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Hosts File ad blocking

After using Dan Pollock's hosts file for a few months, virtually all of that monkey business has disappeared. That, Firefox, and Adblock have made the web bearable for me.

I don't seem to suffer the same fate when blocking the offending javascript using a hosts file.

It seems that in this case
127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net
does the trick.

(If you prefer you can use 0.0.0.0 instead.)

I don't seem to suffer the same fate when blocking the offending javascript using a hosts file.

It seems that in this case
127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net
does the trick.

(If you prefer you can use 0.0.0.0 instead.)

I'm using a special hostfile I got online, that helps me avoid a lot of ad servers, etc. The anti-spyware beta really dislikes this, however, and every time I run it picks ONE server it tells me is maliciously redirected. I can't easily tell it to just ignore that one component of the search, and when I ask it to ignore an individual server entry, it gives me warnings like I'm going to be really sorry I didn't let MS do what it wants.

Has anyone looked into the various hosts file out there to see how they stack up? I use the hosts file from someonewhocares.org and I've been pleased with it. It looks like it blocks more sites than Mike's, but it'd be interesting to see how much overlap there is.

You can add the relevant ad servers to your hosts file:

127.0.0.1 adservices.google.com
127.0.0.1 googleadservices.com
127.0.0.1 pagead.googlesyndication.com
127.0.0.1 pagead1.googlesyndication.com
127.0.0.1 pagead2.googlesyndication.com
127.0.0.1 pagead3.googlesyndication.com
127.0.0.1 www.googleadservices.com

In my own humble world, I've found that invoking the * function in AdBlock, along with a judiciously updated hosts file seems to do the trick.

But then again, it all probably depends on where you tend to go, url-wise.

IE users can jump on the bandwagon as well by using a hosts file to redirect ad requests into oblivion.

On XP, if you never want to see ads from adserver.example.com, just add
0.0.0.0 adserver.example.com
to "C:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\hosts".

In that case, feel free to use this version that uses "0.0.0.0" instead.

127.0.0.1 as1.falkag.de
127.0.0.1 as2.falkag.de
127.0.0.1 as3.falkag.de
127.0.0.1 as4.falkag.de
....

someone who cares already has.

Use a real hosts file, like This one . It's massive, constantly updated, and formatted nicely to show you how to redirect slashdot.org to "s".

There's another great custom hosts file at someonewhocares.org/hosts. I use it everywhere, and it's wonderful.

HOSTS file from
http://someonewhocares.org/hosts

No, the admins who chose to use SPEWS lists for filtering (when they could have just have easily been used for tagging) have blocked it.

I use Dan Pollock's hosts file for blocking banner ads. I am the one who blocks the banner ads on my computer, not Dan Pollock.

In addition to blocking popus, I'd suggest using a carefully crafted hosts file. Just add

127.0.0.1 adserver.example.com

to your hosts file and never see an ad from them again.

Here is a very well-maintained file with lots of servers blocked.

Oh, forgot to mention. Take a look at Dan Pollock's hosts file if you want a great premade hosts file that blocks tons of ads and other nasties.

In addition to popup blockers, using a hosts file is a great way to block ads.

Just add

127.0.0.1 adserver.example.com

to your hosts file, and never see ads from them again.

A good blacklist should have zero false positives, and still block a good deal of ads. I use Dan Pollock's hosts file, and it works pretty well. It blocks Hotmail's in-page ads, along with a lot of others. It also has some sites that set malicious tracking cookies and popup traps blacklisted. Of course, you should check each url for validity, but it should work pretty well. Also, I suggest you put a page on your site that contains suggestions for Internet security, including links (and preferably easy tutorials) to things like Adaware, Spybot, and the like. Oh, and a link to Firebird (or Mozilla) would be good, too... ;)

You can use this hosts file to block redsherrif. It works well for me.

Maybe do them a favor and introduce them to Firebird, and at least a hook them up with a good host file
- unless you're comfortable with squeezing them for cash while simple preventative measures exist.

That's why you have one of these hosts files set up.

There are a lot of good lists of sites to block.

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
http://www.smartin-designs.com/ (discontinued, but links are good)
http://everythingisnt.com/hosts.html
http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/

And using a hand-tuned hosts file can do miracles for a pleasant surfing experience. Like this one: someonewhocares
It really does make the internet not suck (as much) :)

Rather crude, but highly effective.

Here is a good hosts file.

Ah, but this does.

Seeing as people don't seem interested in posting links to archive.nytimes.com, you can always fix the reg. required problem using your hosts file.

Simply add:
199.239.136.212 www.nytimes.com
199.239.136.212 nytimes.com

The only negative side effect is that the front page no longer works. You can always fix that by also adding:
199.239.136.245 frontpage.nytimes.com

Check out someonewhocares.org/hosts/ for more hosts file goodness.

Or even better, simply add
199.239.136.212 www.nytimes.com
199.239.136.212 nytimes.com
to your hosts file to fix the "problem" for all normal nytimes.com URLs. The only negative side effect is that the front page no longer works.

Check out http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/ for more hosts file goodness.