Top 5 Ad Blocker Extensions for Google Chrome

Google Chrome by default allows to block intrusive advertisements on websites. You can enable this feature from Chrome settings page as we have explained in this article. However, this default blocking feature will not work effectively as Google’s revenue is also relying on advertisements. Therefore, using third-party extensions is the best way to block advertisements in Google Chrome. In this article, we will explain top 5 most popular ad blocker extensions for Google Chrome browser.

Finding Ad Blocker Extensions for Chrome

Launch your Chrome browser and go to chrome://extensions/ page to see all installed extensions in the browser. Click on the main menu showing as three horizontal lines on top left corner. Click the “Open Chrome Web Store” link at the bottom section.

This will open Chrome Web Store in a new tab and type “ad block” or “ad blocker” in the search box. Press enter key to get all relevant results and click on “More Extensions” to expand the list.

You can filter the items based on reviews and click on any item to get more details and add it to Chrome. Below are the top 5 ad blocker extensions that works well in Chrome.

1. Adblock Plus – Free Ad Blocker

Adblock Plus is one of most popular extensions in Chrome Web Store and downloaded over 500 million times. It offers all functions you need for blocking ads on websites, YouTube and prevent social trackers. Instead of searching this extension in Chrome Web Store, open Chrome on your PC or Mac and go to the Adblock plus site.

Click the green “Get Adblock Plus for Chrome” button and this will automatically take you to the Chrome Web Store. When prompted, add the extension to Chrome by clicking the blue “Add to Chrome” button.

After installing, click on the extensions icon appearing next to Chrome address bar. Again, click on the three vertical dots against the extension name and select “Options” from the menu.

This will display the settings screen where you can apply additional measures like blocking push notifications, social icons trackers and allow websites under “Allowed websites” section.

Close the Adblock Plus tab and you are now free from annoying ads. When you are viewing a page, click on the Adblock Plus extension icon to see the number of ads blocked and disable blocking on the site or page.

Related: How to detect and bypass ad blocker to earn more with WordPress websites?

2. AdBlock – Best Ad Blocker

If you do not like Adblock Plus for any reasons, then the next option is to try AdBlock extension. This is also popular ad blocking extension available for Chrome with more than 60 million users. Below is the list of overall features you will get with this free extension:

• Block ads on all websites including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube videos.
• Prevent social and other third-party tracking.
• Customization for using dark theme, whitelist and filters.

After installing the extension, you can go to the “Options” and customize the settings to effectively block ads.

In addition to blocking  annoying pop-ups and ads, AdBlock extension offers additional features under “FILTER LISTS” section. For instance, you can stop social media buttons and other pop-ups annoyances from tracking you.

Select the options you want to enable, once done, close the AdBlock screen. Now, you can continue to use the extension and view ad free websites.

3. AdBlocker Ultimate

The next extension in our list is AdBlocker Ultimate. It works similar to the above mentioned extensions with no “Acceptable Ads”. This means advertisers part of “Acceptable Ads” program will also be blocked while using this extension. This is a good option if you completely want to get rid of ads on websites and prevent tracking.

You can go to the extensions settings page and customize the language filters, add additional rules and whitelist websites.

Another advantage of using this extension is that you can selectively block any element on a webpage using “Block element” feature. The only problem we have noticed is that when you enable or disable ads on a page, the extension will automatically reload the page without showing an option.

4. AdGuard Blocker

Though this extension offers similar features like AdBlock and Adblock Plus, the developer claims that it consumes half of the memory compared to others. This is a good try if you are working with too many tabs in Chrome which is always a problem for high memory consumption.

• You can completely block trackers including social media buttons with 10K+ rules from AdGuard.
• Blocks YouTube ads, banners and crypto-jacking.
• Lightweight with sleek interface.

5. Ghostery – Privacy Ad Blocker

The last extension in our list is Ghostery. Unlike other free extensions this one offer in-app purchases for getting additional privacy and ad free private search engine.

• Using AI to prevent trackers with strong blacklist.
• You can trust the site to add it in whitelist while viewing.
• View the list of trackers and customize the settings.

Conclusion

All the above listed extensions will work better than the default Chrome ad blocking features. Though you can block ads on all websites, we recommend whitelisting legitimate websites. Alternatively, you can also allow “Acceptable Ads” which will only block intrusive ads. This will allow publishers to earn money while you can get free information from their site. Also, remember that extensions will only work on Chrome desktop version and not on mobile apps. For mobiles, you may need to find separate apps to block advertisements.