Three Effective Ways to Block 99.9% Of All Pop-Up Ads

Pop-up ads are one of the biggest annoyances on the internet. I remember back in the days when I used to have one, two, three, or more ads jump out me at random times while viewing particular web pages. They would waste my time, slow down my computer, and contain content that was nowhere near what I was interested in.

However, after experimenting with different methods over the years, I discovered many ways to get rid of the annoying ads. Nowadays, as a result of using these methods, I rarely ever receive a pop-up advertisement. The last time I remember receiving a pop-up ad is when I didn't update my tools correctly.

So, how do I do it? Well, prepare to be educated! Here's three ways to block those nasty pop-up ads:

First and foremost… are you using Internet Explorer? No? If not, that's good. If you are, that's OK… but let me tell you something - you need to try out a different browser. I know a lot of people have grown accustomed to it and don't want to bother switching, but hear me out. Internet Explorer is infamous for having plenty of security holes and is the sole reason for many, many viruses, adware and spyware applications and all sorts of nasty stuff that gets into your computer silently and tears it apart. It's also a HUGE magnet for pop-up ads. Yes, it does have a pop-up blocker built into it, but there are plenty of other bad things about it which give enough reason for you to seriously consider a migrating to a new browser.

I'm sure you've heard of it, but if you haven't, there's a browser called FireFox made by a company called Mozilla. FireFox is a browser much like Internet Explorer that you can download for free at http://www.mozilla.org/firefox. The great thing about FireFox is that as soon you start using it for a while, you'll notice that all those viruses and adware you may have been unintentionally receiving in the past… are now all gone. FireFox is also great for blocking pop-up ads. FireFox by default will block most pop-up ads, but there are still a few that get past it… but that's easily solved.

The second solution is to download one of many extensions by FireFox for blocking pop-up ads. One of the most popular extensions is called AdBlock. The great thing about AdBlock is that it allows you to create filters to block out particular keywords found in web URLs (for example: "adserver" or "partypoker"). These lists are very customizable and you can add and remove filters to your liking. Sometimes these lists are so powerful at blocking EVERY pop-ad that you have to tweak it so you actually receive pop-up windows you may want to see. It may seem like a hassle, but this extension is very easy to use and in my experience requires very little tweaking to get it to block mostly everything you don't like.

The third solution is a file called the HOSTS file. If you are using Windows, the HOSTS file is a very little known file located in your system folder that defines the locations for various internet addresses. If you are confused, visit a site like http://accs-net.com/hosts/what_is_hosts.html for more information on what the HOSTS file is. For our purposes, though, all you need to know is that you can use this to block certain web sites from gaining access to your computer and displaying these ads. When you add a server address (ex. ad.adserver.com) to the hosts file, it will redirect all requests from that server to your machine and redirect it to the home address (127.0.0.1), which is return creates confusion with the local computer… and as a result - it doesn't load. To you, the user, it's pretty much all transparent. You can browse the web without those particular web sites throwing ads at you as the hosts file redirects them. If you are having trouble figuring out the hosts file, you can always download pre-made ones from the web that already contain a huge list of known ad servers. You can also download a program called SpyBot Search & Destroy, a spyware/adware remover that also contains an option for modifying your HOSTS file.

That's it. Follow these three solutions and you'll notice those ads you were getting before suddenly disappear. There are tons of other solutions out there and many other programs that work the same way, but a lot of them are scams and just add to the clutter on your machine. I can almost guarantee you that if you perform the above solutions once; you'll never have to worry about it again.

Good luck and happy surfing!