Ad Block Plus filter subscriptions.

[Anthony A]

What filter subscriptions are Ad Block Plus users recommending here? Ad block Plus does not recommend the use of Filterset.G http://adblockplus.org/en/faq_project#filterset.g

[Andavari]

I'm currently using these, they're available in ABP:

 

Of course there's even more filters available here:

http://adblockplus.org/en/subscriptions

[JDPower]

Ad block Plus does not recommend the use of Filterset.G

Be aware that is personal opinion of the creator of ABP (and because there is some animosity with the old Adblock, and by proxy FiltersetG), not because there is any technical reason. I got into a discussion on Mozilla with the creator of Adblock Plus about this and he admitted that Filterset G will work fine Adblock Plus. He just thinks the filters are unnecessarily long and complicated, making it almost impossible to find any rule that blocks something it shouldn't, though I've never had that problem. I still use the standard Adblock and tried some of the ABP recommended filters but they just weren't as effective as FiltersetG (ie, I was still seeing ads).

 

On ABP's plus side it does now have the promising looking RIP style add on Element Hiding Helper

[Anthony A]

On ABP's plus side it does now have the promising looking RIP style add on Element Hiding Helper

 

 

 

Doesn't the Easy Element subscription do the same thing? It's by the same person that made the Easy List subscription and is supposed to remove the stuff that Easy List doesn't like the spaces left behind and text adds. http://easylist.adblockplus.org/easylist-element.htm

[Anthony A]

I'm currently using these, they're available in ABP:

 

Of course there's even more filters available here:

http://adblockplus.org/en/subscriptions

 

Well the only one there I can really use is Easy List because the others are not English.

[JDPower]

Doesn't the Easy Element subscription do the same thing? It's by the same person that made the Easy List subscription and is supposed to remove the stuff that Easy List doesn't like the spaces left behind and text adds. http://easylist.adblockplus.org/easylist-element.htm

Not really. My understanding is that the element hiding helper allows you to block any page content you want, similar to what Remove It Permanently does.

[Andavari]

Well I dug through my subscriptions since I hadn't even paid any attention to them since adding them and the dutchblock (Nederland) subscription stated it had been canceled and to use another subscription.

[Anthony A]

Well I dug through my subscriptions since I hadn't even paid any attention to them since adding them and the dutchblock (Nederland) subscription stated it had been canceled and to use another subscription.

 

 

I noticed you are from the USA? Why were you using the non English subscriptions. Do you visit many non english sites? Or do they block English adds to?

[Andavari]

I noticed you are from the USA? Why were you using the non English subscriptions. Do you visit many non english sites? Or do they block English adds to?

I don't visit that many U.S. sites at all unless it's for a recording label that offers free MP3's hence the reason for the European ad blocking filters. Most of the software I use is German made, or from other European countries however that's soley because of the software I like such as certain freeware/open source audio software, etc.

[lotse]

Subscription???

 

I still use the original list that someone posted on the mozilla forums way back in the days of Firefox version 0.93.

It still blocks 99% of all the ads I come accross, and the remaining few I kill with a simple right click...

 

Never really found the need to update to anything "better".

[Anthony A]

Well I installed Easy List and the Easy Element Filter and it works very well.

[JDPower]

Well I installed Easy List and the Easy Element Filter and it works very well.

Give it time. Unless its improved since I tried it a couple of months ago you'll see about 10% more ads than with FiltersetG.

[rick752]

Hi guys. This is my first post here. I ran across this forum (and topic) doing random searches on Adblock Plus on Google. I am rick752, the author of the EasyList & EasyElement filters for Adblock Plus.

 

Just thought that I would start off by saying that there are some other interesting topics here that I like ... I don't register to too many forums, but I thought this one looked good .... so here I am (JDPower .... haven't we chatted somewhere else before?).

 

OK, let's clear up a couple of things. G's regexp filters are NOT optimized in ABP (Adblock Plus). Regexp's and regular filter strings with less than 8 uninterrupted characters are very slow. The EasyList with all whitelisting built in, processes the entire subscription at a little over 20ms. Filterset G WITHOUT his whitelist filter processes at around 65ms (obviously his whitelist will add even more time).

 

It is true that G's filter functions in ABP, but Wladimir does NOT detest it because of the "infighting" that used to exist between the two Adblocks. That feud is history as the original Adblock is no longer being developed anyway. He doesn't like G's filter not just because it is not optimized for ABP and is difficult to isolate problems, but mainly because of G's liberal use of 'general site whitelistings' when a false-positive occurs. This creates a problem at the ABP forum because people will complain that they can't block things until it is finally learned that G's filter is the problem. G is not a member of the ABP forum, so nothing can ever get resolved there with his filters. People has a tendency to complain about the program and not the filters ....."ABP blocks this" ... "ABP won't let me block that". It's NOT ABP ... it's the filters. If you are going to be part of the extension, you really need to be part of that forum ... G is not.

 

@JDPower

You said that you will see about 10% more ads with the EasyList (try adding both filters ... that one and the EasyElement). They are really meant to be one subscription, but I keep them separate for user-choice and troubleshooting convenience. Many users say that my combo blocks more than G's ... I guess it depends on where you surf. . But, I'll bet that your will see 50% less videos with G's filter than mine unless the whole directory or site has been whitelisted (meaning ALL ads will come through while there). I 'target-whitelist' the problems while still blocking the ads in almost every case.

 

Now that I am a member here, feel free to bring filter problems here if you want. Thanx for listening and letting me chime in

[Andavari]

Welcome to the forums rick752!

[Anthony A]

Hi guys. This is my first post here. I ran across this forum (and topic) doing random searches on Adblock Plus on Google. I am rick752, the author of the EasyList & EasyElement filters for Adblock Plus.

 

Just thought that I would start off by saying that there are some other interesting topics here that I like ... I don't register to too many forums, but I thought this one looked good .... so here I am (JDPower .... haven't we chatted somewhere else before?).

 

OK, let's clear up a couple of things. G's regexp filters are NOT optimized in ABP (Adblock Plus). Regexp's and regular filter strings with less than 8 uninterrupted characters are very slow. The EasyList with all whitelisting built in, processes the entire subscription at a little over 20ms. Filterset G WITHOUT his whitelist filter processes at around 65ms (obviously his whitelist will add even more time).

 

It is true that G's filter functions in ABP, but Wladimir does NOT detest it because of the "infighting" that used to exist between the two Adblocks. That feud is history as the original Adblock is no longer being developed anyway. He doesn't like G's filter not just because it is not optimized for ABP and is difficult to isolate problems, but mainly because of G's liberal use of 'general site whitelistings' when a false-positive occurs. This creates a problem at the ABP forum because people will complain that they can't block things until it is finally learned that G's filter is the problem. G is not a member of the ABP forum, so nothing can ever get resolved there with his filters. People has a tendency to complain about the program and not the filters ....."ABP blocks this" ... "ABP won't let me block that". It's NOT ABP ... it's the filters. If you are going to be part of the extension, you really need to be part of that forum ... G is not.

 

@JDPower

You said that you will see about 10% more ads with the EasyList (try adding both filters ... that one and the EasyElement). They are really meant to be one subscription, but I keep them separate for user-choice and troubleshooting convenience. Many users say that my combo blocks more than G's ... I guess it depends on where you surf. . But, I'll bet that your will see 50% less videos with G's filter than mine unless the whole directory or site has been whitelisted (meaning ALL ads will come through while there). I 'target-whitelist' the problems while still blocking the ads in almost every case.

 

Now that I am a member here, feel free to bring filter problems here if you want. Thanx for listening and letting me chime in

 

 

I have installed both your Easy List and Easy Element Filter in ABP and working great so far.

[rick752]

Thanx Andavari & Anthony A.

 

Btw, if you want a subscription that also blocks tracking (some people like their privacy), add the ABP Tracking Filter too. Users are getting suspicious of tracking/stas sites these days.

[Anthony A]

Thanx Andavari & Anthony A.

 

Btw, if you want a subscription that also blocks tracking (some people like their privacy), add the ABP Tracking Filter too. Users are getting suspicious of tracking/stas sites these days.

 

 

How often do these filters auto update? When I look at the filter in my ABS preferences it says Status: updated automatically;Last download: Friday, May 18 2007 6:52:56 PM (success)

 

I can right click the subscription and select "update subscription now" and that will change the status but I have not seen it do it automatically yet.

[rick752]

How often do these filters auto update? When I look at the filter in my ABS preferences it says Status: updated automatically;Last download: Friday, May 18 2007 6:52:56 PM (success)

 

I can right click the subscription and select "update subscription now" and that will change the status but I have not seen it do it automatically yet.

 

My subscriptions (EasyList, EasyElement, and the ABP Tracking Filter) are set to update every 5 days after the last time you updated it/them because of the insane bandwidth that would be used if it did it every day. After the fifth day, ABP will update the subscription after 5 minutes of browser use (don't know why ABP uses that delay, but it does). At that point ABP will update the subscription(s) automatically without you knowing it.

[Anthony A]

My subscriptions (EasyList, EasyElement, and the ABP Tracking Filter) are set to update every 5 days after the last time you updated it/them because of the insane bandwidth that would be used if it did it every day. After the fifth day, ABP will update the subscription after 5 minutes of browser use (don't know why ABP uses that delay, but it does). At that point ABP will update the subscription(s) automatically without you knowing it.

 

OK thanks. So the status message indicating the last download was successful is only if I manually update the subscription? If I don't manually update again ABP will do it automatically but there is no message or status indicator anywhere to verify this?

[rick752]

OK thanks. So the status message indicating the last download was successful is only if I manually update the subscription? If I don't manually update again ABP will do it automatically but there is no message or status indicator anywhere to verify this?

 

No, (I probably wasn't clear) ..... it will give you the update info (but it won't say 'successful' unless you are watching when it happens)

[Anthony A]

No, (I probably wasn't clear) ..... it will give you the update info (but it won't say 'successful' unless you are watching when it happens)

 

 

I don't think I am explaining myself properly so I will try again. When I right click on your subscription on ABP preferences there is an option to update the subscription. When I select this it says the date and time and that the download was successful. This info is on a line called Status: This info is updated every time I manually update like I just did before I posted this. If I don't manually update the Status: line does not update the info so I can't tell if the subscription auto updated or not.

[rridgely]

Hi rick, awesome to see you on here.

Is there a way to make your filters compatible with the IE7 pro ad blocker?

http://www.ie7pro.com/

 

It would be awesome to have something as good for IE as adblock on firefox.

[rick752]

The 'Last downloaded' status date ALWAYS updates whether you do it manually or ABP does it automatically. But the subscription will only automatically update after 5 days from your 'last downloaded' status. If you keep manually updating it every couple of days, it will NEVER get to '5 days after the date' to do it automatically.

 

Simply put .... if you just manually updated it today, it is not due to automatically update until the 28th. On that day it will update after 5 minutes of Firefox use. The subscription(s) will update with the latest ones (even if the subscription itself has not changed) and the 'last downloaded' status date will change to the 28th. There will be no 'popup' notification that it has been done ... it will just do it.

 

The "Last updated" info (different from 'last downloaded") next to the subscription names tells you the last time that I modified that subscription.

 

Hope that clarifies it .... think I covered it all.

 

 

*EDIT ... added more info.

[rick752]

Hi rick, awesome to see you on here.

Is there a way to make your filters compatible with the IE7 pro ad blocker?

http://www.ie7pro.com/

 

It would be awesome to have something as good for IE as adblock on firefox.

 

Thanx for the kudos.

 

They're trying. I'm not sure how far they have gotten with trying to make ABP's special switches in the EasyList work in ie7pro. I don't think they are capable of element-hiding yet either, afaik. There has been a lot of talk about using the EasyList in MANY different browser/adblocking setups. Some have gotten it to work and some are currently available ... but I don't know how much of it works as good as ABP's flexibility and speed.

 

To be very honest, I really don't care if or how it works in other browsers/programs as I don't use them nor do I support its use in them. I am 100% dedicated to ABP's syntaxes and interface. On the other hand, it's very flattering that they are all suggesting my lists for their interfaces.

 

But stay tuned ... who knows. Everyone wants to build an adblocker. People just HATE ads!

[Anthony A]

The 'Last downloaded' status date ALWAYS updates whether you do it manually or ABP does it automatically. But the subscription will only automatically update after 5 days from your 'last downloaded' status. If you keep manually updating it every couple of days, it will NEVER get to '5 days after the date' to do it automatically.

 

Simply put .... if you just manually updated it today, it is not due to automatically update until the 28th. On that day it will update after 5 minutes of Firefox use. The subscription(s) will update with the latest ones (even if the subscription itself has not changed) and the 'last downloaded' status date will change to the 28th. There will be no 'popup' notification that it has been done ... it will just do it.

 

The "Last updated" info (different from 'last downloaded") next to the subscription names tells you the last time that I modified that subscription.

 

Hope that clarifies it .... think I covered it all.

 

 

*EDIT ... added more info.

 

 

OK thanks I understand. It worked as you explained on one of my machines that I just checked.