# Adblocking

For many marketers, there is no such thing as bad publicity. In order to improve sales and gain greater consumer visibility and engagement, many companies have become more aggressive with their marketing strategies, bombarding users with deceptive targeted advertisements anytime they visit third-party websites. As further described by Don Marti in his article [“Targeted advertising considered harmful,”](https://zgp.org/targeted-advertising-considered-harmful/) providing consumers with better deals, experiences and service can only be achieved through, “a marketing ecosystem that leverages data, algorithms and insight at scale.”

So, by following users around the internet, adverts can quickly become tedious and vexatious. Not only that, but they can also be dangerous, often used by criminals and hackers as a tool to hijack users’ computers and use their information as ransom. ([Hern](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/16/major-sites-new-york-times-bbc-ransomware-malvertising), 2016) As a result, many users have resorted to using adblocking tools in order to limit the ads they see online and keep their information private. Although most adblockers completely eliminate targeted advertisements, certain platforms like Adblock Plus replace the more invasive adverts with smaller and subtler ads instead. ([Kastrenakes](https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/13/12890050/adblock-plus-now-sells-ads), 2016)

In effect, adblockers made my online experience much more pleasurable. As seen below, the uBlock origin extension completely removed the intrusive ads from the online clothing websites I had visited earlier. Therefore, I became less distracted when reading the BuzFeed news article, as the pieces of clothing I was interested in, were no longer shown.
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**Without Ublock Adblocker**
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**With Ublock Adblocker**