efficiency and ads

Discussion of general topics about Mozilla Firefox
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cowboy
Posts: 164
Joined: October 29th, 2003, 11:11 am

efficiency and ads

Post by cowboy »

While browsing I notice that if I shop for boots, I start seeing boot ads/info on other sites, yahoo etc...
Somehow this get gathered and proliferated, are there things I can do to stop that and control data gathering etc.

Also, are there some basic settings I can adjust within FF , cache setting etc.. to make it more efficient ?
Jn 17:17
barbaz
Posts: 1504
Joined: October 1st, 2014, 3:25 pm

Re: efficiency and ads

Post by barbaz »

cowboy wrote:While browsing I notice that if I shop for boots, I start seeing boot ads/info on other sites, yahoo etc...
Somehow this get gathered and proliferated, are there things I can do to stop that and control data gathering etc.
Sure. Install uBlock Origin and set it to block the types of stuff you don't want (uBlock Origin Dashboard > 3rd-party filters).
cowboy
Posts: 164
Joined: October 29th, 2003, 11:11 am

Re: efficiency and ads

Post by cowboy »

I will look into it.
How is it to set up.

After, when working,
any problems or is it bulletproof ??
Jn 17:17
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smsmith
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Joined: December 7th, 2004, 8:51 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: efficiency and ads

Post by smsmith »

As I recall, when you install uBlock, it selects a basic set of filters for you. So it starts blocking ads right away. It's been so long since I have viewed the "real" web, that when I do, I vow to never use the web again. It really is horrible.

I've very rarely had a problem with it. The most common would be you click a link that has some sort of a redirect in it, and uBlock doesn't like the redirect, so it warns you and gives you the option of viewing the page anyway.

The reason you are seeing ads related to things you search in one site showing up in another site is likely third party cookies. Sites allow "partners" to setup cookies on your computer. Multiple sites are partners of these third parties, so essentially, different sites can see things you have done on other sites. I turn off third party cookies and also flush cookies at the end of each browsing session. uBlock will just block the ads, but the data link will still be there unless you turn off the third party cookies.
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barbaz
Posts: 1504
Joined: October 1st, 2014, 3:25 pm

Re: efficiency and ads

Post by barbaz »

cowboy wrote:I will look into it.
How is it to set up.
Pretty straightforward. Just select which lists you want and click "Apply changes".

The hardest part of setup is finding the dashboard. To get to the dashboard, click the uBlock Origin toolbar button to open the popup, then click the black "uBlock Origin <version>" bar at the top of the popup.
cowboy wrote:After, when working,
any problems or is it bulletproof ??
I'm not noticing any issues with it.
smsmith wrote:As I recall, when you install uBlock, it selects a basic set of filters for you.
I've just checked what that set is -
  • My filters
  • uBlock filters
  • uBlock filters - Badware risks
  • uBlock filters - Privacy
  • uBlock filters - Unbreak
  • EasyList
  • EasyPrivacy
  • Malware Domain List
  • Malware domains
  • Peter Lowe's Ad and tracking server list
That configuration will block ads and most tracking.
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Mo_D
Posts: 774
Joined: January 4th, 2006, 6:34 pm

Re: efficiency and ads

Post by Mo_D »

barbaz wrote: The hardest part of setup is finding the dashboard. To get to the dashboard, click the uBlock Origin toolbar button to open the popup, then click the black "uBlock Origin <version>" bar at the top of the popup.
Ha! I've just started using it and hadn't figured that out yet. I've been going to the add-on manager. Now that you point it out, I finally see the little dark gray gear icon on the black background. Great design work, kid. The on/off button is big as a house, but the pref button is invisible.

But other than that, I have no complaints with it so far. I made no adjustments, just ran it the way it was set up, and haven't seen an ad. No problems. I even created a filter to get rid of that "Make Google your homepage" ad that's been bugging me forever.
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