Adblock Plus and (a little) more

Consumers again declare independence from relentless Facebook ads · 2017-09-26 17:55 by Ben Williams

You will need to update your filter lists for this to have an immediate effect. Please click here for instructions.

Death, taxes, and Facebook serving ads to users who don’t want them … these are three things we can all agree on. With 2 billion users inside a closed community, Facebook is a true giant. And because it is closed, we admit that they can do anything they want inside that community, including serve ads.

However, user feedback to Facebook and to ad blockers like us, led us to concur that Facebook users still don’t want to see ads that they haven’t asked to see. This is why both we and our user community have been busy working on a more lasting fix to let ad blockers do what they do.

Again, full disclosure here: we’re outfoxing Facebook’s latest attempt to hide the ads on their site so ad blockers can’t block them. We’re reasonably sure that Facebook’s IT army will eventually outfox our outfoxing. Just like death and paying taxes, Facebook will continue the cat-and-mouse game, ushering in a fix that will stop ad blockers.

The difference this time around, versus the back and forth our community shared with Facebook last fall, is that due to our community’s hard work, we’ll be able to respond more quickly to Facebook’s next anti-block volley.

It’s technical

For the techies out there, the basis for our blocking of Facebook ads depends on a new “has” filter, which allows ABP (right now just for Chrome and Opera) to look inside elements (read: FB posts), picking out telltale signs that a particular element is an ad, then blocking it based upon said element.

Usually, ABP and other blockers look into particular web elements at the top, or “parent” level; and most ads on the open web are marked with obvious signals in that top element that show they’re an ad. However, remember how we said Facebook is closed? Well, that allows for lots of obfuscation. And after our dust-up last year, they moved all ad signals below the “parent” level. The difference that the “has” filter makes is that it allows the blocker to peep under the top at the “sub-elements” below it. Of course, ad filters had to be written that correspond to the blocker’s new ability. And the open source community wrote them.

Bottom Line

We can almost promise our users that Facebook will be back with a fix to our fix. Still, we felt like it was important to notify you that the fix is there and let you know that Facebook’s offensive against the open source community, including all content-blocker producers, is ongoing. Again, they can do whatever they want because … Facebook is not like other sites on the open web. Think of it as a private country club and (most) of the rest of the web as a public park.

We won’t plaster this blog space with constant updates about fixing Facebook’s fixes, or provide a blow-by-blow account as it progresses. But, we, along with our millions of open source users in the community, will keep on sluggin away, no matter how many rounds we go.

Maybe someday we’ll stop dancing. Maybe not. The good news is that the ultimate eventuality here is Facebook moving to make ads indistinguishable from content. And it’s not likely they’ll go that far.

Instructions for updating your filter lists

In Chrome and Opera the process is basically identical:

1. Click on the Adblock Plus stop sign, then on Options.

2. Click the Update now button.

All done!

Comment [9]

L.A. Stokell · 2017-09-27 02:50 · #

I have AdBlock Plus, how do I get it to Block Ads on Facebook?

BTW i’M LEGALLY BLIND and it’s really difficult for me to read this post.

L.A. Stokell

Hello L A Stokell,

This email confirms that you have donated $10.00 USD to eyeo GmbH (till@adblockplus.org ) using PayPal.
The exchange rate for this purchase is 1 Canadian Dollar = 0.707213 U.S. Dollars.
This credit card transaction will appear on your bill as “PAYPAL *ABP”.

Donation Details
Confirmation number: 0ES231337G568312L
flyweb · 2017-09-27 14:44 · #

Why not create a separate “FB ads filter list” enabled by default in Adblock Plus and set the update interval to 1 hour instead of manually updating?

Thank you.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Hey! Thanks for the suggestion. We actually don’t control the block lists, and in this case the folks who do control EasyList apparently prefer to keep all ad-blocking filters under the base EasyList(s). As for update regularity, it’s now at 48 hours; we asked people to update just so they would get the change immediately.
adrian · 2017-09-27 16:56 · #

FINALLY.
Phil · 2017-09-28 04:11 · #

I don’t get it. The Facebook list does not show up on my Chrome browser when I update. I updated the browser and reloaded but it still isn’t there.

I only have
Enabled Adblock Warning Removal List Last updated at 9:09:14 PM today × Enabled EasyList Last updated at 9:09:15 PM today × Enabled EasyList Dutch+EasyList Last updated at 9:09:15 PM today
The Facebook list is not in my list of other lists either.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Hey Phil,
Don’t worry, you weren’t thee only one confused here! There’s actually not a separate list; rather, the new filters have been added to EasyList. So long as that’s updated — as it appears to be on your side — you’re good.
NoFB · 2017-09-28 18:11 · #

From where i can subscribe to Facebook Privacy List?

Reply from Ben Williams:

No need to subscribe. The new blocking filters have been added to the base blocking list (EasyList). So yer good!
tina · 2017-09-29 15:23 · #

love

Reply from Ben Williams:

Love ye back!
adrian · 2017-10-06 08:37 · #

Not working. :/

Reply from Ben Williams:

Hmm, still is for me.

Can you let me know some details, including your browser type and version, plus send some screenshots? support@adblockplus.org
Staffing · 2017-10-16 22:41 · #

I use AdBlock and it works great……
Gyan · 2017-10-16 22:42 · #

Your software is wonderful on my system……

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