Reduce Hassle with Ad-Blocking Plug-ins

Installing ad-blocking plug-ins within my browser has been on my mind for a while now. There just haven't been a lot of reasons to follow through with the installation process. It's not that the plug-ins are difficult to install; it's actually very simple. It's just been easy enough to ignore much of the advertisements out there. There have been a number of websites, however, which are trying hard to make ads difficult to miss. Some even resort to trickery for getting a few clicks.

The Catalyst

First let's take a look at the downloads page for WinSCP. If someone is looking to download the software, where do you think the average person is going to click (see Figure 1)?

Figure 1. WinSCP Downloads Page

Given the context of the post, it's probably obvious that the huge "Download" button isn't the correct answer. The software is actually downloaded under the "Installation package" link.

Another service trying hard to get visitors clicking ads is Dictionary.com. Figure 2 shows that nearly half the page is cover in advertisements.

Figure 2. Before AdBlock

These are just a couple examples of why AdBlock is now installed in my browser. Dictionary.com now looks like the screenshot in Figure 3.

Figure 3. After AdBlock

Conclusion

Note that I'm not completely opposed to advertisements on websites. Running a website isn't exactly cheap and advertising seems to help some stay afloat. For those interested, AdBlock provides an option for letting specific websites display ads. We just need to visit the website and enable ads (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. Enable Ads

From what I understand about online advertising, however, is that ads need to be clicked for them to benefit your favorite websites. So enabling them isn't going to be helpful. If you've never clicked an ad before, you might as well do yourself a favor and keep them disabled.