Adblock Plus and (a little) more
Adblock Plus 1.12.2 for Chrome, Opera and Safari released · 2016-08-23 17:51 by Dave Vandyke
Install Adblock Plus 1.12.2 for Chrome
Install Adblock Plus 1.12.2 for Opera
Install Adblock Plus 1.12.2 for Safari (Safari 6 or higher required)
This is a minor release, focused on stability and preventing circumvention.
Changes
- Prevent websites from abusing WebSockets to serve adverts (issue 1727).
Chrome/Opera-only changes
- Improved Element Hiding protections against circumvention (issue 4191, 4298).
- Fixed a bug that caused content in anonymous frames to be blocked even when the parent frame was whitelisted (issue 4150).
- Worked around an issue with MutationObservers which caused older versions of Chrome and Opera to hang for some websites (issue 4101).
- Added more versions of our icons that look sharper with the new Material Design (issue 4218).
- Removed an outdated workaround that caused some whitelisted elements to be hidden in anonymous frames (issue 4210).
Safari-only changes
- Fixed a bug that caused the options page to be sometimes opened multiple times when the experimental Content Blocking feature was enabled (issue 4199).
- Improved the conversion from Adblock Plus filters to Content Blocking rules for the experimental Content Blocking feature, making sure to block/whitelist all subdomains for filters starting with
||(issue 4326). - Fixed a typo that broke key-based whitelisting (issue 4300).
Ping pong with Facebook · 2016-08-18 15:00 by Ben Williams
or: Why I learned to stop worrying and love the open source community
After Facebook began its attempt to force users to see ads, a series of volleys with the open source community commenced, demonstrating the ingenuity and cohesiveness of not only that community but also other ad blockers, the comments section (!), our forum, other forums and even academics. Here’s to all of you! No ad blocker could function without you. You rule.
Trampling on users’ free will is not sustainable -- even if you're Facebook · 2016-08-12 18:32 by Ben Williams
They call this thing a cat-and-mouse game for a reason. Since we wrote yesterday there have been several workarounds, followed by “re-circumventions” that only brought more workarounds. But the tech tug-of-war is not the point. What’s important is that going against the will of the people is wholly unsustainable.
FB reblock: ad-blocking community finds workaround to Facebook · 2016-08-11 16:54 by Ben Williams
A few days ago Facebook decided to force users to view their ads, even if those users employed an ad blocker. Well, it’s taken about 48 hours but the open source community that supports all ad blockers has already found a solution. You’ll just need to update your filters (see how here) to return the largest social network to an ad-free place.
Oh well, looks like Facebook just got all anti-user · 2016-08-09 17:52 by Ben Williams
Facebook announced today that it would start attempting to show ads to ad-blocking users who visit its desktop site. This is unfortunate, but it’s nothing new: they join a long list of “circumventionists” in an arms race against the open source community fueling ABP and other ad blockers.
Element Hiding Helper 1.3.9 for Adblock Plus released · 2016-08-02 14:18 by Wladimir Palant
Install Element Hiding Helper 1.3.9 for Adblock Plus
This is a minor update, fixing the position of the icon in the Inspector panel for Firefox 48 and above (issue 4255), as well as improving its quality on high-resolution screens (issue 4256).
Finally! Adblock Plus for Microsoft Edge now available for 350 million Windows 10 users · 2016-08-02 14:00 by Oleksandr Paraska
Today, Microsoft is releasing the big Anniversary Update to Windows 10. Among other changes to the operating system, this brings support for extensions to Microsoft Edge. Which means that people running Windows 10 can install Adblock Plus for Microsoft Edge, and start blocking annoying advertisements in Microsoft’s new standard browser.
The lonely bully: China issues edict to ban ad blockers · 2016-07-20 14:00 by Ben Williams
Just last week China issued its Internet Advertising Interim Rules, essentially a list of prescriptions for online ads that included Article 16, which stipulates that ad blockers will be banned from September 1. This is troubling news for Chinese users, many of whom block ads on their mobile phones, but it’s even more concerning for the door of online oppression it leaves open.
Resolving the ad blocking 'dilemma' – new research from HubSpot shows how · 2016-07-13 14:01 by Ben Williams
HubSpot Research conducted a global survey on ad blocking. Now, before you dismiss it and go back to hunting down corpses in rivers on Pokémon Go, bear in mind that we got to add some questions this time that produced results which delve into places other studies don’t go. While it doesn’t reveal any waterlogged bodies we did stumble on some solutions for advertisers’ “ad blocker issue.”
The full study is available here, a slideshare’s here.
BIG Flattr Plus update · 2016-07-07 17:05 by Ben Williams
“BIG” as in long … we take a deep dive into the status our Flattr Plus project: what we’ve accomplished since we announced it in May, what we need to improve on and where the project is heading. If you’re interested in getting the beta this fall before anyone else, sign up here.