Reviews for Adblock Plus
Adblock Plus by Adblock Plus
Review by H.R.
Rated 3 out of 5
by H.R., 2 years agoTLDR - ABP is 100% adequate software. It does exactly what it says on the tin and nothing more. If you're a privacy-conscious home user, you would be better served by uBlock Origin. Enterprise users and casual home users, however, have much more incentive to use AdBlock Plus over competitors like uBlock Origin and AdGuard.
Pros:
1. Long history as robust, well-tested, well-maintained open-source software.
2. Default filter lists block advertisements, though not other forms of online tracking (see "Tangent" section of this review for why I think this is a pro.
3. Simpler content blocking rules mean that it's less liable to break stuff than a more robust content blocker.
Cons:
1. "Acceptable advertisements" are enabled by default. This fact becomes much more revolting when you keep in mind that Eyeo GmbH (the company that owns ABP) literally charges advertisers a hefty fee to be on the "acceptable ads" list, and that advertising networks who pay into the acceptable ads programme don't always adhere to the guidelines that Eyeo GmbH sets. You CAN opt out, and I encourage you to do so. This is a huge black mark on the reputation of a still-useful and beloved open-source application.
Neutral/Your Mileage May Vary
1. In enterprise/business situations, AdBlock Plus may very well be the *only* ad blocker your IT team recommends.
2. Relatively limited selection of filter lists. You're basically limited to the standard ABP filters, EasyList, EasyPrivacy, I Don't Care About Cookies, and the foreign language EasyList filters. Third party filter lists used to be commonplace, but a lot of them use UBO syntax as opposed to ABP syntax nowadays.
Tangent: ABP and Privacy
→ I would like to point out that almost every major browser from Firefox, to Safari, to Edge, to Brave, to Vivaldi, among countless others, all have *some* form of built-in privacy protection. They all use the same list of known trackers provided by the Disconnect team. Here's a rather shocking revelation: you DO NOT need to use tons of filter lists with ANY ad blocker when the browser you're using already has robust tracking protection built in by this point. ABP on default settings, acceptable ads turned off, and Firefox ETP settings set to "strict" will have you pretty well-protected from both targeted advertisements AND surveillance capitalism more generally. Anything else you do beyond that is subject to diminishing returns.
I give it three stars because it's a functional product that does exactly what it says on the tin and nothing more. It's not perfect, but it does not need to be. I would've given it four stars had Eyeo GmbH not irrevocably stained the reputation of this project with the Acceptable Ads programme. As for how I use it: I use ABP on my work laptop's browsers (Firefox and Edge) and it does the job.
Pros:
1. Long history as robust, well-tested, well-maintained open-source software.
2. Default filter lists block advertisements, though not other forms of online tracking (see "Tangent" section of this review for why I think this is a pro.
3. Simpler content blocking rules mean that it's less liable to break stuff than a more robust content blocker.
Cons:
1. "Acceptable advertisements" are enabled by default. This fact becomes much more revolting when you keep in mind that Eyeo GmbH (the company that owns ABP) literally charges advertisers a hefty fee to be on the "acceptable ads" list, and that advertising networks who pay into the acceptable ads programme don't always adhere to the guidelines that Eyeo GmbH sets. You CAN opt out, and I encourage you to do so. This is a huge black mark on the reputation of a still-useful and beloved open-source application.
Neutral/Your Mileage May Vary
1. In enterprise/business situations, AdBlock Plus may very well be the *only* ad blocker your IT team recommends.
2. Relatively limited selection of filter lists. You're basically limited to the standard ABP filters, EasyList, EasyPrivacy, I Don't Care About Cookies, and the foreign language EasyList filters. Third party filter lists used to be commonplace, but a lot of them use UBO syntax as opposed to ABP syntax nowadays.
Tangent: ABP and Privacy
→ I would like to point out that almost every major browser from Firefox, to Safari, to Edge, to Brave, to Vivaldi, among countless others, all have *some* form of built-in privacy protection. They all use the same list of known trackers provided by the Disconnect team. Here's a rather shocking revelation: you DO NOT need to use tons of filter lists with ANY ad blocker when the browser you're using already has robust tracking protection built in by this point. ABP on default settings, acceptable ads turned off, and Firefox ETP settings set to "strict" will have you pretty well-protected from both targeted advertisements AND surveillance capitalism more generally. Anything else you do beyond that is subject to diminishing returns.
I give it three stars because it's a functional product that does exactly what it says on the tin and nothing more. It's not perfect, but it does not need to be. I would've given it four stars had Eyeo GmbH not irrevocably stained the reputation of this project with the Acceptable Ads programme. As for how I use it: I use ABP on my work laptop's browsers (Firefox and Edge) and it does the job.
11,317 reviews
- Rated 5 out of 5by Umberto G, 3 days ago
- Rated 1 out of 5by Jason Hunter, 5 days agoLiterally has it's own popup when updating and saying how many ads it blocked.
I don't care. This defeats the purpose. TrashDeveloper response
posted 4 days agoFor non-Premium users, our payment page displays when we update the extension to keep you informed on changes we've made and as a reminder to consider upgrading to Premium. There is no obligation to upgrade and you can dismiss the page by clicking the "x" on the browser tab. The payment page should only appear once every two weeks. If you are seeing the page more frequent than that, please submit a support request and we'll be happy to assist you: https://help.adblockplus.org/hc/en-us/requests/new. - Rated 4 out of 5by Firefox user 16928178, 7 days ago
- Rated 5 out of 5by mrussell515, 9 days agoI recommend this to my friends who complain about all the ads on their feed. If only it worked on those YouTube ads about 'stuck poop.'
Developer response
posted 4 days agoWe're aware that YouTube has been intermittently testing strategies to show either ads or their anti-adblocking wall. However, in some cases we've found that your settings might have changed which is why ads are suddenly appearing. Please try the steps in this article: https://help.adblockplus.org/hc/en-us/articles/26653087560595-Ads-appearing-on-YouTube. If those steps don't help, please submit a support request and we'll be happy to assist you: https://help.adblockplus.org/hc/en-us/requests/new. - Rated 4 out of 5by kazze, 10 days agoIt's a very good extension, but somehow YouTube is now capable of turning it off automatically
Developer response
posted 4 days agoWe are using a new strategy to handle YouTube's anti-ad blocking warning. When we detect YouTube's notification, we will automatically pause Adblock Plus so you can continue watching without disruption. The pause is temporary so if you leave YouTube and return later, it will remain unpaused until the warning is detected again. We believe YouTube will only attempt to show you the wall for a day or two and then we can go back to blocking ads as normal. - Rated 5 out of 5by Firefox user 13372558, 10 days agoOther ad blockers break pages, but this one, with a little tweaking, gives me a clean ad-free page.
- Rated 1 out of 5by karabas, 10 days agoThe worst of the ad blocks. They do let ads trough if they are paid money.
uBlock is worlds better, never seen a single ad anywhere.Developer response
posted 4 days agoHi,
You are probably referring to our Acceptable Ads program.
In this program, websites are permited to show certain ads on the page. However, those ads have to be produced according to a series of criterias (ie. not animated, non-intrusive, cannot block content, etc). Websites have to apply join the program and are judged by a committee. This ensures that all pages follow the criteria established.
User can chose to opt-out from seeing Acceptable Ads at any time in their ABP settings. - Rated 5 out of 5by Firefox user 19238915, 11 days ago
Developer response
posted 4 days agoYou shouldn't be seeing ads, regardless if you pay for Premium or not. If you are suddenly seeing ads, please try the steps in this article: https://help.adblockplus.org/hc/en-us/articles/23213105628691-What-to-do-if-you-are-seeing-ads. If those steps don't help, please use the link in the article to reach out to us and we'll be happy to continue assisting you.- Rated 2 out of 5by Firefox user 19234303, 13 days agoBlocks ads, but opens a new tab with a full page ad for itself every update. If it stopped doing that, I'd rate 5/5
Developer response
posted 4 days agoFor non-Premium users, our payment page displays when we update the extension to keep you informed on changes we've made and as a reminder to consider upgrading to Premium. There is no obligation to upgrade and you can dismiss the page by clicking the "x" on the browser tab. The payment page should only appear once every two weeks. If you are seeing the page more frequent than that, please submit a support request and we'll be happy to assist you: https://help.adblockplus.org/hc/en-us/requests/new. - Rated 5 out of 5by Matthew50, 13 days ago
- Rated 5 out of 5by jessy, 15 days ago
- Rated 5 out of 5by Firefox user 19206965, 16 days ago
- Rated 1 out of 5by Firefox user 19208277, 19 days ago
- Rated 5 out of 5by Pihabet, 19 days agozuverlässiges Add-On. Ich nutze Adblock Plus auf allen meinen Rechnern schon seit vielen, wirklich vielen Jahren. Der Nutzen ist groß und Probleme hat es noch nie gegeben.
Ein kleiner Tipp an alle, die mit ihren AddOn's, Programmen oder was auch immer Probleme haben. Was ich als ehemaliger IT-Fachmann festgestellt habe ist, das oftmals das Problem am eigenen Rechner zu suchen ist (eigentlich fast immer). Das sehen die meisten Anwender aber nicht ein und wählen den bequemen Weg die Schuld oder das Problem auf andere zu schieben. Allein schon an der Menge der 4 und 5 Sterne Bewertungen lässt sich feststellen, dass das Programm (AddOn) problemlos läuft. Die Programmierer können nicht auf fehlerhafte Systemeinstellungen bei den Anwendern eingehen, sie müssen sich an Standards halten. Also, immer zuerst an die eigene Nase fassen.Developer response
posted 4 days agoThank you so much for your awesome review, glad to know you have been enjoying ABP! :) - Rated 5 out of 5by Firefox user 14966371, 23 days agoMe encanta, pero últimamente falla un poco con you tube y algunas paginas de anime.
- Rated 5 out of 5by Hama, 24 days ago
- Rated 5 out of 5by Guy, a month agoAmazing ad blocker! Most importantly, it catches up with YouTube's ongoing attempts to ban ad blockers. Highly recommended!
- Rated 5 out of 5by Firefox user 19170482, a month ago
- Rated 5 out of 5by Firefox user 13547717, a month ago
- Rated 4 out of 5by Firefox user 12797451, a month ago
- Rated 1 out of 5by Firefox user 19145735, a month ago