The term ad blocker is used to describe various programs that block advertising on the internet. More precisely: they ensure that advertising images, banners, videos or pop-ups are not displayed. The term “ad blocker” is made up of the English short form “ad” (for “advertisement”) and “block”, which means “to block”.
Advertising on the Internet is perceived as annoying for various reasons: Large-format advertising banners interrupt the flow of reading. The sound of videos playing unexpectedly is frightening. Pop-ups block almost the entire screen.
Online advertising can also cause websites to load more slowly and unwanted data to be transferred. It can even transmit malware; such ads are also known as “malvertising”. As ad blockers block annoying or even harmful advertising, they have now become widely accepted.
Ad blockers pose a problem for companies whose sources of income include advertising on the Internet. For most media offerings, for example. They often only allow use with the ad blocker deactivated.
You are sure to encounter online advertising frequently in your day-to-day work. If you install an ad blocker, this frequency will be reduced. As you can also deactivate your ad blocker specifically, you can test the effect on any website in comparison.
If you are surfing without an ad blocker or deactivate it on selected pages: if possible, do not click on the advertisements. If you see something there that interests you, visit the company’s website directly. This will cost you a little more effort, but will protect you from malware. Ads that transmit malware can also be found on legitimate websites. Why don’t the website owners prevent this? Because an in-depth check of the content and functions of all online ads would take a lot of time and lead to extremely high ad prices.
In any case, avoid ads that have buttons such as “Ok” or “Download”. If you are asked for updates after clicking on an ad (e.g. for your Flash player), never download them via the corresponding dialog. Instead, go to the manufacturer’s website (in this case Adobe) and download the update from there. You will probably find that you do not need an update. Then you will know that the message was a claim intended to persuade you to download presumably malicious software.
Since there are also online ads that can cause damage without any action on your part, you should also:
