Things You Didn't Know about How to Block Ads in 2020

In the electronically dominated world that we live in today, we expect things to be done fast and with a little effort put into it. Today, most of the web sites earn their revenue from ad banner impressions and clicks. But as a user, some of these ads can be very annoying & disturbing and in a few cases even malicious. To overcome these issues, it becomes necessary to block ads. It's not so easy to block ads on smartphone as it needs some proper way to be followed.

Today, smartphones have become an integral part of our lives so much that even though one-to-one communication has decreased with our parents, relatives, and friends but we are connected digitally (video calls and messages). Smartphones have made our lives so easy and relaxing but there are some of the ads on smartphones which irritate us very much while using our smartphones.

These ads are created by pop-up pages, while some automatically start playing video or audio clips.  These cause phone’s resources to be overused. As normal people don't know how to block ads running in our smartphones. Here is a brief guide on how to block ads in simple steps.

How do Companies target Audience to Advertise Products?

Smartphone tracks each every detail of the user and maps it as data to show relevant ads to the user. We have become so dependent on the technology that we feel short-handed when our smart devices run out of charge or we forget to take them with us or it runs into some repair.

There are many applications available online where we go and browse and shop for almost everything. Right from groceries to electronic gadgets to furniture to automobile, everything is made available online and we just buy it online assuming that we’re doing ourselves a favor. But, is that what really happening?

Smartphone applications request for special permissions at the time of installation and we just accept them without a second thought. It requests permission to access our location, personal information, access to our contacts, to view, read and send SMS and we simply grant permission to whatever is asked without knowing what we’re doing.

Follow these steps to Block the Ads on Smartphones:

• Read the app permissions carefully before installing it and grant access to what is absolutely necessary for the proper functioning of the application.
• Use apps like Ad-Blocker browser, AdLock, AppBrain, AdAway, AdGuard, AdBlock Plus to prevent annoying Ads from popping up here and there when you’re browsing.
• Clear your browser cache regularly.
• Clear your browser search history regularly.
• Clear your app cache regularly.
• Avoid browsing in another person’s phone or computer.
• Use Incognito mode when browsing in a cyber café.
• Visit only secure sites (HTTPS) and avoid other sites (HTTP).
• When searching for jobs on job portals, provide only the necessary details and avoid giving unwanted details to avoid spam calls and spam messages.

Also Read: Block or Unsubscribe from Unwanted Promotional Messages

Use of Internet and Data

The internet works based on the data available and the volume of data available increases manifold every day. The smartphone applications that we use today collects data of the user and the activities of the user(s) to help improve the application and to generate huge revenue from advertisements.

Google, one of the largest search engines in the world has admitted that over 92% of its revenue is from Ads. Have you ever wondered as to how the same product which you viewed on some website appears as an Ad on another website that you’re viewing later? This is simply because the websites collect your data in the form of cookies and it is provided as data to the other site and this is carried so on and so forth in almost every website. This thing helps them in re-targeting the audience.

Legal or Non-Legal

Is it legal to collect all these data and information by these websites? Well, the answer is yes, because when you sign up to any website they ask you to agree to the terms and conditions of the company and we simply agree to all of them without bothering to read them because they are too long and boring and we end up providing them the data. This is the main reason of these annoying ads and thats why you see these ads. So, you should read the terms and conditions in order to block the ads.

Also Read: What is Web Scraping & Is it Legal?

So, is there any way to block the ads or all this from happening?  The answer is yes. As mentioned earlier, there are several ways to block the ads and prevent these annoying Ads popping up on the websites and the SMS’s from being received on your smartphones. The following are some of the ways to prevent e-commerce companies and other organizations from sending you unwanted messages to your phone.