We all know how annoying some website advertisements can be. Moreover, we all know how most useful tricks we can do with the Android operating system requires root access to the internal system before we can make a major change. However, this guide teaches you how to block ads on Android without root using apps from Google Play.
Those who want to learn how to block the ads on Android, with or without root can jump directly to the guide below. Others who are willing to first willing to learn the major role ads play on the internet can continue reading. As someone who makes money from advertising (primarily from Google adverts), I feel like it’s my responsibility to teach people how the internet works and why you should think twice before blocking them. I won’t hold any grudge against you if you go ahead and choose to use the Adblock, but hopefully I can at least raise some awareness, and if that leads to you putting a few sites in your unblock list, then I’d done a good service.
An Introduction To How The World Wide Web Works
Most people think they know the way the internet works. They don’t. I will teach you starting from scratch. First, let’s compare the internet world to the television world. We all have watched TV at some point in our lives. The reason why you see ad breaks in the TV programs is to pay for that show. That’s how the broadcast channel and the show creators, producers, directors and actors all get paid. Without the ad breaks, there would be no TV show. The internet world is the same deal. The only difference is the way the ads are presented.
Here on the World Wide Web, we have banner advertisements, inline text link advertisements, pop up and pop under ads, and sponsored articles that serve as links through to other websites. Most good honest websites use banner ads, the sponsored links to other content on the web and the text link ads. However, some large websites are banned from using ads coming from the best ad networks so they struggle making money without putting up other annoying ads like pop up ads.
The last point I made is vitally important and is the main point that most people don’t understand when it comes to internet advertising. Here on the web, we have large ad networks. The largest we know and use ourselves is the Google Adsense ad network. What that means is we sign up to the Adsense program. Business, companies, organizations and just people who want to advertise also sign up to the Google Adsense network. Google then act as a middle man, just like an agent. Google collects money from people who want to advertise and it shares the revenue the websites like mine make. We get roughly 60% and the ad network (Google) get 40%. The person advertising gets their ad on the web and everyone’s happy.
With that being said, not all websites can join Google Adsense. For example, Google doesn’t accept any ads that aren’t suitable for a PG audience. All content on a website much comply with strict guidelines. All websites who cannot run ads from Google has to find other ad networks that will accept them or else risk not earning money. Generally speaking, most large network won’t accept these sites that aren’t suitable for a general audience, so they have to find smaller networks that do.
Where The problem Starts With Online Ads
There are several problems with joining smaller ad networks. The obvious problem is the ads aren’t as trustworthy. You can browse my website here knowing that everything you do is completely safe, it’s looked after by Google’s network. Nobody can penetrate this billion dollar network. Google has the best security in the business. However, what’s stopping an expert hacker putting a virus in an ad from a small network? These things can happen.
All that leads me to my next point: some of the most popular websites people visit is not accepted by the great advertising networks such as Google’s Adsense. That means you might browse these sites and really hate the ads that are annoying, in your way (on purpose to increase the click rate) and sometimes just untrustworthy. You can literally find malware at some from bad sources. So, not only is it a terrible experience for you guys just trying to surf the web, but the websites make less money showing those ads because the Ad network companies serving those bad sites are smaller. That in turn leads to those sites displaying more ads and more annoying ads like the pop up ads.
I’ve now explained to you why you browse the internet and have a bad experience. I want to tell you that higher-quality websites you visit for learning, finding how-to guides related to tech and all these real media companies, have nothing on their websites that should annoy you much at all. Sure, you can see ads in this content, but they aren’t harming anyone, they are from extremely safe and reliable sources and they don’t make half as much money for site owners as you think. Furthermore, these ads are required to produce the content. People can’t just work all day behind a desk writing and researching for free. There has to be revenue involved. These people deserved to be paid. With Adblock enabled, the sites do not get any money from the ads that would have been shown to you. That means they are not getting paid and the web cannot survive.
My Last Pitch
Before you decide to turn the ads off, I urge you into think about what the internet would be like if there was no writing, no content, no videos, no nothing. It would be pretty pathetic wouldn’t it? Whatever you decide to do, I’m fine with it. The reality is you would have researched how to turn off the ads anyway, so if I can be the one creating the guide, but bringing the awareness I want you to have before making your decision, then that’s all I can do.
If all that talk didn’t do a great job persuading you, perhaps this will. Did you know that most websites can get a click-through rate of around 2-5%? That’s 2 to 5 people choose to click an ad on a website out of 100. That’s 20 to 50 people out of 1000. You get the picture. I always hear people who are against ads say nobody clicks on them. That’s just not true. Plenty of people click on them. Want to know why? Because they actually serve a purpose.
If a website like mine was to try tricking you to clicking on an ad or putting an ad somewhere deciding I would get banned from Google Adsense. That’s it. game over for me. These clicks that can be around 5% and sometimes higher for some sites, aren’t false or misleading clicks. They are genuine clicks people choose to click because they saw something on the website that interested them. That’s exactly how we want the online world of advertising to work. We don’t want to stop you from looking at a webpage and force you to watch a 30 second ad like a TV station would. All we ask is that you allow the banner ads to surround the content you look at it for free. And if you see something you might be interested in checking out that’s displaying on an ad, click it and learn more about it.
Siding With The Enemy
So let’s say I want to block ads on Android and side with you guys who want them gone. You should know that there are a few different ways to block these ads. However, I’m writing this today because there’s a new way, a better way, using the best Adblock solution out there called Adblock Plus. It’s a new app that’s just become available for iOS and Android devices after a long and successful sting for people browsing the web from a desktop environment.
Turning The Ads Off If You Still Want Them Gone
- Download the Adblock browser for Android from Google Play here.
- Install the app just like you would any other application; you’ll need to sign into your Google Play account before you can install apps from the Play Store.
- Once done, the app will end up in your app drawer.
- Tap to open the app and follow the on-screen instructions.