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"What, like five percent?"

According to Danny himself:

"Once I installed the AdBlock shield script on my article directory, my revenues doubled."

So, it seems, half of his visitors are blocking ads?

Okay, just to clarify what was going on: I was wrong in my original post (the parent to this). There is no CSS/IE-quirks/rendering trickery going on.

What was happening is that, for a period of time, the filtering list used by AdBlock Plus in the US was actually blocking the whole site. It didn't prevent the HTML from downloading, so it was possible to view the source, but it was stopping the page from rendering, producing a white screen.

Apparently the person behind the whyfirefoxisblocked site is known to the guy who runs the EasyList blocklist. I don't know exactly what's up, but based on the forums over there (http://www.richsterling.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f =64&t=1142), there's been a certain amount of back-and-forth between them. I don't know if WFFIB is some sort of vendetta against the people behind ABP and EasyList, or whether it's actually an ideological dispute, but WFFIB got blocked by EasyList as "slanderous." (Which it may be, but that's not really the point.)

However, earlier today that decision was reversed, and WFFIB has been removed from the latest version of the EastList block list. (You can check for yourself, the URL that it downloads is http://easylist.adblockplus.org/adblock_rick752.tx t.)

So if you're a FF+ABP+EasyList user and you're seeing a white screen when going to WFFIB, you just need to wait until ABP reloads the EasyList blocklist, or go into the ABP preferences and disable the "whyfirefoxisblocked.com#body" line towards the bottom.

I gave the WFFIB people far too much credit.

The WHOIS database shows that for the domain,

Registrant:
      Danny Carlton
      19724 E Pine St
      Suite #149
      Catoosa, Oklahoma 75015
      United States

This guy has a grudge over AdBlockPlus and you can read more at
http://adblockplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1540
http://adblockplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1567

Apparently he has nothing better to do because one can block ads in most browsers anyway.

In any case, to block ads, install AdBlockPlus from
http://adblockplus.org/en/installation

It is also recommended to try "Element Hiding Helper"
http://adblockplus.org/en/elemhidehelper
which allows in an intuitive way to block specific elements off a page.

The WHOIS database shows that for the domain,

Registrant:
      Danny Carlton
      19724 E Pine St
      Suite #149
      Catoosa, Oklahoma 75015
      United States

This guy has a grudge over AdBlockPlus and you can read more at
http://adblockplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1540
http://adblockplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1567

Apparently he has nothing better to do because one can block ads in most browsers anyway.

In any case, to block ads, install AdBlockPlus from
http://adblockplus.org/en/installation

It is also recommended to try "Element Hiding Helper"
http://adblockplus.org/en/elemhidehelper
which allows in an intuitive way to block specific elements off a page.

The WHOIS database shows that for the domain,

Registrant:
      Danny Carlton
      19724 E Pine St
      Suite #149
      Catoosa, Oklahoma 75015
      United States

This guy has a grudge over AdBlockPlus and you can read more at
http://adblockplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1540
http://adblockplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1567

Apparently he has nothing better to do because one can block ads in most browsers anyway.

In any case, to block ads, install AdBlockPlus from
http://adblockplus.org/en/installation

It is also recommended to try "Element Hiding Helper"
http://adblockplus.org/en/elemhidehelper
which allows in an intuitive way to block specific elements off a page.

The WHOIS database shows that for the domain,

Registrant:
      Danny Carlton
      19724 E Pine St
      Suite #149
      Catoosa, Oklahoma 75015
      United States

This guy has a grudge over AdBlockPlus and you can read more at
http://adblockplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1540
http://adblockplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1567

Apparently he has nothing better to do because one can block ads in most browsers anyway.

In any case, to block ads, install AdBlockPlus from
http://adblockplus.org/en/installation

It is also recommended to try "Element Hiding Helper"
http://adblockplus.org/en/elemhidehelper
which allows in an intuitive way to block specific elements off a page.

Adblock Plus + an auto-updating filter = I don't know how I used the web without it

http://adblockplus.org/en/

Is it the ads that bother you? Slashdot is adware, you know.

ftw

And I would visit your review site provided you don't use those god awful double underlined adds...

I only ever see those on other people's computers. Between Adblock Plus and NoScript, they don't show up here.

Two words: adblock plus
One website: http://adblockplus.org/en/

Filterset.G is not recommended for Adblock Plus! Use Easylist+EasyElement from the subscriptions page for better results.

Filterset.G is not recommended for Adblock Plus! Use Easylist+EasyElement from the subscriptions page for better results.

What ad?

I still wonder why people don't use the Firefix / Adblock / Filterset.G combination as a basic starting point.

I used that for a while but now switched to the better managed and easier to install (1 extension instead of 2) Firefox / AdBlock Plus, then initialize Adblock Plus with the following subscription: EasyList + EasyElement.

May I suggest the latest version of adblock plus and firefox?

AdBlock is much slower than adblock plus, which may lead to your "flickering". Or the computer could just be slow in which case there is no help other than hardware upgrade.

http://adblockplus.org/

Eh?
http://adblockplus.org/en/subscriptions has exactly 4 english language lists. 2 of them are essentially one entity. One is not recommended and one is stated to be a minimal block list. In other words there is one recommended english list. Sicne when is "one" considered "many, many." That list in turn is both hosted on the adblock plus domain, you can find the timestamp of the last update (2 days ago) and find the activity level of the forum (frequent replies by list owner). I think that pretty much disproves everything you've said.

I'll add some links! Get Adblock Plus here: http://adblockplus.org/en/ Get Filterset.G Updater here: http://www.pierceive.com/ With this pair of extensions, you won't ever see ads again, and the blacklist will update itself automagically.

I'll make mention of the same thing I did last time AdblockPlus + Filterset.G came up: you might try switching to the EasyList and EasyElement subscriptions instead. I was a staunch user of Filterset.G for a long time, and only switched to Easy* because I was reinstalling, in a hurry, and EasyList came up as an option when AdblockPlus was installed, but I'm hooked now. In my experience, and experiences of others, the Easy* lists are faster and easier to maintain, plus you don't need an extra extension to manage them.

If you use Firefox, snag Adblock Plus [mozilla.org] and the Filterset.G Updater [mozilla.org

FYI, Adblock Plus advises against Filterset.G - they have their own sets of filters that work better.

I still use it out of ignorance because it works just fine for me TYVM.

Really? There's advertising on web pages? I hadn't noticed.

Thanks for the tip, it was encouraging to hear that from someone who actually used Filterset.G.

I've been using Filterset.G for a long time too, but I just switched to EasyList and EasyElement. This part of the Adblock Plus FAQ helped me make that decision (in summary, Filterset.G sometimes whitelists ads, and it uses complicated regexes that slow down browsing).

Or you could use the EasyList and EasyElement filter subscriptions with Adblock Plus - no extra extension needed, and they're simpler and easier to maintain (and, at least subjectively, faster) than the Filterset.G is. I was a huge fan of Filterset.G for a long time, but I've been even happier with Easy*.

If you're using AdBlock Plus, I'd recommend that you subscribe to EasyList rather than use Filterset.G. Filterset.G is designed for the original AdBlock, and doesn't take advantage of a number of featues that AdBlock Plus has; for example, it features automatic subscription updating, so you don't need another extension just to update it. Also, the Filterset.G updater will blow away any customizations you've made to the block list when it updates, while EasyList won't. For more info, read the FAQ.

If you're using AdBlock Plus, I'd recommend that you subscribe to EasyList rather than use Filterset.G. Filterset.G is designed for the original AdBlock, and doesn't take advantage of a number of featues that AdBlock Plus has; for example, it features automatic subscription updating, so you don't need another extension just to update it. Also, the Filterset.G updater will blow away any customizations you've made to the block list when it updates, while EasyList won't. For more info, read the FAQ.

The only reason is to repeat the ads.

Speaking of whining, does anyone know how to specify the order of processing of Mozilla extensions? I'd love to leave NoScript on to catch the stuff that I haven't told AdBlock to stop yet.

AdBlock Plus (at least, I think it's AdBlock Plus, maybe it's AdBlock2) does a fairly good job of this; when you enable the blocking, you choose from a list of well-known blacklists with short descriptions (what language/geography they're tailored to, who maintains it, etc.). You can load your own, naturally, but if you just want "zero effort" ad-blocking, it does a fairly good job. Here's the current list.

There would undoubtedly be some wrangling over who's list got to be the default, or at the top of the list of options, but you could order it with some neutral metric (number of unique downloads per day? Google Ranking?) if it became a point of contention.

You don't want to include a blacklist with the software itself, because they become obsolete too quickly, and for obvious reasons you don't want to stick the user with one that's hard to update or change. Using a subscription-based system that lets the user choose between lists is fairly simple, yet powerful, and allows users to move to a different list if they desire a different level or focus on blocking. (E.g., some lists are more minimalist, others take a more expansive interpretation of "ads," and most are tailored to a particular language.)

You downloaded Adblock Plus (which is not the same as Adblock). On the page where you downloaded it, there is a warning; "IMPORTANT: If you experience CRASHES ON YAHOO MAIL, please read http://adblockplus.org/en/npYState for a solution." RTFW ;)

Read this page, it gives you a good summary of the problems that it has. I'm sure it's still perfectly functional, but it's not the best or the fastest anymore, that's all I meant.

Why I had to explain it like an excited 14 y.o. I don't know...

AdBlock Plus no longer supports Filterset.G, it how has it's own subscription features built in

http://adblockplus.org/en/faq_project#filterset.g :
        * Filterset.G has been intentionally made incompatible with the built-in subscriptions feature in Adblock Plus, updating Filterset.G requires a separate extension which basically duplicates existing functionality.
        * Filterset.G is not optimized for use with Adblock Plus, it will slow down your browsing considerably more than any other filter list.
        * Filterset.G makes heavy use of very complicated regular expressions with the consequence that finding the source of problems is difficult and fixing those problems is even more so. In fact, Filterset.G is fixing most problems with exception rules which creates a problem on its own (see next point).
        * Filterset.G contains a considerable number of exception rules. This is a big problem because exception rules cannot be overridden. It happened on several occasions that exception rules from Filterset.G whitelisted actual ads making these ads unblockable -- something users usually blamed Adblock Plus for.

The alternatives I've switched to are the EasyList and EasyElements subscriptions for Adblock Plus. They can be found at
http://adblockplus.org/en/subscriptions .

I am a former Adblock/filterset.G user and was just trying out these as a basic starting point, expecting to need to upgrade to one of the more advanced subscriptions after awhile but have been quite pleased with how they worked.

BTWhttp://adblockplus.org/en/faq_project#filterset .g

Not this "Firefox is just as insecure! It's safe now because not enough people use it!" shit again.

Wladamir Palant made an excellent article on this recently: http://adblockplus.org/blog/firefox-security-the-r eal-picture

Yes, the Adblock Plus extension to Firefox does the job nicely, and for a lot more companies than just doubleclick. You'll want to change your hosts file back since it'll become redundant, and it's better than having a cluttered up core system file.

I'm taking this OT thread even further O, but I highly recommend Firefox+Adblock Plus for your ad-free viewing pleasure.

adblock+ doesn't need filterset.g
See http://adblockplus.org/ and http://adblockplus.org/en/faq_project#filterset.g

adblock+ doesn't need filterset.g
See http://adblockplus.org/ and http://adblockplus.org/en/faq_project#filterset.g

Adblock Plus will also block in-page ads.

Also, i've replaced the filter in adblock+ to this

http://easylist.adblockplus.org/

I just use AdBlock Plus under Firefox, works like a charm. http://adblockplus.org/en/

So what if Doubleclick (may they burn in Hell forever) knows that some guy visits Slashdot, ThinkGeek, and PennyArcade? I figure my privacy is fine as long as they cannot link the activity back to me personally.

The ignorance in this statement is so staggering that I had to respond and lose the moderations I've made on other posts to this story.

If you have any account online for which you have ever disclosed your true identity (like in order to make a purchase) then that account information can and will be cross-referenced with all of the tracking data that the tracking companies have been able to put together on you. They are expectionally good at finding those information leaks and putting 1 and 1 and 1 and 1 together to make 4.

Don't be lulled into a false sense of security even if you are the type to disable cookies. Cookies are not the only way Doubleclick and the like track people. Embedded images, tags, 3rd party style sheets with god knows what javascript, ip address correlation, etc. The bag of tricks is practically bottomless.

I religiously use the following extensions to Firefox, with almost every site fully locked out, and even then I still leak personal information like a seive:

NoScript
CookieSafe
AdBlock Plus