ultra-responsive and lightweight Twitch ad blocker, try uBlock Origin. This is one of the most powerful open-source Chrome adblockers that we have presently. Its cross-platform capabilities are impressive and go beyond ad blocking.

With this best free ad blocker, you can enjoy precise content filtering done in a user-friendly method. Its CPU and memory efficiency is the talk of the town, as a recent study revealed that uOrigin customers would help in saving $1.8 billion per year in terms of energy conservation.

While there are pre-configured solutions for browsers like Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Opera, and Firefox, it allows manual configuration as well. This is a great offering for those looking for customized ad blocking ability.

Highlights

The browser extension for Chrome is very popular and features more than 25,000 positive ratings on Google Chrome Store. Its filter list is extensive and features various filtration factors. For instance, you’ve EasyList, which blocks ads, and EasyPrivacy list, which prevents tracking. If you want to block ads and tracking in one go, then you have Peter Lowe’s Ad Server list.

As far as its data logging is concerned, you would be glad to know that it’s a very privacy-friendly adblocker for Chrome. The developer has disclosed that none of the user data is sold or leaked to 3rd party service providers.

All in all, it’s one of the best ad blockers that you can try in 2023 and beyond.

How Does It Work In Real Life?

Mayo Clinic is everyone’s favorite. But we’re fed up seeing the pop-up ads here and there.

Few are image ads, while few are pop-up ads.

Either way, they are annoying. Let’s try to figure out how effective uBlock Origin was in blocking those ads. When we downloaded it and visited the website once again, a few ads were blocked, but a few were still there. For example, the Diet  Assessment ad was blocked, but the pop-up ad was still there. So, it’s not something that you can rely upon 100% ad blocker as you can do with Total Adblock.

Pros

• Transparent privacy policy
• No logging of customer data
• User-friendly interface
• Block ads on YouTube as well

Cons

• In certain cases, images are not displayed when the ad blocker is active

#5 – Threat Protection By NordVPN

We have already mentioned that a VPN can also be used as an effective ad blocker. So, let’s explain a VPN that offers the industry’s best ad blocker, Threat Protection. The ad blocker that NordVPN offers is very powerful. It helps you block adware, malware, trackers, and normal ads with full conviction.

Threat protection is very responsive, as it will help you block the ads before they can reach you. This way, you enjoy fast page loading and browsing speed. This YouTube adblocker works like an antivirus as well. So, you enjoy dual protection. Presently, this ad blocker or antivirus is offered for Windows or Mac users.

Highlights

Its malware scanning is very extensive, as files and scripts are scanned very thoroughly. To reduce the risks, it will stop you from visiting a website that features malicious links or ads. Its assistance doesn’t end here. It carefully scans the pre-downloaded internet files and helps you find out whether they are safe or not.

How Does It Work in Real Life?

NordVPN is very famous as a VPN. But it’s good as an adblocker. Yes, it is, as it offers a highly effective adblocker as a part of its Threat Protection features.  Malware and ads of all sorts are easily blocked by this tool.

Once activated, it’s enough to keep tons of hassles at bay.

Looking for a deep malware scan? Well, it has your back.

All in all, it’s worth a try.

Pros

• Blocking of all types of ads
• Highly encrypted internet connection
• 30-days money-back guarantee
• Highly responsive customer care support

Cons

• Limited browser compatibility

Test the NordVPN app here

#6 – AdBlock Plus

AdBlock Plus of ABP is one of the most famous ad blockers of all time. The reason being is its wide compatibility. This one solution can work on platforms like Chrome, Edge, Opera, Safari, and Firefox. Hardly any ad blocker has such impressive compatibility.

Regardless of the platform you choose, its setup and installation are flawless. In no time, it will be at your service. Its response time is also very quick. It features a highly extensive list of filter lists, and it filters web requests on its basis.

If you’re a sound ad blocker user, then you can also add or delete the filters from this list. This makes it one of the best-customized ad blockers for Safari or other browsers. Ads, adware, and malware can be blocked with the same ease and perfection.

Highlights

If you want to use it on an Android device, then you will have to use a Firefox browser extension, as no app support for the Android platform is offered. But, iOS users have the facility of native app support. The iOS ad blocker app, AdBlock Plus. It is highly intuitive and seamlessly integrates with the content blocker system. The set-up hassles are minimum.

But, it does allow certain ads to show up as these are the revenue means for this ad blocker browser extension. However, the permitted ads are of trusted names and brands. Hence, there is no harm to the data/device. This is one of the most preferred free ad blockers.

How Does It Work In Real Life?

Let’s try this adblocker on Quora. Quora is a place to find information about everything. But, ads are too many on the website. Of course, advertisers love this place because of its huge audience.

Once we installed the adblocker extension on Microsoft Edge, we were informed that 4 ads were blocked.

Yes, some ads were blocked. But a few were still there to haunt you.

This pop-up ad seemed stubborn, as it wasn’t ready to do even after adblocker was there. So, you can’t bank upon it fully,  It’s hard to predict which ad will go and which will remain. If anything malicious remains, then it could be risky. Why take risks? When you have Total AdBlock that blocks 100% ads.

Pros

• Detailed knowledge base
• Compatibility with all the leading devices
• Transparent policy

Cons

• Not all the ads are blocked

#7 – AdBlocker Ultimate

Lastly, we suggest AdBlocker Ultimate as the best ad blocker for Safari, Chrome, and Edge. It protects devices running on Windows, Android, and iOS. It can block ads on Facebook and YouTube as well. People swear by its malware and tracking blocking ability that makes the internet a safe place to be.

Highlights

AdBlocker Ultimate offers separate extensions for all popular browsers. For your devices, it promises to save 40+ percent battery.

How Does It Work In Real Life?

HealthLine is a very famous website for health enthusiasts. But, ads can big turn off for its users.

On each page, you will see too many ads.

When we installed the adblocker, it worked like magic. There were no ads at all. The page was too smooth and clutter-free.

The stats show that it blocked 59 ads in total.

Pros

• Free extension
• Privacy protection
• 30 million+ users per month

Cons

• Certain ads can still annoy

Ad Blocker – The Basic Understanding

To begin with, let’s explain the meaning of ad blockers in detail.

Ad blocker, as the name suggests, is a piece of technology that prevents the advertisement content of a website/webpage from loading too frequently. Depending upon the configuration, they could be software, an app, or a browser extension that blocks the ads that you would experience while visiting a website or webpage.

When active, an ad blocker will thoroughly check the scripts of the website/webpage you’re visiting. It already features a list of blocked scripts. It matches the script of the targeted website with the list of the blocked scripts. If any match is found, the ad blocker blocks that script immediately.

Ad blocker is designed to identify the web requests of an ad and filters the content based on these web requests only. It will quickly block web requests with an ad and improve your browsing experience.

Ad annoyance is a real thing and can make people ditch a specific website or webpage. This is why more than 25% of US internet users used ad blocking software in 2019. It helped them to have an uninterrupted and safe browsing experience.

With an ad blocker, you will experience benefits like:

Better speed

Ads are mostly in the form of videos, and loading these videos will take. Hence, a certain dip in speed is sure when you visit a website that is filled with ads. The webpage will have a slow speed and reduced responding time. At times, the page will break.

With an ad blocker, ads are longer to reduce the speed. So, you gain instant access to the websites you’re trying to visit.

Less bandwidth consumption

If you’re on limited bandwidth, then ads will consume most of your bandwidth and prevent you from accessing the content you really want to check out. The best adblocker extension or app optimizes the speed, stops ads from loading, and saves your bandwidth so that you can visit the pages you want to visit.

No compromise on Privacy

One can bear the annoyance of watching advertisements. But, privacy compromise is something that no one should ever bear. But, ads are great bolt-on privacy as they can track what information they are searching on the internet, what websites they visit, and much other information. This will happen if the ad you see features a tracker. And seeing the surge in the number of cyber-attack, the possibility of this is very high.

With an adblocker extension, it’s easy to protect your data, as ads of all sorts will be away from you.

Malware attack prevention

An ad can also be disguised as malware, which is way too dangerous than a tracker. Malware, when active, can corrupt the entire system, steal crucial information, and even help a hacker to gain remote access to the targeted device. All these situations can prove fatal for any one of us.

An ad blocker can prevent all these hassles as ads, malware-infected or not, will be blocked by all means.

Save phone battery

Ad playing can consume too much phone battery as well. Playing ads is of no use, and they will have a high burden on the phone battery.

There are too many benefits. But it’s not always a good deal to make. Using an adblocker extension or app can make things go south in certain situations. For instance:

You can throw a free website into the pit of the lost

Many free websites are useful and provide you access to tons of useful resources without any cost. Ads are the only source of income for free websites. If you block them, then these websites will have to face huge revenue losses.

No Surety of a 100% success rate

No matter how advanced an ad blocker seems or sounds, it won’t block all the ads. There will be certain stubborn ads that will find their way to you. So, you might face disappointment even with the best ad blocker.

The annoyance of Different Sort

An effective adblocker extension will stop ads to disturb you. But, sometimes, they can be so effective that they can cause other side effects. For instance, the ad’s space will look blank or feature a broken link.

If you’re on an e-commerce website, then an ad blocker can prevent the cart from reloading. Also, the interface can feature missing listings. These are the downsides of using a highly active ad blocker.

Permission to paid ads

Some ad blockers allow certain ads. It’s been observed that few ad companies pay ad blockers to allow their ads. AdBlock Plus is famous for this. This is an unethical practice.

Stealth surveillance

You use an adblocker extension to prevent ads from logging your information. What if an ad blocker itself is logging your data? Yes, there are certain ad blocker apps and browser extensions that keep activity logs. Such ads are of no use.

That was an overview of ad blocker meaning and their pros/cons. So, you need to make a wise choice accordingly.

Ways For Ad Blocking

Ad blocking is an extensive task and can be delivered in multiple ways. So, if you’re planning to use an ad blocker, you must first learn about the ways by which ad blocking can be done.

Via browser extension

There are adblocker extensions for different browsers. For instance, you have AdBlock as adblocker Chrome or uBlock as adblocker Firefox. These extensions feature easy setup and installation. Once the set-up is complete, ads of all sorts will be automatically blocked. A few ad blockers Chrome provides customization features as well.

Google also features an in-build adblocker for Chrome that is useful for blocking only selective ads. It’s being observed that ad blocking via browser extension is beneficial for Google only as many companies were paying Google to play their ads.

External programs/software

Ad blocking is also done with the help of ad blocking software or external software. Such solutions mostly work by using a customized HTTP proxy that filters the web requests.

They filter the content before it reaches the end user and blocks what seems fishy. This way, ads and various other offensive content is easily blocked. Ad blocker software like Squid, Privoxy, and Netnanny are a few examples of this category.

Ad blocking, done via this method, is advantageous as it sets you free from any implementation or setup requirements. Also, one software can be used by many users. Its content filtration power is very powerful.

But, it’s not always a viable solution. But, it is not a viable solution when it comes to filtering the Transport Layer Security request. Also, full webpage context and JavaScript ads aren’t able to filter.

Ad blocking via hosts file and DNS manipulation

If you use a device that uses a DNS-based OS, then you can block ads via hosting files and DNS alterations. Such devices feature backward compatibility and limited hostnames or IP address.

With few basic understanding, it’s easy to modify the host file and is a viable method to block the ads. You can also store the black hole entries present in the host and prevent advertisers from displaying ads.

A DNS sinkhole is also useful for modifying the host file. All these options are useful for blocking ads.

DNS filtering-based ad blocking

It’s possible to block the ads by using a DNS server that is designed to restrict the domain and hostnames linked with resources that are famous for producing ads. For manipulating the DNS server, you can also use dedicated software like Pi-hole or Raspberry Pi.

Using a VPN

VPN is an advanced technology that is designed to filter traffic, block malicious content, and encrypt traffic. Some advanced VPNs come with an ad blocker. When active, these ad blockers of VPNs will help you prevent ads from loading and causing a disturbance. This approach is very much hassle-free and very effective. The only drawback of this method is that you might experience a speed slowdown with a VPN as the traffic passes through an encrypted tunnel before reaching the end users.

Ad blocking via external parties and internet providers

Some internet providers automatically block advertisements. External-party solutions like Mackeeper help you block the ads on Mac devices. They both demand very few efforts to bring into action and are highly viable.

Things To Keep In Mind While Choosing the Best Ad Blocker

While all the above-mentioned ad blockers are the ideal pick in many senses, selecting the best ad blocker demands attention to certain things. So, you need to know about them as well.

Ad blocking ability

The first aim of using an ad blocker is, of course, to block annoying ads, and if an ad blocker isn’t making it happen, then there is no point in using an ad blocker at all.  So, you must learn about ‘how efficient an ad blocker is to block ads’.

You can check it by visiting ad-heavy websites like Facebook and YouTube while a blocker is ON. If you’re seeing fewer or no ads, then congrats, as you’ve made a good choice.

Usage complexity

There is no point in using an ad blocker that is too complex to use as you won’t be able to make the most of it. So, it’s very crucial that the ad blocker you’re trying to use is user-friendly.

The app or browser extensions should feature a straightforward setup. If installation guides or tutorials are provided, then it’s cherry on the cake. This way, an ad blocker will help you use every single capability of its.

Extension or platform compatibility

What could be more promising than an ad blocker that works on almost all sorts of platforms and devices? With such an ad blocker, you don’t have to buy a separate adblocker for Safari or for Chrome. This saves time, effort, and money.

Compatibility

It was important that the ad blockers were compatible with a wide range of devices and browsers for all-around protection against adware, malware, and malicious websites. Plus, I felt it was important that these ad blockers offer support for protecting numerous gadgets at once.

Conclusion

Safe online presence is a key priority today, and no excuses are entertained in this regard. Ads, which might seem harmless on the surface, can be highly troublesome. This is why it’s very important to block them early. Ad blocker is a great solution in this regard. This piece of technology is here to make the internet a safe place to be by removing the hidden hazards that are linked with an ad.

However, its intelligent use is the most important aspect. Also, you must try using a viable solution. This guide unfolded every aspect of ad blocking and the best ad blockers of 2023. Make a choice as per your needs, and we guarantee you that you won’t be disheartened.

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