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Adblock v. Adblock Plus: two Chrome extensions compared

June 22, 2011 By 35 Comments

Chrome Extensions are small programs that modify and enhance the functionality of the Chrome browser. The two most popular extensions listed in the Webstore are “AdBlock” and “Adblock Plus” – but which one of the two is the better one? This post will explore the differences between the two ad blocking extensions.

[Editor’s note: this review was written by Tom from chrome-plugins.org, a non-profit project that features reviews of extensions, apps and themes for the Google Chrome browser.]

Adblock Plus for Google Chrome was created by the Adblock Plus community, an open-source movement that is supported by many voluntary contributors who aim to make the internet better for everyone by eliminating bad advertisements. It was originally created for Firefox and was only recently ported as a beta version to Google Chrome. With more than 125 million downloads it is themost popular browser addon in the world.

AdBlock was created by an independent developer for Chrome and Safari when Adblock Plus was still only available for Firefox. He claims to have been inspired by the Adblock Plus movement but is not related to it. Instead he is working on AdBlock for profits from donations as well as paid clones users can purchase voluntarily to support him. Both adblock extensions provide exactly the functionality you expect from them, all ads are reliably blocked on every website. The extensions themselves don’t block anything – the unwanted elements such as advertisements are defined by filter lists.

Both AdBlock and Adblock Plus use the same filter lists that were created for Firefox Adblock Plus. While this works fine on banners and layer-ads, blocking ads embedded in videos is not possible due to a limitation in the blocking capability of the Chrome browser. Adblock Plus has implemented a workaround to that limitation which, unfortunately, only works on Youtube.com and not on other video sites or embedded videos.

While both extensions work almost on a same level, a more detailed analysis is needed in order to find out which one of them is the better adblocker:


Adblock
Adblock Plus
Installation process810Small deduction of points for AdBlock due to the fact that an intrusive window is opened during the installation that asks for a donation to the developer
User interface97Adblock Plus is still in beta and so far only has a rather minimalistic interface
Speed810AdBlock slows down the browser when multiple tabs are opened
Blocking banner ads1010Both are using the same filter lists and hardly miss any ad
Blocking video ads47Video ads often cannot be blocked due to a limitation in the WebKit engine Chrome is based on. Adblock Plus performs significantly better on youtube.com
Creating own filters97Both provide the functionality to easily create own blocking rules, AdBlock makes it slightly more convenient to select unwanted elements on a website
Total4851

Conclusion: In conclusion, both extensions are efficient adblockers, although not as good as the Firefox one. Adblock Plus is based on the same code as the Firefox version and therefore is little bit more sophisticated as it doesn’t negatively impact the performance of the browser and works more reliably on youtube.com. You can install the Adblock Plus extension here.


 
 
 
Samer Kurdi

Samer Kurdi

Has been reviewing software since 2006 when he started Freewaregenius.com
Samer Kurdi

@freewaregenius

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June 22, 2011
Samer Kurdi
35
  • J.L.

    Good article, but I notice a mistake. Adblock Plus is not based on the Firefox version, but on AdThwart.

  • Ellison

    None of these two really “block” ads. They only hide them. Infact, Chrome can’t block adblock due to it add-on system which is really js injection.

  • Ché

    @Ellison – Indeed, these only hide ads in Chrome..

    I strongly recommend using an up-to-date HOSTS file,
    as this will effectively prevent ads from loading.
    -> info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_(file)

    Get a good base HOSTS file here:
    http://msmvps.com/blogs/hostsnews/default.aspx

    + Additional entries can be added with apps like
    SpyBot Search & Destroy
    http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
    and Advanced Systemcare Free
    http://www.iobit.com/advancedsystemcareper.html

    By the way: Comodo Dragon is a privacy-safe version of Google Chrome
    -> http://www.comodo.com/home/browsers-toolbars/browser.php

    Enjoy! =)

  • http://carbonize.co.uk Carbonize

    Firstly I’d like to point out that Chrome is not the only browser to have extensions despite how the first line of this article makes it sound.

    Second Ellison is correct. Googles overly paranoid security means that extensions for Chrome can never be as powerful as the extensions for Firefox are. Chrome extensions are not allowed to touch anything under the hood so ad blockers can only hide the ads and not prevent the browser from downloading them which makes this pointless if one of the reasons you are blocking ads is to try and save bandwidth.

    @J.L. if you go to the Adblock Plus extension page and click Develpers Website you will see it is being made by the same people that make Adblock Plus for Firefox.

  • Fran

    I tried both, and for Chrome I think Adblock works better. About the author asking for donation during installation, there’s nothing bad about that. The man is trying to make a living for himself and his family and I think that is not something to put on balance when you do the compararison.

  • Steve

    Since I switched to Adblock Plus my Chrome not once became slower like it often did with AdBlock.

    Adblock Plus is still in beta but already a lot better then “AdBlock”. I think the only reason people are using the copycat is because they think it is the same as the Firefox version.

  • http://mynimi.net/ Nimi

    Nimi Cleanser
    -basically works out of the box
    -uses kind of heuristic approach
    -checks even scripts
    -configurable patterns – not list based
    -optimized for speed

    https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gjplafconmhcbbkeebpkokelkghjglec

  • Crepe

    The posts above claim that Chrome cannot block ads, but this is not correct. Apple (largely at the instigation of the AdBlock developer) added content blocking to the WebKit code base a year ago, and this was quickly taken up by Google Chrome. It’s true that it’s still less powerful than the blocking on Firefox (it doesn’t work on content downloaded by plugins, hence the Youtube trouble) but it does work in the vast majority of cases.

  • Dudeguy

    Does Nimi Cleanser block graphic ads or simply hide them, as Crepe is suggesting is possible in Chrome?

  • http://mynimi.net/ Nimi

    *Dudeguy, regarding Your questions – Nimi Cleanser process webpage on:
    -node creation
    -before load and on page load (two different events, with small differences)
    with events processed before passing further, by so depending on which mechanism identified malicious content (for example size detection requires object to already have comparable bounds) those in theory should be removed before generated. As I recall we tested that on scripts – with positive results.

    For further theoretical background – experimental API has some functions allowing control over outgoing requests – filtering those. Still that wouldn’t defend against all threats as many malicious content can be just embedded into page.

    Using opportunity – there is already new version, shield based.

    Best regards,
    Samantha
    Nimi projects

  • http://www.godotmedia.com/ Godot

    Well written. I am glad they included comparisons between Adblock and Adblock Plus.

  • SnarkAttack

    When I finally got around to using Chrome, it was basically because Firefox–v4&5–got SO bogged down. I open a lot at once. I like my page to STOP reloading, which I’ve noticed Chrome is constantly doing–so frustrating–but I digress.

    Been using Adblock Plus (Ads were yesterday is how I know which is which!) since the Fanboys list got tweaked to block the right material–it’s the one I use to this day, though there are others like Easy Script that are supposed to be fine and if I ever go to China sites, where I probably won’t recognize ads unless they’re flashing around, I like having the option of national variations.

    I use Chrome for its SPEED. That said, being spoiled on ABP with Firefox, man, having febreze and zyrtec and crap advertised made me go bonkers. Going onto quite a slew of TV stations, I’ve noticed plenty of them have managed to bypass the ability to block their ads, ugh. Good thing I dislike 99.999% of TV (Jon Stewart would totally be worth ads :P )

    My solution is simple enough: Chrome for YouTube (as long as I don’t load much–it gets stupid “wait” vs “kill pages” things toooo often and when I browse, I usually have nothing but the browser and maybe notepad if I’m jotting down quick thoughts or whatever. If I open a browser while working, I kill it after I’m done. I like not constantly using memory and bandwidth for stuff I’m not doing. Old school habits die hard (late 80s through entire 90s era old school)… Firefox gets almost everything else. If something’s super important and not working well on one, I’ll swap, but here, I’m on Firefox; a YT watch later list is hovering in Chrome. I wish Chrome would allow us to decide more because it IS faster, significantly, for me, but alas, I’m stuck with the system resource hog of Firefox a bit too often. What can ya do? I AM going to go check out that host info… might be useful. Thanks to the one who suggested it and linked to it :)

    Cheers to all! I don’t mind the popups when they ask for a donation as long as it is not every browser load etc (download helper would open a tab and do all sorts of junk I got sick of in about 2 days’ time–I like things to sit down and shut up until I make them do something :) )

  • didyomama

    if it doesn’t block hulu ads, it’s worthless. so f**k adblock

    • Samer

      @ didyomama: see here; this one will block video ads, even from Hulu

  • Pingback: 20 Amazing Chrome Extensions for Librarians

  • B.S.

    This is not a comparison. It’s an ad about adblock plus, which is based on adthwart and which sucked bad. Adblock plus even though it’s open source is nowhere near Adblock. I tried them both and using Adblock for years although i would like to use Adblock plus if it was working like it worked at Firefox. Although i must say that both plugins still can’t stop ads from downloading sometimes.

  • Kovarsky Kirill

    Thank you for the analyse, i prefer adblock plus for it’s opensource property and performance with many tabs.

  • Kokain

    I used them both for less than a year and while I thought it’s enjoyable experience not seeing the adverts, the guys above me are right, it does not exactly block just hides. My main motivation to leave both of them is because of the new whitelisting which allowed small adverts to work by default. As soon as I installed the good old AdMuncher, Chrome was flying again and sites started opening much quicker than before. It also takes less memory in task manager compared to either ABP or Adblock inside chrome manager. AdMuncher currently takes 9367k! I bet you the other two can’t hit anything below 20k.

    Try AdMuncher I highly recommend it.

  • beastmaster

    I really want to ask that installing these add ons really block advertising from loading or just hide them as i found while using AdBlock Plus on Google Chrome the pages load faster and without it the same page loads with little bit of delay,so please clarify does installing these extensions really saves bandwidth or not.

  • CF

    ABP doesnt block ads anymore. The author accepted money from the ad companies and is whitelisting the ads.

  • Adrian

    @ CF Wrong info, as my ABP still works great! What’s your source for the rumours?

  • JoerKun

    Sure cleaned up this website, :) those annoying hover over text adds are the worst! You can’t even read an article, kind of Ironic being about ads it was flooded with them. :(

    • Samer

      @ JoerKun: I know, those ARE the worst! ;)

  • Reading

    Adblock, as of right now, is better than Adblock Plus. Look at Adblock’s update list for version 2.5. It can now block ads in all videos, including youtube, and Hulu. It also can block ads in all flash games. It claims it is now twice as fast than before and uses less memory. It added a toolbar to allow customization of adblock filters. Also, ads are now blocked from downloading, instead of just being removed afterwards.

  • J

    Adblock Plus for Chrome is simple and lightweight. I trust it more as it’s now being taken care of by the ABP project. “Adblock” is not terrible by any means but it’s just one man doing his best. I’ve never found Adblock to be quite as good but as they use the same blocklists it’s mostly personal choice.

  • Bill

    Does AdBlock actually prevent ads from downloading?
    Yes! Ad scripts, images, and Flash are not sent to your computer, saving you bandwidth.

    http://code.google.com/p/adblockforchrome/wiki/FrequentlyAskedQuestions#Does_AdBlock_actually_prevent_ads_from_downloading?

  • To Samer

    Dear Samer, please update the article. People reading may not go to the bottom of the comments section to find out that ads in all videos are blocked and that ads aren’t downloaded at all, saving bandwidth.

  • pradafang

    You’re forgetting one VERY important thing.

    Adblock has a “pause” option, while adblock plus does not. It only has an “enabled for this site” option (and so does adblock).

    Basically, the fact that you can enable/disable adblock much more easily than adblock plus (which requires you to enter the Chrome settings to enable it again) are what made me choose adblock over ABP.

    If adblock lost 2 points for the installation process (which, to be honest, most users will only need to do once per machine), it wins 100 more over ABP due to them lacking a simple “pause” feature.

  • Luke Lnx

    Check the “Conclusion” last sentence, “… You can install the Adblock Plus extension here.” <– LoL. How do I remove this 'ad'?

    • Samer Kurdi

      (?) This link is not an ad, it is a link that you transports you to the page where you can install the Chrome extension.

  • Anonymous

    I just installed AdBlock and it does indeed disable ads in videos. The original article should be updated. However, hulu does not like its ads to be disabled so you have to Pause AdBlock to get hulu to continue to play. Meh. It still works well on Facebook and Twitter. Have not noticed any difference in speed and I always have multiple tabs open because I have a short attention span.

  • Ben

    I find it harsh that AdBlock was redacted points for asking for a donation once immediately after its installed, you never see it again ever. If that page never came up he would pretty much probably loose 90% of his donations since nobody will know they can and should donate.

    What makes it worse is that both software bring up a page after installation, one just has a donation part on it. So they both are equally in your face(more like not in your face) but they still got equal marks?

    • pradafang

      Exactly, even though AdBlock Plus lacks a simple but useful “pause” function that AdBlock does have, they don’t lose points. But OMG! A developer asking for a donation ONCE loses points for that even though the program (you know, the thing that matters…) is actually better. It’s not like wikipedia that asks for donations every two days or so, they ask ONCE.

  • http://aardling.com Stijn V.

    Short question: what would be the consequences of using them both at the same time?

    • http://secureweb.persianblog.ir/ Peaceful1

      It will slow down $ crash more often & block unexpected stuff