I find most advertisements on the internet to be annoying. A few tactful advertisements here or there on a website would not bother me so much. However, many advertisements are not tactful, and many websites have too many ads. Can anything be done to reduce, or even eliminate, the number of advertisements one sees when browsing the web? Yes, there is, and in this article, we will show you how to do it.

The easiest way to enjoy a mostly ad-free web browsing experience is to use a web browser that can effectively eliminate advertisements. Web browsers are the programs that one uses to access the internet. Web browsers ship with most personal computers by default. For example, Windows users are likely familiar with Internet Explorer, the web browser that ships with the Windows operating system. Programs that come with your computer by default are not necessarily the best programs available, and such is the case with Internet Explorer. We at Matters of Truth use and recommend another web browser: Mozilla Firefox.

Firefox is a very popular and free open source web browser, and one of its many features allows users to add to its default functions by installing extensions or add-ons. Enough people appear to be fed up with the overabundance of annoying web advertising that someone created a Firefox extension that will block most advertisements. Below is a step-by-step tutorial that should get you on your way to an ad-free web browsing experience.

An Example:

By visiting Matters of Truth’s facebook page, we will show you what you will be able to do with Firefox.

First, a look at what that page looks like normally:

Next, a look at what the same page looks like using the ad-blocking method described below:

As you may notice, the advertisement bar that appears to the right in the first image is missing in the second.  The result: a pleasant, ad-free browsing experience.

What You Will Need:

1. An installed copy of the Firefox web browser.  Head on over to Mozilla, download Firefox, and install it.

The Steps:

Step 1:

Once you have installed Firefox, the next thing you need to do is open it by clicking on the Firefox shortcut. This shortcut will most likely be located on your desktop, as shown below:

Step 2:

Once you open Firefox, navigate to the add-ons link by clicking “Tools” in the top menu, as shown below:

This brings up the add-ons menu.  Make sure “Get-Add-ons” is selected.

Step 3:

The add-ons menu includes a search bar that says “Search All add-ons.”  Enter the term “Adblock Plus” and press enter.  You may get several results, but the one we want is simply called “Adblock Plus,” and will probably be the first result on the list.  Select it, and click “Add to Firefox,” as shown below:

Step 4:

Once you click on “Add to Firefox,” an installation window will open, and a countdown will begin.  Double check that you are installing the Adblock Plus extension, and once the countdown reaches zero, click on “Install Now.”

Step 5:

Firefox will install Adblock Plus.  When it finishes, it will ask you to “Restart Firefox to complete your changes.”  Do you really want ad-free browsing?  Then, by all means, restart your browser.  You can quickly do so by simply clicking the “Restart Firefox” button.

Step 6:

Upon restart, Firefox will inform you that you have successfully added an add-on.  How about that.  A web browser that pats you on the back whenever you do something right.  What could be better?  At some point, you will see the Adblock Plus filter subscription menu.  It is important that you select a filter and click “Subscribe.”  The one I use is “EasyList (USA),” and it works wonderfully.

Closing Comments:

Congratulations!  You will now be able to browse the internet in a mostly ad-free environment.  I say “mostly” because, though the default settings in Adblock Plus are very effective at removing most advertisements, some ads manage to slip through.  Additionally, sometimes Adblock Plus is overzealous and blocks something it should not.  Perhaps we will do another tutorial explaining some of the tricks one can use to squash those few advertisements that get through Adblock, as well as one explaining how to tell it to stop blocking something.

Did you like this tutorial?  Let us know in the comments.  Are you having problems with the tutorial?  You can also tell us those in the comments as well.