I would be willing to bet that
when I surf the Web, I have
a nicer experience than you
do.
I’m not bragging. I just want
to make you aware that if you
know a couple of the tricks that
I do, you can increase your
surfing enjoyment and safety.
Read on if you’re interested.
Let me say first that we’re
going to get into some Internet
philosophy here, and I know
that not everyone will agree
with mine. That’s the way a
diverse world works. Everyone
makes up his own mind, as I
have. If your thinking doesn’t
follow mine, that’s OK. Follow
your own drummer.
But I think I owe it to my
loyal readership, if there is
such a thing, to inform them of
options that are out there.
First, let me say that advertising
is part of the Internet.
Some websites depend on the
income from ads to pay their
bills. I don’t have any problem
with that. I will let them show
me ads on the pages that I look
at. That’s a fair proposition.
Of course, there are alternative
ways of financing website
businesses _ having paid
subscriptions, for example.
Not many sites do that yet,
but I think that will gradually
increase over time.
Now, I think the relationship
between a website and
its viewer implies a two-way
agreement. The site gives value
to the viewer (information),
and the viewer gives value
back (the viewing of ads). As
long as each party is satisfied
with what the other provides,
everything is OK.
The problem starts when one
party begins to take more than
the other is prepared to give.
Usually, this plays out as the
website making the ad-viewing
experience annoying to the
viewer. It unilaterally reduces
the value that the viewer gets
from the site. This upsets the
implicit agreement.
There is a point, admittedly
one that’s very arbitrary and
subjective on my part, that I
consider my annoyance breaking
point. Once a site goes past
that point, I consider it OK to
block its bad behavior. I try
to be fair, but when a website
shows it has no respect for my
concerns as a viewer, I lose
respect for their concerns in
return.
In plain language, the site
is forcing annoying ads on the
viewer. I call these “bully”
ads. I’m sure you’ve seen them.
They pop out and move around
on your screen, or pop up and
cover what you’re reading. You
know what I’m talking about.
When this happens, I have no
qualms about taking measures
to try to stop it.
How? Here are some suggestions.
First,
use the
Firefox
Web
browser
instead of
Internet
Explorer.
The motivation
behind
Firefox is
to provide
the best
experience
for
Web surfers. The motivation
behind Internet Explorer is
Microsoft’s bottom line. The
difference shows.
You can get “add-ons” for
both browsers, but those for
Internet Explorer seem to be
things that steer the user to
various companies’ services.
Those for Firefox primarily do
things that Web surfers want.
Second, use a couple of
Firefox’s add-ons. Within the
Firefox browser, you can pull
down the Tools menu, click on
“add-ons”, then “browse all
add-ons,” and you’ll get a page
where you can peruse all sorts
of neat things.
Click on “popular” and it will
show you the most-downloaded.
The very top one is called
“Adblock Plus.” Select and
install this one. After installing
it, you will be presented
with a list of “subscriptions” to
select from. Just pick the one
for the USA. It comprises a list
of third-party ad sites that it
will block.
Now this add-on doesn’t
block all ads. If an ad resides
on the website you’re looking
at, it lets it display. If, however,
the ad resides on a third-party
server (very common), and is
on the subscription list you
chose, it doesn’t display the ad
on your page.
Not only does this make the
Web page less annoying, but it
also speeds the loading of the
page, as your browser doesn’t
have to take the time to download
that particular content.
Here are two things to keep
in mind.
One is that occasionally this
add-on will interfere with the
mechanics of a website. There
may be a feature which will no
longer work.
The second is that you can
“white-list” websites that you
want to be excluded from this
ad-blocking. If you like the site,
and want to view all the ads,
or have trouble with the site’s
operation, just right-click on
the little red ABP icon and disable
ad blocking for that site.
Remember, fair is fair.
The other add-on I recommend
is called Flashblock.
This one blocks Flash content
from appearing in your
browser.
“Flash” is an Adobe product
that allows programmers to
use fancy graphics to enhance
their sites. The issue here is
what is meant by “enhance.”
Flash ads can be very distracting.
Flash is also a good vehicle
for bringing malware to your
computer. Flash technology accounted
for about 20 percent of
malware infections in the last
quarter of 2009.
If you install Flashblock,
you will get a little stylized
“f” in the space where a Flash
element goes on a web page. If
you want to see that particular
content, just click the “f” and it
shows it.
You can also, of course,
white-list a whole website
for Flash, so that none of that
site’s Flash content is blocked.
If you try my methods, I think
you will be pleasantly surprised
at the difference they
make.
But please remember that
these are “powerful” weapons
to wield against a website
that depends on advertising
revenue. If you do fight back
against bully ads, please remember
you have an obligation
to be fair.
BRUCE ENDRIES is former systems
manager at The Daily Star.
He can be reached by e-mail
at techgp@dailystarmail.com. His
columns can be found at
www.thedailystar.com/techgp.
