Secure Your Online Activity with Ad Block Technology | Should you?

How often do you load a website only to get redirected somewhere else? How many times have
you had to exit out of pop up ad after pop up ad just to reach your desired content? Not only are
these ads annoying, but they’re also dangerous to your system.

Image Courtesy: PixaBay

There are ways you can prevent these ads from appearing. By using ad block technology, the
user frees up and cleans up the webpage from unwanted and dangerous ads. Should a web surfer use an ad blocker or not is a topic to delve on. Using an ad blocker has its own advantages and disadvantages. Lets go into the details of it.

Let’s take a look at what ad blocking technology is and why you should use it OR; not use it.

What is Ad Blocking?

Ad block technology is a tool that consumers use to keep their online activity secure and private.
On top of that, it helps to get rid of pesky ads that take up space on a website. Those ads are
flashy and enticing some days and annoying and dangerous other days.

Ad blocking is software you install that prevents advertisements from popping up on a web
page. It removes the enticing ads that tend to border around the content you are trying to
access. You end up with a clean look that is easier to maneuver through.

Why Use Ad Blocking?

Improve Online Experience

There are two main reasons why you should block these bothersome ads that pop up. One
reason is to improve the overall experience you have on a web page.

When you load a website and have to continually exit out of pop-ups to access the content, it
can quickly become frustrating. The result is the user becoming frustrated with the experience
and likely moving on to a different site.

For example, when you get redirected to an entirely different web page before you can open up
the desired link, those are interstitial ads (“in between”). They disrupt the desired flow of the
content by sending you on a different path before you can reach your final destination.

Sometimes, these ads are welcoming if they display information interesting to you. But most of
the time, they serve no purpose to the reader.

Another type of ad that has little to no popularity with users is rollover ads. These are the ones
that automatically start playing video and sound as soon as your mouse hovers over the ad box.
Whether you meant to start the ad or not, it will activate from the cursor.

Security and Protection

The other reason for ad blocking, and more serious of the two, is for security purposes. Malware
is becoming a growing concern for internet safety. But currently, malvertisements are causing
significant problems.

Image Courtesy: PixaBay

A malvertisement is a combination of malware and advertising. In simple words, it is a malware which mimics an advertisement. Malware is a virus that infiltrates your computer causing harm to the system and all your stored data. Cybercriminals use malware as a way to steal information and create numerous problems for the user.

What makes malvertising so dangerous is how it is implemented. It looks and acts like a typical
ad you would see on a webpage. The difference, however, is malvertisements will connect you
with a virus, whereas a regular ad will connect you to a company page. These ads are smartly
laid out in a way that engages with you emotionally to entice you to click on the link.

Image Courtesy: PixaBay

It can be hard to recognize a malvertisement since they look like authentic ads. Another way
hackers are getting these ads noticed is by buying out ad spaces on popular and legitimate
websites. So, now you can’t even rely on the reliability of the website. This is where ad blocking
will help remove these ads from the site.

Investing in ad block technology eliminates unnecessary frustration and saves your device from
harm. Use it to remove pesky, unwanted ads, as well as protect your computer from malicious
activity. Malvertisements won’t be going anywhere soon. Protect yourself and your online
activity so you can enjoy your online experience.

Why you must not use Ad blockers? [By: A Bisht]

One of the biggest disadvantages of using an ad blocker is that it negatively affects those content websites which depend on genuine advertisements to earn revenue. Decrease in ad revenue discourages content creation, which is not a good news for users, because many of these small websites are sources of a different view point or if said in other words, offer a more customized take compared to what large websites offer. 

Most hit by Ad blockers are small content websites. The bigger ones have always the option of paying ad blockers to white-list them, so that even when the ad blocker is active, their ads are not blocked.


About the Author

Jordan Choo, a content creator and digital marketing specialist with Hotspot Shield, a product of Anchor Free. With specific inputs from A Bisht.
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