Adblock Plus and (a little) more

FB reblock: ad-blocking community finds workaround to Facebook · 2016-08-11 16:54 by Ben Williams

Well, that was fast.

Two days ago we broke it to you that Facebook had taken “the dark path,” and decided to start forcing ad-blocking users to see ads on its desktop site. We promised that the open source community would have a solution very soon, and, frankly, they’ve beaten even our own expectations. A new filter was added to the main EasyList about 15 minutes ago. You’ll just need to update your filter lists (see below for how).

If you want to manually add the filter, here is the code you need:

facebook.com##DIV[id^="substream_"] ._5jmm[data-dedupekey][data-cursor][data-xt][data-xt-vimpr="1"][data-ftr="1"][data-fte="1"]

As many of you know, the filter lists that “tell” Adblock Plus what to block are in fact the product of a global community of web citizens. This time that community seems to have gotten the better of even a giant like Facebook.

So apparently, you don’t want no problems with the ad-blocking community … (Just kidding, Big Z … please don’t destroy me with your blue and white drones).

What you need to do to start re-blocking ads on Facebook

Update your filter lists now. If you don’t know how to do that, here is a tutorial. That’s it. Now just go to Facebook on your desktop, and things should go back to normal.

… or just wait for a day or so, then the filter list will be updated automatically.

Either way, you’ll be back to this soon:

This is still a cat-and-mouse game

Facebook might “re-circumvent” at any time. As we wrote in the previous post, this sort of back-and-forth battle between the open source ad-blocking community and circumventers has been going on since ad blocking was invented; so it’s very possible that Facebook will write some code that will render the filter useless — at any time. If that happens, the ad-blocking community will likely find another workaround, then Facebook might circumvent again, etc.

Also, you should be aware that this filter has not been heavily tested, so if you think it’s blocking more/less than it should let us/EasyList know.

But for this round of the cat-and-mouse contest, looks like the mouse won.

Comment [152]

panda · 2016-08-11 18:09 · #

THANK YOU !

Reply from Ben Williams:

Thank you!
Thomas Lindén · 2016-08-11 18:26 · #

Thanks for making it possible to enjoy Internet. I find it totally unbearable without AdBlock. Thats why I donated when I installed AdBlock several years ago.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Thanks for the donation!
Derika · 2016-08-11 19:21 · #

You guys ROCK! Thanks for all you do.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Appreciate the support!
Sean Hollister · 2016-08-11 19:24 · #

Hey Ben, a Facebook rep says that this new workaround also blocks Pages and posts from friends. Can you confirm and/or comment?

sean.hollister@cbsinteractive.com

-Sean

Reply from Ben Williams:

Hey Sean,
Just reiterating what I wrote in my email … but it isn’t doing that on our end; and if they are identifying content as ads that’s an issue for them to deal with.
KHAN JAN · 2016-08-11 19:38 · #

Thank You ……..
Carmen · 2016-08-11 19:59 · #

Thank you ! You saved me ! <3
x-men · 2016-08-11 20:22 · #

Thanks for your contribution in the removing of free Internet!!

Lets hope that in 5-7 years AdSense will be over and, with it, 90% of blogs and websites. The next step will be start paying for the use of Facebook and the few services that could survive.

In the process, you will be rich because of the creation of this useful plugin, but you deserve it!

Reply from Ben Williams:

Rad! Your enthusiasm is infectious!
Roshan Eranga Jayarathna · 2016-08-11 21:02 · #

Thanks a lot for your amazing work guys. This is not exactly related to this post guys. But can you please do something to that “forcing users to disable ad-block to view site” .
and thanks again for this great product.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Hey Roshan,
Thanks for the support! Sometimes the open source community can work against circumvention, but in all-out blockades like you refer to, sometimes there is nothing to do … except for stop going to the site ;)
juanj · 2016-08-11 22:01 · #

oh i have noticed that bug, and yes, i though it was facebook might be broking some rule in adblockplus so thank you adblock plus community for this awesome app, i don’t like ads, so i use adblock plus since you has created it. greetings from Venezuela, using GnuLinux here

Reply from Ben Williams:

Greetings from Cologne!
john · 2016-08-11 22:04 · #

Thank you..Keep up the good,,,no,,,GREAT work…
JB · 2016-08-11 22:27 · #

Nice work – however…AdBlock still allows ads to pass. Demand sources just have to pay them for it…. basically like the mafia. Pretending to be user friendly… LOL.

Reply from Ben Williams:

It’s not impossible to be user friendly and make money. And, no, there is absolutely no way to bypass the criteria with cash.
algodiscreto · 2016-08-11 22:35 · #

Thanks for the superb and fast response. FB ads free!!!!
DC · 2016-08-11 23:15 · #

The filter worked perfectly for a while, but now I’m seeing ads again.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Update your filters again. They “re-circumvented” and there was a re-workaround to that :)
Frank Nostro · 2016-08-11 23:44 · #

When I started seeing ads again I just added this to my custom filters:

facebook.com##div[data-xt-vimpr=“1”]

which seems to have done the trick
Robert Greer · 2016-08-12 00:34 · #

I’d like somehow to have a way to avoid the lead in headlines from the likes of Motly Fool, WSJ, Fortune, LA Times, etc that only lead you to a sales pitch. and “sponsored” stuff I see all the time on Yahoo Finance.

Reply from Ben Williams:

AFAIK there’s no filter for that yet :)
Kaat · 2016-08-12 00:52 · #

Thanks for this
Thomas Huynh · 2016-08-12 00:58 · #

Hi Ben,

Did you see Facebook’s response? With no proof, they blamed ABP for also blocking posts of people’s family and friends. Lol! Sounds to me like a desperate attempt to blame someone else for their own dirty work. Nobody adds the ABP extension forcibly, unlike Facebook’s forcing their users to endure their annoying ads. This logic is lost at Facebook. Incredible they forgot why MySpace was so annoying and why people left it in droves not too long ago. Keep up the great work, sir! Sincerely, Thomas

Reply from Ben Williams:

Appreciate the thoughts, Thomas. I did see that response from FB, to which I can only say that I cannot reproduce it. And if they are packing non-ad content with ads in their code they’ve got bigger problems anyway :)
RZ · 2016-08-12 02:01 · #

I had stopped using Facebook for the past 24~48 hours since they started forcing ads — ended up getting a lot more work done.

Regardless, thanks for fighting the good fight. Adblock Plus makes the web easier to use, and safer too.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Thanks!
Canuckguy · 2016-08-12 02:37 · #

Excellent. No more Dating ads.
Amanda · 2016-08-12 03:17 · #

Thankyou for your efforts. I will still be giving facebook a miss for a while because their actions, this time, have left a particularly nasty taste behind. I’ll miss my friends and family so may return when the dust settles. Reluctantly. I expect to be writing on my own blog more often (it’s sad how much damage they’ve done to the blogs and forums). The upside is I’m getting a lot more done AND I found your blog. Thanks again.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Appreciate the thoughts, Amanda. Second person in three comments to say they’re getting more done sans FB. Maybe I should hit the eject button too.
joe · 2016-08-12 03:17 · #

working on a track script that uses server side language (not JS) so third party websites that access to a programming language can be tracked without anyone know and if they wish they can block VPNS with the partner of blocked coming soon!

Reply from Ben Williams:

Sounds cool, let us know!
Frank Lee · 2016-08-12 03:31 · #

I am so grateful that I can now use FB without any ads! Sure, that’s how FB pays for the service, and yeah, they don’t have a history of any dangerous ads or anything like that.

But my friends and I are total cheapskates! We’d never actually pay for FB, but hey, it’s our right to use it! So screw them and their ads, and ABP, thank you for keeping the internet free! Let the FB engineers eat cake ha ha ha ha! Screw FB for being anti-user. We users deserve everything for free!

P.S. Inspired by ABP, I snuck into the performance of a neighborhood guitarist. She kinda sucks, so no way was I gonna pay for the ticket, but I wanted to see the show anyway, and it’s not like I would have paid anyway, right? And there was an empty seat anyway. HA! Didn’t cost her anything for me being there so it’s not like I should have paid in the first place!

Reply from Ben Williams:

‘Thank to you as well, Frank!
JPV · 2016-08-12 03:36 · #

Well, Facebook has already updated their code to bypass this block.

Reply from Ben Williams:

There’s a filter update to that update already. Just … update your filters :)
Pankaj yaduvanshi · 2016-08-12 03:36 · #

Lover boys
mahesh gurjar · 2016-08-12 03:52 · #

kai haill h janu
Peter Gaseoustania · 2016-08-12 03:52 · #

FB has already found a circumvent to this solution. Looks like the war continues…

Reply from Ben Williams:

There’s a workaround to that. Just update your filters.
Andrew · 2016-08-12 04:08 · #

So, here’s a riddle for your coders to solve. Supposing all adverts in the entire world are successfully blocked, then how will adblocker advertise itself. Come on smart arses, nothing is for free in this world, if there are no ads, then no one is making an income so that we all end up subscribing to websites or the internet simply atrophies. I don’t think FB’s ads are too much, 25% of all TV time is adverts, just ignore them.

Reply from Ben Williams:

We’ve actually got a compromise: https://adblockplus.org/acceptable-ads You can leave it on, or turn it off to block all ads. Up to you.

But if you’re not bothered by ads, I guess the easiest solution is just not to download an ad blocker.
JPV · 2016-08-12 05:14 · #

I have a riddle for you Andrew.

In 2015 Facebook reportedly made $17.93 billion in revenues, even with millions of users blocking ads.

When is enough, enough?
NoPostmodernism · 2016-08-12 05:17 · #

There is more to life than then bearing the brunt of “what the free-market will bear.”

If Facebook had any intelligence, they would work with academia to determine the ‘golden balance’ between content and ads – including how invasive they can be.

Or, as GREGG EMMER here so correctly points out….
Bruce Lee · 2016-08-12 05:55 · #

Hi ABP community,

EHH allows you to create your own hiding hilters.

Writing Adblock Plus filters https://adblockplus.org/filters
Adblock Plus filters explained https://adblockplus.org/filter-cheatsheet

Reply from Ben Williams:

Thanks for sharing the tips, Bruce.
grr argh · 2016-08-12 05:59 · #

i updated it and manually added the filter and i still have ads on my facebook page so unless they updated it in the last few hours which i doubt you “solution” doesn’t work at all

Reply from Ben Williams:

They did update. But there’s an update to their update. Just, uh, update your filters again. They should be blocked.

PS, no reason to update and add the filter manually.
chani · 2016-08-12 06:03 · #

Thanks for working on this. 2 out of 3 browsers won’t work with the total adverts FB puts out. On a game page alone there are 6-10 ads, including up to 3 of those playing videos. Without ABP, I can’t do anything due to this. Certain adverts will even give popup warnings and lockup the browser when FB tries to switch ads. Thank goodnes for ABP saving me from this.
kirbdee · 2016-08-12 06:45 · #

Fixed with this filter

facebook.com##DIV[id^=“substream_”] ._5jmm[data-dedupekey][data-cursor][data-xt-vimpr=“1”][data-ftr=“1”][data-fte=“1”]

I also made a snippet the JS way. not sure how ABP deals with custom JS scripting though..
But... · 2016-08-12 06:56 · #

but arnt we the cat trying to get rid of the mouse?

Reply from Ben Williams:

Have it your way :) Metaphors aren’t laws.
Niobe S · 2016-08-12 07:34 · #

Thank you, guys!!
Yogesh · 2016-08-12 08:41 · #

Great work guys. thumbs up
Hoopa · 2016-08-12 10:19 · #

I am using Opera’s built-in version of AdblockPlus.
This code seems to work when imported.

If anyone could steer me to filters that get rid of all the other facebook annoyances that I can use with Opera’s built-in AdblockPlus, please let me know!
(Fanboy’s filter does not work. It imports with no errors, but does nothing.)

Reply from Ben Williams:

So this doesn’t work for you?

Weird. Please send a detailed message to support@adblockplus.org.
deepak · 2016-08-12 10:51 · #

Meri fb fir se chalu kardi je mujhse agar galti hui ho to mafi chahta hu sorry aall friends
Janmejai · 2016-08-12 11:16 · #

Thank you, guys!
JC · 2016-08-12 11:25 · #

I deleted Facebook months ago. Others should do the same. Its useless. Causes more problems than it fixes. I don’t need to know every move that you make, nor do you need to know mine.

Maybe one day people will wake up.
Neeraj Kumar · 2016-08-12 11:52 · #

Neeraj kumar
Zuabir · 2016-08-12 12:00 · #

Well Done!
Thank you for supporting the new ad-free web.
pmk · 2016-08-12 12:46 · #

Excellent work adblock guys, don’t give up, Facebook is so arrogant they believe they can impose this on users on principle, I say fuck them, let’s show them they don’t own the internet and we can live without their bullshit site

Reply from Ben Williams:

Thanks for the support!
SAM · 2016-08-12 13:45 · #

This workaround doesn’t work anymore, guys.

Reply from Ben Williams:

There’s a new one. Try updating your filters. Working for me …
FujiToday · 2016-08-12 14:12 · #

Help.

I’ve downloaded EasyList filter but still can’t block that FB ad type.

I’m using AdGuard, not ABP.

Reply from Ben Williams:

The filter has been updated.
sevenkul · 2016-08-12 14:13 · #

I changed the class name from _5jmm to _5g-l. Now it works again:

facebook.com##DIV[id^=“substream_”] ._5g-l[data-dedupekey][data-cursor][data-xt][data-xt-vimpr=“1”][data-ftr=“1”][data-fte=“1”]
sevenkul · 2016-08-12 14:26 · #

Sorry, I shared a wrong filter just above.
Thomas Huynh · 2016-08-12 14:42 · #

Just made a donation to ABP. Keep up the great work, Ben and the ABP team! Sincerely, Thomas

Reply from Ben Williams:

Thanks, Thomas!
Flashfox · 2016-08-12 15:28 · #

I too hate the forced ads but nevertheless we need to remember that Facebook is offered for free. If every user blocked all ads then the only way they can survive is to charge us … And we won’t pay.

I am also curious for someone to explain to me how you would be able to offer such a huge network without any source of revenue?

Seems like we want this for free …

Reply from Ben Williams:

Hey Flashfox,
Thanks for the comment. You can always whitelist Facebook if you want to support them. Regarding our source of revenue, it’s mainly through the Acceptable Ads program: ALL sites who take part have to meet the same criteria but the biggest ones (about 10 percent of the total) pay for a service/licensing fee for the extra work required. See more here: https://adblockplus.org/en/about#monetization
StanislausBabalistic · 2016-08-12 15:36 · #

Looks like they’ve updated their ads again, as of 0933 EST.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Yup, you’re right. I’ll update if/when there’s another workaround.
Derek · 2016-08-12 15:41 · #

Thanks for the great adblocker. Looks like this arms race continues, however.

As of 08/12/2016 09:45AM EST the ads are back.
James Edward Lewis II · 2016-08-12 16:26 · #

kirbdee (#30), ABP and similar extensions do not support UserScripts (custom snippets of JS); however, GreaseMonkey, TamperMonkey, and ViolentMonkey do, and a project by Reek called Anti-Adblock Killer even uses a UserScript to work around anti-adblock mechanisms in ways that ABP-style filter-lists cannot.
Roland Németh · 2016-08-12 16:26 · #

Sadly this does not work for me, you can see screenshot here.

I added the line as above to my own filters, and also updated the filter lists.

Can it be, that this is language dependant?

Screenshot:
http://oi67.tinypic.com/2ic2qv6.jpg

Reply from Ben Williams:

Facebook “re-circumvented.” Hopefully another fix will come soon.
David · 2016-08-12 16:28 · #

That was short lived… Saw increasingly more ad on my news feed. >.<

Already updated this morning and still doesn’t work. :( Was it in Easylist that you updated this morning, right?

Reply from Ben Williams:

Yeah, they circumvented again. Then a workaround to that circumvention was found and then they circumvented yet again. Phew … I’m hopeful there’ll be a fix soon.
Thomas Huynh · 2016-08-12 17:20 · #

Facebook behind closed doors: “How dare our users install ad blockers! They must see these ads they are clearly telling us they don’t want to see!”

Facebook in public: “We want our users to have a choice to see our annoying ads. This evil ABP, an extension our users chose to add, prevent them from doing so. We know what’s best for our advertisers, uh, we mean users.”
Andy · 2016-08-12 17:33 · #

Thanks for your efforts. looks like a daily game of cat and mouse for now haha.

In the meanwhile that the blocker has been circumvented by facebook I have been adding all the sponsored pages to my block list, I know I cant possibly block them all but it gives me something to do when bored lol.
Soylent · 2016-08-12 18:09 · #

Sadly I’m still seeing “suggested posts” on my facebook feed with all my abp subscriptions updated q.q

Reply from Ben Williams:

They found another way to circumvent. I’m confident there will be a solution soon though.
Siegfried Filla · 2016-08-12 18:20 · #

Well done. It’s an amazing tool and absolutely necessary. Keep cool and stay on track!
Greg · 2016-08-12 18:23 · #

In addition to ABP, I’m now also using a Greasemonkey add-on as well (just Google it, some Facebook corporate sniffers might be reading this). So far it’s working great in tandem for me whenever one or the other is circumvented..
Karl · 2016-08-12 18:34 · #

The ads seem to be on the timeline now..

Reply from Ben Williams:

They’ve “re-circumvented.” Sit tight, I think the open source community will find a workaround soon.
Frank Nostro · 2016-08-12 18:42 · #

As far as I can tell they removed everything that differentiates an “ad” from a “feed story”, specifically a span tag with the words “Suggested Post”

Is there a way to block parent elements based on child element content?

Reply from Ben Williams:

Not now, but there will be.
Frank Starling · 2016-08-12 19:29 · #

Facebook is the mouse. Ie, if ABP left Facebook alone, Facebook would do nothing to ABP.

Not saying who’s wrong or who’s right, but Facebook is definitely the mouse in this game.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Fair enough, Frank, you call the shots :)
Mal · 2016-08-12 20:02 · #

Just installed it, made no difference so I guess facebook has the upper hand.

Reply from Ben Williams:

For now … Hang tight, it is indeed a cat-and-mouse game.
Tiberiu · 2016-08-12 20:08 · #

The suggested filter worked in the morning and now it doesn’t anymore.

I’ve opted for a javascript-running Chrome extension and the following code. The “DOMNodeInserted” event is said to be deprecated but it worked for me on Chrome 52 and by relying on jQuery 1.11.

You can target elements which have “Sponsored Post” as inner html (or whatever Facebook shows in your language) but for improved performance I found that targeting “div[role=“article”] > div > div > span” is sufficient for now:

jQuery(document).ready(function($){ $(‘body’).on(‘DOMNodeInserted’, ‘span’, function() { $(‘div[role=“article”] > div > div > span’).each(function() { $(this).closest(‘div[role=“article”]’).remove(); }); }); });

Reply from Ben Williams:

Thanks for that. Yeah, since you originally wrote they circumvented again. Confident a solution will come before too long.
Thomas Huynh · 2016-08-12 20:16 · #

Ben,

The fact that Facebook is willing to play this game, committing their resources, risking alienating their userbase to bypass ABP means you’re on to something! You are hitting this billion-dollar company where they hurt. Keep at it!

Thomas

Reply from Ben Williams:

Appreciate the support!
alaska anwar · 2016-08-12 20:53 · #

this e mail is block her/
tommyr · 2016-08-12 21:05 · #

Bravo to Adblock plus! Even though I’m not on that POS Facebook I applaud your work! THANK YOU!

Reply from Ben Williams:

Appreciate your support!
Alex · 2016-08-12 22:33 · #

Ok, it seems now they serve some ads as “Suggested posts”. Could that any way flagged as illegal? Shouldn’t it say “Advertisement/Sponsored” clearly? I am sure there are some laws in EU about this.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Hey Alex, don’t think it’s illegal, just bad web practices.
Wild Horse Fantasy · 2016-08-13 02:39 · #

:( Not working for me. I’m seeing LOTS of suggested/recommended posts AND sponsored.
And they aren’t very good at choosing recommended either!

Reply from Ben Williams:

Yup, they unfortunately found a workaround in the meantime. I’m confident a fix is coming very soon though!
TigerGrl · 2016-08-13 03:04 · #

I followed your info about updating the extension about 2 hours ago, but FB already overrode it. I swear MySpace was the way to go lol. Thanks for all you guys do, and your super fast fixes( and idiot instructions on how to install patches for people like me)

Reply from Ben Williams:

MySpace 4-eva! Yup, they circumvented again I’m afraid. Hoping a fix comes soon!
Jeff · 2016-08-13 03:07 · #

Is there a filter to block those stupid “Suggested Post” I absolutely hate them and sadly this filter doesn’t do the trick..

Reply from Ben Williams:

Hey,
In the meantime FB has overridden the workaround, but hopefully there will be a solution soon that will block it all again.
Lucas S.N · 2016-08-13 03:13 · #

Gosh, how I hate those ads. I’m seeing a lot of ads too, and none of the solutions provided here worked for me. Waiting for update.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Don’t think you’ll be waiting long …
Dan · 2016-08-13 03:13 · #

I just entered the code and I don’t see anymore ads on the right side of the screen, but I still see “Sponsored” ads as I’m scrolling through my feed. What gives?
Testicles · 2016-08-13 04:05 · #

Filter worked last night, then the update worked this morning. Now back to sponsored and suggested posts. I’ve been blocking the pages and shitposting in the comments.

Waiting for another update. In the mean time, rise up and let them know what you think of their products. If they want to me to see ads, they can go ahead and see my dicks and hitlers.
steven mckinley · 2016-08-13 05:41 · #

tons and tons of suggested pages of shit i would never even consider. i thought they knew me better. oh , thats a relief
Tirumal R Jallepalli · 2016-08-13 07:00 · #

Hi, whatever happened to FB’s campaign of “giving away” internet, albeit making some sites? pay more for providing FB’s “services?”
Kevin · 2016-08-13 07:04 · #

So how does one add that code? I don’t see an option that allows for that.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Actually, that was probably a bit confusing. There’s no reason to add the code, filters update automatically.
Kevin · 2016-08-13 07:12 · #

Never mind. I figured out where to paste it. It hasn’t made a difference, but I know something now I didn’t before.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Since then they’ve circumvented again I’m afraid. But I’m sure a solution is coming very soon!
Cody · 2016-08-13 07:36 · #

Read your update while im not getting ads on the side of the site im still getting the one’s in the middle of the page that recommends the ad to you by what others have liked

Reply from Ben Williams:

Yeah, they’ve found another way to circumvent. There’s a fix coming soon.
anon · 2016-08-13 07:57 · #

This workaround is not working in Chrome :(

Reply from Ben Williams:

Yeah, since writing they found another way to circumvent. Don’t worry, we’re working on a fix.
rafli · 2016-08-13 08:14 · #

sgssdgssfsg
Blocking Facebook Ads · 2016-08-13 10:54 · #

Blocking Facebook Ads https://adblockplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=157054#p157054
SA · 2016-08-13 12:28 · #

How about to add some filter e.g. the Div with with the class .uiStreamSponsoredLink inside and with a Span like “Suggested Post” with some wildcards * in between?!
Is that possible?!
What effects that might have?!

Reply from Ben Williams:

Contribute to EasyList! Everyone can! Thanks.
randall der · 2016-08-13 15:07 · #

may work fine on farcebook…but this fails big time on sights far more important to me …like EZTV for one….

Reply from Ben Williams:

This was a FB-specific fix. If you’re seeing ads on a site report to EasyList: https://easylist.to/
Ginny · 2016-08-13 17:26 · #

Thank you! When I started seeing the ‘suggested’ posts again on Facebook every 3rd post on the wall I was so disappointed! Thank you for working out a fix! I love Adblock, wish it would work on cell phone! I wish facebroke didn’t feel the need to shove all this stuff down our throats so many thanks for helping us sort it out!!
Kait · 2016-08-13 17:46 · #

Doesn’t work in chrome and I’ve updated. Facebook is getting beyond annoying. It’s not even worth it anymore.
Seven · 2016-08-13 18:32 · #

This isn’t working for me. I’m still seeing suggested posts in ny Newsfeed, despite updating EasyList AND adding the filter myself.

Reply from Ben Williams:

There’s no reason to update filters and add the filter btw. Facebook found another workaround. I’m confident we’ll be able to work around that soon.
Benny · 2016-08-13 19:04 · #

Hey Guys, thanks for all the work you put into this. Despite updated filter list, my feed shows some posts that are marked as both “sponsored” and “suggested”. Hope you find a fix soon!

Reply from Ben Williams:

Yup, FB found another workaround. We’re working on it, thanks for the support!
Rachelle · 2016-08-13 20:13 · #

Thank you for trying to find a solution to this. I am so sick of seeing waaay too many “suggested post” ads in my feed.. like every 3-4 posts from my friends there’s another one. Ads on the side I can tolerate… ads in my feed make me want to stop using facebook altogether.
Me here · 2016-08-13 22:20 · #

sponsor / suggested are still showing up for me even with updated filters / restart etc. :(

Reply from Ben Williams:

Yeah, they found another way to disguise their ads as content. We’re working on it!
RG · 2016-08-14 01:52 · #

This filter list worked for me:

facebook.com##DIV[id^=“pagelet_ego_pane”]
facebook.com##DIV[id^=“hyperfeed_”]._5jmm[data-dedupekey^=“5”]
facebook.com##DIV[id^=“hyperfeed_”]._5jmm[data-dedupekey^=“6”]
facebook.com##DIV[id^=“hyperfeed_”]._5jmm[data-dedupekey^=“7”]
facebook.com##DIV[id^=“hyperfeed_”]._5jmm[data-dedupekey^=“8”]
facebook.com##DIV[id^=“hyperfeed_”]._5jmm[data-dedupekey^=“9”]
facebook.com##DIV[id^=“hyperfeed_”]._5jmm[data-dedupekey^=“1”]
facebook.com##DIV[id^=“hyperfeed_”]._5jmm[data-dedupekey^=“2”]
facebook.com##DIV[id^=“hyperfeed_”]._5jmm[data-dedupekey^=“3”]
facebook.com##DIV[id^=“hyperfeed_”]._5jmm[data-dedupekey^=“4”]
facebook.com##div._5g-l ~ div
Name Name Name Name · 2016-08-14 02:51 · #

I don’t have mind-watering down FB, but I do have and love ABP!

Reply from Ben Williams:

thanks!
Maxmaxmaximus · 2016-08-14 04:48 · #

ahahahhaahh
Rusco · 2016-08-14 07:32 · #

Just updated the filter list and everything is great with the world… for now!! Thanks guys
Ben · 2016-08-14 09:06 · #

Still seeing sponsored postings altough I updated the filters and use RGs additional ones ( http://i.imgur.com/U5Nv5WZ.jpg )

Reply from Ben Williams:

They’ve circumvented again in the meantime, but I’m confident the open source community will have another solution soon.
Dreadhawk · 2016-08-14 09:41 · #

Not currently working – updated lists and adblock plus. Sponsored garbage still there.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Yup, unfortunately they found another workaround. I’m thinking a solution will come soon though!
Tinde · 2016-08-14 12:20 · #

Not working for Facebook Sponsored Links currently. Sponsored ads still visible.

Reply from Ben Williams:

They’ve circumvented again I’m afraid, but a fix should be around the corner!
Ryan · 2016-08-14 13:33 · #

Hi folks. Thanks for creating this. How do I add it?

Reply from Ben Williams:

Your filter subscriptions actually update automatically, so if you have ABP you don’t have to do anything :)
Cassie · 2016-08-14 22:24 · #

I am one of the rare Silicon Valley people who watched Facebook grow up in my backyard and never touched it. Ever. And this kind of garbage is why. The “we know better than you idiots what you need and you’ll take it and like it” attitude was on the rise here even a decade ago. I’m so glad to see you jumping right on this. You defend us from these childish powerplays, defend our right not to be bombarded with obnoxious, loud, bandwidth-eating bids for our money and attention, and I’m extremely grateful. Thank you, Adblock Plus!

Reply from Ben Williams:

Thanks right back at ye!
zalamnov zipnitiopshov · 2016-08-14 23:47 · #

it didnt work, still getting suggested posts >:(

Reply from Ben Williams:

There’s been a FB workaround in the meantime. Thinking a fix will come soon though.
Davo · 2016-08-15 03:18 · #

I would just like to pay to use Facebook and stop all this ridiculousness. Also it would be a great opportunity to get rid of the whingeing children whose opinions I couldn’t be bothered with.

Having said that I think ABP is a great product.

Let’s just all pay for the sites we love.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Do you know about our Flattr Plus project? Sounds like it might be something for you.
Lulz · 2016-08-15 10:26 · #

Omg I love the salt from the Facebook ad lovers. Honestly I love the adblocker. I’m tired of getting creepily on point ads and ridiculously inappropriate ads. Plus the fact that they ram it down your throat with the whole concept of mixing it with legitimate content. If AdBlock really is running into events that cause blocked content, that’s a moral issue with Facebook for not taking the light path ;). They could have simply been less invasive… Or maybe not run a business model based on the sale of consumer data. Feels like I’m running through a football field naked every time I log in.
AngryFBUser · 2016-08-15 11:24 · #

Still seeing this “suggested” (read: unwanted crap) posts on my wall. Looks like FB has found a workaround for the latest fix as well, it doesn’t work anymore.

Reply from Ben Williams:

True, but I think there will be another solution soon enough. Hang tight!
AngryFBuser · 2016-08-15 22:19 · #

Looking forward to it very much :) Thanks for all your hard work in combating this unwanted garbage.
Sean · 2016-08-16 08:35 · #

I found a workaround for the new facebook “sponsored” ads:

facebook.com##._5g-l, ._5g-l ~ *
Tommy · 2016-08-16 10:11 · #

Thank you #101. Sean.

This filter work for me. ;)
Don Diablo · 2016-08-16 15:19 · #

Thank you for your hard work, i cant bear ads on my browser.

Hoping this filter long as long as they can ✌✌✌

Reply from Ben Williams:

Thanks for the support!
Lubaska · 2016-08-16 15:32 · #

Unfortunately, it does not work for my FB. I came back home from holiday (internet free vacation) on Saturday and my FB was flooded by ads on my timeline… “Suggested post”, “Suggested Page” and “Your friend likes this”. I have followed your advice on Sunday, today I ve updated button again… but nothing helps. My timeline is so annoying that it s like my “finito” with facebook. I will not be able to accept this forcing…

Reply from Ben Williams:

Yeah, unfortunately they’ve circumvented again I’m afraid. I’m confident though that the open source community will find a solution very soon.
Jon · 2016-08-16 17:44 · #

No, this doesn’t work. I’m on FB right now and I’m still getting their crap in my feed. Back to square one, Adblockers.
Tina · 2016-08-16 18:04 · #

#101. Sean’s filter worked to remove sponsored posts in my newsfeed. Thx!
Felis · 2016-08-16 18:06 · #

Thank you ABP, it worked on the first two days, now it’s broken again. But still thanks for all the effort.

Strange thing about the forced adds though is that 9 out of 10 suggestions are not even real pages, they are all fake scam. I wonder why Facebook will allow such a thing to continue.
Lars · 2016-08-16 19:39 · #

Adding the filter manually doesn’t seem to work for me.

Reply from Ben Williams:

They’ve found a way to work around it I’m afraid. But I’m hopeful a solution comes soon.
Zoann Murphy · 2016-08-16 21:28 · #

Thank you so much!
Simón · 2016-08-16 23:59 · #

Is this implemented to the ABP of web browser Maxthon yet? because I can still looking the annonying ads, hope the devs remember us.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Yeah, Facebook came up with a workaround in the meantime. Im hopeful the open source community will have a fix really soon.
nadine reid · 2016-08-17 01:49 · #

Invaluable analysis – I loved the points , Does anyone know if I might be able to locate a template TSP-16 version to fill in ?
michael · 2016-08-17 02:07 · #

post #101 Sean’s filter is working.

Thanks.
James · 2016-08-17 06:06 · #

This one from post #101:

facebook.com##._5g-l, ._5g-l ~ *

will only remove the content of the post, not the whole post. You’ll still get the section of the white box containing likes, comments, shares, etc.

But, it successfully removes the “content” of the white box. So if refined a bit, that’ll remove the whole box along with it
Teodoro · 2016-08-17 06:12 · #

GIANT thanks to Sean (#101)—every 3rd/4th entry in my newsfeed was some garbage ad—now back to getting stuff just from my network. I wouldn’t mind a few ads if they weren’t so intrusive and unrelated to anything I care about. Well done, Sean—my infrequent visits to FB were about to be all but eliminated over this bee-ess with the incessant ads.
MBA · 2016-08-17 06:15 · #

Works great once I restarted Firefox. Many thanks to all involved.
Salomon · 2016-08-17 07:21 · #

Disabling APB for facebook seems to get rid of the news feed ads.

Reply from Ben Williams:

For real? That seems a little odd :) but if you say so.
Max · 2016-08-17 08:09 · #

Hello

Currently, the system is failing to stop ads for me despite having updated the filters multiple times on Google Chrome version 52.0.2743.116 m the last couple days. Have they made another work around, or should users be concerned? The ad’s are very not targeted on my end, and I’ve noted many a user complain about potential scams etc. which is my main reason for downloading the software in the first place.

Thank you for your time.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Currently they are circumventing. The open source community is looking for a solution, and I’m sure one is coming soon.
Sean · 2016-08-17 10:25 · #

Guys, I’m still hard at work on my latest fix. I did this afternoon it only works for some “sponsored ads”. I will continue to look, but until then, please keep on providing feedback.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Thanks for that! To all those reading this, this is what we mean when we say we have an open source community at our backs.
Sean · 2016-08-17 11:27 · #

Update: I’ve just created a script which removes all sponsored Facebook ads using Tampermonkey: https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/22380-hide-facebook-ads

(Note: you need the Tampermonkey extension installed in either Firefox or Chrome)

I had a look at the source, and this approach is still much cleaner. Hopefully, Facebook will concede to the adblockers, but until then, this solution is working fine for me.
F · 2016-08-17 16:55 · #

Dear Sean, your Tampermonkey script works great but needs to be localized! You have to replace the “Sponsored” and “Suggested Post” keywords with the ones in your language (e.g. “Sponsorizzata” and “Post consigliato” for italian).
Furthermore, i received an error in the console.log function. strange. i’ve commented it btw, it’s optional
Cheers!
Zarkazm · 2016-08-17 17:39 · #

+1 to Sean’s Tampermonkey script. That appears to be doing the trick right now.
Tru · 2016-08-17 20:38 · #

Sean’s Tampermonkey script did the trick! Thank your sir!
Dave · 2016-08-18 02:42 · #

Keep fighting the good fight! You guys are awesome and I love Adblock Plus!

Reply from Ben Williams:

Thanks for the support!
zauriel · 2016-08-18 06:30 · #

Unfortunately Sean’s tampermonkey script doesn’t appear to be working for me in Chrome. Newsfeed still full of sponsored posts.
Frank Nostro · 2016-08-18 08:15 · #

I wrote a Chrome extension that seems to be working for me. Code on github intended for use with the Developer Mode options on Chrome.

https://github.com/fnostro/FFBAds
Danilo Roxette · 2016-08-18 11:06 · #

OMG. Thank you very much, Frank Nostro. I was looking for something to block the FB ads since the last week. PS: I didn’t try Sean’s Tampermonkey script.
Kinjin · 2016-08-18 18:52 · #

Thanks for the Tampermonkey script Sean! Hopefully Adblock will have some code to defeat this soon :)
Andrew · 2016-08-18 19:04 · #

I’m still seeing the suggested/sponsored posts even though I’ve updated my filterlists manually (several times, I might add). Not sure what’s going on.

Reply from Ben Williams:

FB is currently circumventing, but I’m confident a solution will come soon. See our last two blogs for updates: https://adblockplus.org/blog/
Tru · 2016-08-18 19:29 · #

The friends feed addon in conjunction with all the other aforementioned solutions has my feed completely add-free!! Thanks Dissium
Broadcast House · 2016-08-19 02:54 · #

Sean’s Tampermonkey script is working ! Thank you Sean!
BV · 2016-08-20 07:26 · #

Either I didn’t add the filter properly or it doesn’t work… :-(
I added the following filter in ABP Options:
facebook.com##DIV[id^=“substream_”] ._5jmm[data-dedupekey][data-cursor][data-xt][data-xt-vimpr=“1”][data-ftr=“1”][data-fte=“1”]
What did I do wrong?
Paul · 2016-08-21 12:49 · #

Hey guys, I’m from Bangkok, Thailand & I followed the news of Adblock managing to block FB ads. After I manual add the filter it does not work much at all for me.

I’m not sure how it works for others, but for me it doesn’t.

I hope Adblock can quickly “add a filter to the adblock program automatically” sick of seeing all the ads on FB.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Yes, they are currently able to force ads on ad blockers — but we’re working hard with the open source community for a solution!
Bob · 2016-08-21 15:53 · #

Starting today, I notice that youtube videos will not play on facebook, instead it turns into a link, and if you click it, it takes you away from facebook to watch it on youtube. Must be a new trick from Fuckbook, because if I disable ABP, it works fine as before. Hope you can fix this.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Hey Bob,
Interesting, haven’t encountered that yet on my end. If FB is changing how they deal with YT videos I doubt unfortunately that we’ll be able to change that. We’ll see …
Broadcast House · 2016-08-21 21:50 · #

Sean’s script seem to be blocked in some instances….

Removed ad: Object { mutation: MutationRecord, el: <div#substream_1._4ikz>, value: “Suggested PostLike PageThrive Marke…”, oldValue: null }(unknown)
Removed ad: Object { mutation: MutationRecord, el: <div#hyperfeed_story_id_57ba01690665f5b24555720._5jmm._5pat._3lb4._59m>, value: “Suggested PostLike PageThrive Marke…”, oldValue: null }(unknown)
Removed ad: Object { mutation: MutationRecord, el: <div#hyperfeed_story_id_57ba01690665f5b24555720._5jmm._5pat._3lb4._59m>, value: “Suggested PostLike PageThrive Marke…”, oldValue: null }(unknown)
Removed ad: Object { mutation: MutationRecord, el: <div#hyperfeed_story_id_57ba01690665f5b24555720._5jmm._5pat._3lb4._59m>, value: “Suggested PostLike PageThrive Marke…”, oldValue: null }(unknown)
Removed ad: Object { mutation: MutationRecord, el: <div#hyperfeed_story_id_57ba01690665f5b24555720._5jmm._5pat._3lb4._59m>, value: “Suggested PostLike PageThrive Marke…”, oldValue: null }(unknown)
STOP This is a browser feature intended for developers. If someone told you to copy-paste something here to enable a Facebook feature or “hack” someone’s account, it is a scam and will give them access to your Facebook account.
See https://www.facebook.com/selfxss for more information.

“6qaYqjKdx5P.js:21:1504
ERROR: Execution of script ‘Hide Facebook Ads’ failed! Argument 1 of MutationObserver.observe is not an object.
champixel · 2016-08-23 18:39 · #

it’s not working !!!!!! (date : 08/23/2016) please help me !!!

Reply from Ben Williams:

Yes, you’re right. Check out the newer blog posts, which provide a little perspective on the issue. And hang tight — we’re working as fast as we can!
simpson · 2016-08-24 10:32 · #

The code was great….but it doesn’t work for me anymore in FB. I updated my filter list as well. If I’m doing something wrong, somebody chime in. Added the code to ad blocking rules.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Yeah, they’ve circumvented again I’m afraid. We’re working on a workaround, hang tight!
IoT Gateway · 2016-08-24 11:38 · #

For the internet of things to do what it is meant to do; connect millions of devices across the world with each other to better human life, special platforms are being developed which are generically known as IoT gateways. An IoT gateway will be responsible for the control and management of the thousands of protocols and widely distributed IoT systems. Whizz Systems is one of the companies that are actively working on IoT design and development. Established in 1989 as an engineering Manufacturing and Development services provider, Whizz Systems has gone on to become a pioneer in the engineering industry and is responsible for creating the world’s first solar powered beacon.
Frank Nostro · 2016-08-24 23:48 · #

so, I bit the bullet and made a Chrome extension. Hope this helps in the interim.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/faceblock/elfjdommhjddccnkaddkmbkmndmgennl
Vintage Leather Bags · 2016-08-27 06:28 · #

Facebook on your desktop, and things should go back to normal.
Mariana · 2016-08-29 18:33 · #

Hey there! I’m still seeing ads on Facebook although I have updated the filters. I don’t know if maybe has something to do with the fact that I live in Argentina? Because most of the ads I see (if not all) are in spanish. Any ideas?

Reply from Ben Williams:

Hey, since that blog post there have been a few more rounds between FB and the online community. Please see this more recent post: https://adblockplus.org/blog/ping-pong-with-facebook

And although they may have the upper hand now, I’m confident a solution will come very quickly.
giedrius banys · 2016-08-30 22:53 · #

This script works fine with AdGuard: https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/22380-hide-facebook-ads
Just you need to press refresh page instead of facebook logo to get new feeds without sponsored ads :D
Good luck.
Eric · 2016-08-31 08:36 · #

I updated EastList and Adblock Warning Removal List, now nothing appears on facebook! Everything is being blocked!

I thought maybe I had some custom filters set up but when I checked there was nothing.

How can I fix this?

Reply from Ben Williams:

So it’s working? What do you need to fix? ;)

Actually, it shouldn’t be working bc FB has the upper hand right now (see here for more). But we’re working fast on a solution.
Eric · 2016-08-31 08:48 · #

Never mind my previous post. Turns out I had to delete all the lists, uninstall adblock plus, restart firefox, reinstall adblock plus, and finally reinstall the lists. Now it is all working.
Dave Johnson · 2016-08-31 08:53 · #

The filters don’t actually block any ads on Face Book. I am still seeing everything.

Reply from Ben Williams:

Yes, please see this blog for an update: https://adblockplus.org/blog/ping-pong-with-facebook

… and know that we’re working super hard on a new solution!
Lesley from Kenya · 2016-09-01 21:29 · #

You guys simply rock!!!!

Browsing has never been better…

Asante!
(“Thank you” in Kiswahili)

Reply from Ben Williams:

You rock, too, Lesley from Kenya!

Karibu (? … apologies, I’m trying to say ‘you’re welcome’) … and thank you, too, for the support!
Alberto · 2016-09-02 18:04 · #

Hi!

Congrats and thanks for your work, truly amazing!! Your app is the first I install every time I format my PC.

Could you help me to install the filter manually? For some odd reason, I cannot upgrade the AdBlock from Chrome. I just don’t have the options you said in the text.

¡Gracias!

Reply from Ben Williams:

Hey Alberto, the filters for Adblock Plus update automatically. The reason you’re likely having issues is that FB currently has the upper hand in this cat-and-mouse game.

Please see the most current blog: https://adblockplus.org/blog/ping-pong-with-facebook
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