One of the ways web sites and mobile app developers make money is through the sale of advertising space to third party ad networks. Ausdroid, for example, runs Google AdSense ads to help us cover our operating costs. While we think our ads are relatively unobtrusive, sometimes that’s not so. Some websites and mobile apps have really annoying ads that distract you from the task at hand, and for as long as there have been ads, there have been people who can’t stand them.
Adblock Plus is a web-browser extension that has been around for years in the desktop space, supporting Chrome, Firefox, Opera and it is a simple, effective way to prevent ads from loading in your browser. It works well, it’s free, and it’s simple to use.
If you want to block ads on Android, however, you’ve been a bit more restricted. In the past, this has required having a rooted device, and either manually editing your /etc/hosts file, or installing an app from the Play Store.
With Adblock Plus for Android, that’s now changed. While the functionality is a little restricted without a rooted device, you can use Adblock Plus for Android on your stock Android phone or tablet to block ads in apps and on the web while using wifi, without modifying anything on your phone that will break things or vanquish warranty rights.
If you’re rooted, of course the functionality is greater. Rooted users are able to block ads over 3G and Wifi for both apps and web browsing.
While this is a bit questionable morally, we understand that there are some users and some situations where blocking ads might be desirable. However, we would be irresponsible if we didn’t encourage you to use common sense here, especially when it comes to ad-supported free services that would cease to exist without advertising revenue.
AdBlock Plus for Android is now available on the Play Store for free. Check it out.
[appaware-app pname=’org.adblockplus.android’ name=’Adblock Plus for Android’ qrcode=’false’ users=’0′]
Seriously… People rarely click ads. I never do. And why? Because they’re not relevant to me! I have never bought something I found via an ad. Make ads interesting, and people won’t use ad-blockers, just because they WANT to see the ads!
I run Adblock wherever I can (so cheers for this article, most appreciated) but I make a deliberate effort to turn it off on sites that I use regularly, like Ausdroid.
It also means that sites that use lazy ad providers with shiteful animated banners (“spank the monkey to win an iPad” type bollocks) get blocked again. Simple and non-annoying ads get white listed, and the rest of the screaming annoying internet of crap is something I’m happy to pretend doesn’t exist.
Can you whitelist sites with the adblock app? I’ve run ad-block on firefox for a long time, but I also have a large whitelist of sites because I trust those sites and want to contribute money to them – and they’re not abusive – tonnes of flash.
How about whitelisting apps? Some apps do ads well, or are worthwhile apps that should get remuneration. Some are not – eg ads in paid-versions of apps, ads in kids apps with no paid no-ad version.
I would rather not run an ad-blocker, however the amount of sites and blogs I visit via my mobile that have non mobile friendly ads is astounding. Also on the desktop, the amount of autoplay video ads with audio was the last straw there. Youtube is also driving me insane with pre-roll ads too… I know people have to make money, and this is a way to pay for the sites, apps have to make money and same goes there… If its an app that I will use more than a few times, I just buy the ad free version.… Read more »
oh and I forgot to mention … TELSTRA. (and probably Optus and the rest of them) They have more ads on their site and in their apps than ANYONE ON THE PLANET. WTF?? I am paying for your service (and more than I should be), so why do you need to show me ad’s as well? on top of which, you kidnap my DNS settings (unless I change it manually to ‘clean’ ones) so you can fill the rest of the web with your bloody ad’s too??? That’s like taking your car in for an oil change, and getting charged… Read more »
That’s the great thing about android. You have choice if you want ads or not.
Yeah, I really believe that advertising is just part of the beast. If you don’t want to pay for an app, then deal with the ads. Most apps are only a few dollars. If that ads annoy you that much, stop being so tight and pay the dev for their work…
Websites are a different kettle of fish…
I will stick with AdAway for now.
This is more than a bit questionable morally. I am going to take the moral high ground on this and show my concern that Ausdroid is supporting software like this. I do believe that developers should do their best to support ad based and paid (add free) models wherever they can, however when someone is providing you with something at no personal cost, their only source of income is from those ads. With ads they pay for servers, bandwidth, internet connections, development hardware, support costs and their time (and more). So I believe blocking this revenue stream from them is… Read more »
Personally, I won’t use ad blockers for many of the reasons you detail above. Ads give us stuff for free that we’d otherwise have to pay for, and I believe in supporting people who give us cool things (provided that they don’t rip us off). But I do understand their appeal. Some sites have horrible, intrusive ads that play music without you asking, or take over your entire screen until you can bypass them. Some mobile applications are so ad-riddled that they make you want to throw your phone away and crawl into a hole forever. Unfortunately sometimes, these sites… Read more »
I agree with most of that. Android offers a lot for free (with ads) due to the ease of piracy (you can try dispute this all you want but its still there and rampant).
If developers cant make money off the free model then they will have to focus on another platform. In the short term it probably wont make a difference but in the long term it will probably hurt android.
But there are several other apps which are able block ads so this really isnt anything new.
I generally pay for apps I use regularly anyway.
Hi Greg, A great response. I actually agree with this – as stated, Ausdroid survives because of advertising revenue, and a lot of websites and developers do as well. However, as with most things, I’d say at least 90-95% of users won’t use ad blocking software, mobile OR desktop. Most people simply don’t care. There’s just a few cases where it might be justified, and for that, there are options available for people to not display those ads if they wish. We don’t wish to condone blocking ads.. but it’s not for us to take a moral high- or low-ground… Read more »
what a douche. baby jesus loves ad blocking.
You know that Adblock turns off all the ads on Ausdroid, don’t you?
As a viewer that’s great, but you folks might think otherwise….
Yep we know, but we put our readers’ interests ahead of ours. If people want to block ads, including ours, then that’s fine by us.