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EVER WONDER EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DO YOUR DAILY ROUTINE OF CLICKING AROUND ON
YOUR FAVORITE WEBSITES?
LOOKING AT MY OWN BROWSER HISTORY, I SEE THAT DURING A TYPICAL WORKDAY I VISIT ABOUT 50
DIFFERENT SITES...MOSTLY WORK RELATED. BUT IT'S NOT JUST THOSE SITES THAT KNOW YOU'RE
THERE.
WHEN YOU PULL UP A WEBPAGE, SAY REVISION3.COM, YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THE SEEMINGLY RANDOM
URLS THAT FLASH ALONG THE BOTTOM LEFT OF YOUR BROWSER AS THE PAGE IS LOADING.
THOSE URLS INDICATE THAT THERE ARE THIRD PARTY ELEMENTS ON THAT SITE. THESE CAN BE ANYTHING
FROM WIDGETS TO SOCIAL PLUGINS TO ALL KINDS OF TRACKERS - AD NETWORKS, WEB PUBLISHERS,
AND BEHAVIORAL DATA PROVIDERS, OR ANYONE ELSE INTERESTED IN WHAT YOU'RE DOING. THESE TRACKERS
COLLECT INFO ON YOUR ACTIVITIES, AND CAN ALSO SLOW DOWN YOUR WEBSITES. SAY YOU VISIT 50
SITES A DAY - THAT MEANS YOU'RE REALLY EXPOSED TO HUNDREDS OF THIRD PARTY TRACKERS AND PLUGINS.
NOW, AN EXTENSION CALLED GHOSTERY CAN GIVE YOU A WINDOW INTO WHAT THEY CALL THE "INVISIBLE
WEB" - THE CONNECTIONS AND TRANSACTIONS YOU MAY NOT EVEN REALIZE ARE HAPPENING AS YOU
MINDLESSLY WANDER AROUND THE INTERNET.
AVAILABLE FOR CHROME, FIREFOX, SAFARI, OPERA AND IE, GHOSTERY ADDS A POP UP IN THE TOP
RIGHT OF YOUR BROWSER THAT TELLS YOU WHO EXACTLY THE WEBSITE IS TALKING TO.
MANY OF THESE YOU'LL RECOGNIZE - GOOGLE ANALYTICS, FACEBOOK CONNECT, OR TWITTER. BUT MANY OF
THEM ARE OBSCURE TRACKERS YOU'VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF. WHAT IS QUIGO? WHAT IS NEW
RELIC? WHO KNOWS? USING THIS EXTENSION, YOU CAN LEARN WHAT EACH OF THESE ARE, INCLUDING
THE SCRIPT ASSOCIATED WITH THE TRACKER, WIHCH IS WHAT'S USED TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT YOU'RE
DOING.
ONE OF MY FAVORITE CELEBRITY GOSSIP BLOGS HAD NO FEWER THAN 17 THIRD PARTY PAGE ELEMENTS
INCLUDING ONE, CALLED, AUDITUDE, THAT AUTOPLAYS THOSE IRRITATING ADS FOR CELEB TV. SO MAYBE
MORE IMPORTANTLY, GHOSTERY LETS YOU BLOCK WHATEVER THIRD PARTY ELEMENTS YOU WANT ON
THE SITES YOU USE MOST, CHOOSING TO RESTRICT JUST CERTAIN TYPES OF THIRD PARTIES OR ALL
OF THEM FOR ANY GIVEN WEBSITE.
OF COURSE THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER AD BLOCKING EXTENSIONS OUT THERE WITH VARYING DEGREES
OF AGGRESSIVENESS.
ONE FAVORITE IS ADBLOCK PLUS, WHICH HAS BEEN DOWNLOADED OVER 200 MILLION TIMES. ADBLOCK
IS A PRETTY POWERFUL EXTENSION THAT CAN STOP EVEN FACEBOOK ADS AND THOSE YOU SEE ON YOUTUBE.
IT ALSO DIFFERENTIATES BETWEEN ANNOYING ADS AND SIMPLE UNOBTRUSIVE ONES THEY DO ALLOW.
ADBLOCK ALSO OFFERS TYPO PROTECTION, CORRECTING URLS TO KEEP YOU FROM VISITING MALICIOUS DOMAINS.
ANOTHER WE'VE TRIED IS DISCONNECT, WHICH IS OPTIMIZED FOR SPEED TO KEEP YOUR BROWSING
FROM GETTING BOGGED DOWN BY THOSE THIRD PARTY SCRIPTS.
ALL OF THESE EXTENSIONS ARE OPEN SOURCE AND FREE TO DOWNLOAD. WHAT AD BLOCKERS DO YOU
USE, IF AT ALL? LET US KNOW YOUR FAVORITE IN THE COMMENTS
FOR TFN THIS IS ANNIE.