Is selecting to block pop ups pretty much the same as selecting Do Not Track? By thst I mean does it rely on the goodwill of whoever has designed the site you in?
I ask because because there are some sites that still seem to create/allow pop ups when every notification/pop up etc is disallowed on the browser and website level.
Or is it actually possible to prevent absolutely every pop up from every web site meaning that it is likely that there is a setting I could use that I am somehow unaware of?
Thanks
NT
*edit* are 'redirects' technically popups? I have deffo had some redirects stopped by popup blockers in the past but now I think about it, these days most are not stopped. Are these popups that don't get affected by blockers actually redirects?
The short answer is no. Popup blockers do not rely on "good faith" like the 'do not track' option does.
I'm assuming you are referring to built-in browser pop-up blockers. These typically block ad pop-ups from known advertisment domains, and while they do a pretty decent job, won't catch 100%. Also of note, browser based popup blocking refers to the actual pop-up, not all embedded advertisements. Most browser pop-up blockers scrap visited websites for js pop-ups, and block them. However, some js pop-ups are legitimate use cases from websites (think log in, 2fa, etc)
You can drill down on pop-up blocking with 3rd party blockers that allow you to independently tune the blocker again certain geographical regions or ip ranges... but your mileage may vary.
In regards to redirects - Some redirects may be getting blocked depending if the redirect is based on some Javascript being executed on the visited website, however, typically, a redirect is not a pop-up. I would classify redirects in 2 different categories. 1) malicious/potentially unwanted 2) http protocol based (301s/302s)
For example 1: These are not good. If you go to a website, and get redirected elsewhere, there is something iffy going on with either the originally visited website, or you have maleware/pup on your pc
For example 2: http redirects are mostly due to the subdomain changing locations, either permanently (301) or temporarily (302)
Sometimes I wish we could give multiple upvotes fir a single post.
Excellent reply.
TL;DR at end...
The majority of popups I am battling atm have (for some inexplicable reason) in the past been defeated by using a VPN but now that doesnt protect as well as it did (but still does help because w/o a VPN the popups are insane and (stupidly) render the site unusable.
The trouble is, I can understand why the site in question (moviesjoy.##) insists on these popups. It is a 'foreign' site that changes its servers' physical locations on a regular basis to enable it to offer free access to movies and shows. So, as frustrating and irritating as these popups are I recognise this site needs to make money somehow. But regardless of how many popus it sends my way it won't make money from me unfortunately because I don't have much...
So I would still love to get rid of them.
Redirects. Fir me these are most frequently encountered when clicking a link in an email (which I generally only do if it relates to say car insurance or hospital appointments etc etc and I just got an expected/plausible text or filled in an online firm that tells me to check my email). But because the popus from movies joy send to various websites they basically are redirects too by default.
Generally to get to a movie or show I now have to endure 5 or 6 popus first which I close and then watch my film/drama. That's with a VPN. Without one the number of popups seem endless.
Until recently the VPN stopped all popus (the site went down for a while and came back with the unavoidable half-dozen ir so popups).
So the TL;DR from all that must be: is there a way to avoid popus from barely-legal 'foreign' sites that need to make money?
NT
HOU5E[2337920] · #4
NT, ublock is a pretty great ad blocker but if you wanted to do something a bit more powerful you could run PiHole software on your pc or on a pi for network level blocking.
The way PiHoles work is based on DNS lookups. When you type torn.com the computer has to check with a database what the actual ip address of "torn.com" is. Google is a popular DNS server for instance.
What PiHole does is it acts as a sort of middleman or replacement for the DNS server lookup request when you go to a website. PiHoles operate with a blacklist of domains and if your browser tries to load an ad from a blacklisted domain, your PiHole DNS server will point it to a null value - effectively blocking ads on a network level if you choose to run PiHole on a RaspberryPi on your home network (you have a choice of which DNS server to use on your modem).
It's actually a really nifty system because blocking ads on mobile isn't as easy as on desktops but if the ads are blocked at the network level then none of the devices in your household will be able to be severed ads from the blacklisted domains.
For domains that aren't blacklisted, PiHole just forwards the DNS lookup request to one of the giants like Google and proceeds like normal.
Yo HOU5E. Ithink i have seen this discussed or summat similar on Naomi Brockwell's channel. Software called pfSense I think. But isn't that a privacy thing.
Oh just read a but more of what you are saying there. Still a bit confused. Is PiHole the name of an App or a type of software? Guess that's easy to find out.
"Network-wide ad blocking via your own Linux hardware"
My understanding is Pi Hole usually refers to a hardware & software combo involving a Raspberry Pi as the linux hardware but I know people who just use their desktops to run DNS sinkhole software and I'm pretty sure you can run the PiHole software that was originally intended to run on a PI on pretty much any device running linux. Not sure about windows.
If you use windows I'd just cough up the $15 for a raspberry pi and dive in. You don't need a bunch of adapters or addons. Just an old phone charger and a 8GB micro sd card. Maybe you want a usb splitter or adapter for a keyboard & mouse to use during setup but the thing has bluetooth & wifi. It can also take input via HDMI from a TV remote (its called HDMI-CEC) if you hook it up to a TV (which is useful when using as a media player - but I've been messing around with that Pi Zero model there as a media centre and it's underpowered and not officially supported for my favourite media app Kodi, I would suggest a Pi3 or Pi4 if you wanted a media centre reasberry pi).
I do have a Pi kicking around but it's a pretty early gen model so dunno if it would be up to scratch to use these days (I wouldnt even consider it for use as any kind of media hub, literally just for Torn and checking email but it still might be past its 'use by date'). Mind you I am 95% of the time using a phone for Torn these days anyway so I guess all this, even the DNS stuff, is moot.
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