There aren’t many things on the Internet as irritating as pop-up ads. Nevertheless, not all pop-ups you encounter online are obnoxious. Some of them perform benign functions on websites and help improve user experience. One of the examples is a pop-up that appears during the checkout process on an e-commerce site. It keeps the customer on the web page and allows them to complete all the steps for purchasing the product or service of choice.

Unfortunately, many ads can be harmful and distribute malicious code that contaminates your device and steals personal information, abuses CPU power to mine cryptocurrency, or perhaps even encrypts your data to hold it for ransom.

 

Best web browsers for an ad-free experience

There are quite a few secure browsers to choose from. As a matter of fact, almost all modern web browsers have built-in defenses against dodgy pop-up ads. However, they aren’t equally effective and some can do a better job protecting your online routine than their counterparts.

 

Opera

Despite the fact that Opera isn’t one of the top browsers in terms of the market share, it delivers a few great features to safeguard your privacy and keep your Internet experience hassle-free. The functionality that stands out from the rest is the built-in VPN (virtual private network) component aimed at keeping your traffic private. You can increase your privacy by adding even one more VPN and getting so the double VPN protection. Several options are described on Cooltechzone.com

As far as ad blocking is concerned, Opera fulfills the task with flying colors. It prevents ads from popping up on web pages and utilizes reliable anti-tracking mechanisms. You can also leverage an IP filter to define which pop-ups should be blocked and which are allowed.

 

Firefox

Firefox is equipped with one of the most effective ad blocking modules across the board. Although this technology might seem less dependable than third-party apps, it can still fend off the vast majority of intrusive ads.

In addition to blocking pop-up ads, Firefox can protect you against tracking cookies. Furthermore, by customizing your list of exceptions based on specific criteria, you can allow legit pop-ups to get through and keep the harmful and junk ones out of the way.

In case you aren’t willing to install a third-party ad blocking tool, then Firefox is one of the best browsers you can use.

 

Google Chrome

Chrome, by far the most popular browser in the world, boasts user-friendly controls and high efficiency in terms of blocking pop-up ads. It keeps most of the worthless adverts from interrupting your web surfing activities. To its credit, Chrome is easy to configure and you can disable the option for sites to gather and save cookies. Meanwhile, it allows some reputable websites to display important notifications.

 

Microsoft Edge

Although Microsoft Edge is somewhere at the bottom of the browser hierarchy by its usage share, its ad blocking capabilities are quite commendable. As the successor of Internet Explorer, Edge thwarts harmful ads while allowing benign ones.

There is a caveat, though. This browser doesn’t provide the option of making a list of permitted sources. Also, Edge may reportedly block pop-up dialogs generated by some legit sites as part of their normal operation.

With that said, you can use Microsoft Edge only if you are an IE fan. Otherwise, you are better off opting for another browser.

 

Top browser extensions to block ads

Adblock Plus

It’s worth emphasizing from the start that Adblock Plus shouldn’t be confused with AdBlock. The latter will be described further down. Adblock Plus is a simple add-on with just a few helpful features. It has flexible controls allowing you to create a list of trusted sources and configure your own ad filter. This applet might not block absolutely all unwelcome pop-up ads, but it is generally dependable.

AdBlock

AdBlock is the most popular extension of its kind. While letting useful pop-ups through, it blocks all the other ads, including sponsored information on YouTube.

Extensive customizability is one of the main benefits of AdBlock. It allows you to set various filters, block specific ads, and create a whitelist of advertising sources.

This tool supports all major web browsers, including Safari. Its prolific features combined with zero cost make it the best ad blocking extension on the market.

Takeaways

There are plenty of ad blockers out there, but you might need to separate the wheat from the chaff to make the right choice. Hopefully, the list above will help you enjoy web surfing without being disturbed by irksome advertising.