Avast Adblock

Avast Secure Browser Avast Secure Browser for Windows
1

Hi guys :slight_smile:

Although I have some history on this forum, I beleve I am new here.
So forgive me if this has been asked before.

I see that Avast Adblock is based on Gorhills Ublock Origin, and I am very happy with that.
My question is about the “Avast filters” list :

  • Is it based on other filter lists, and so which ones ?
  • Does Avast adds it’s own filter rules ?
  • Does Avast use a webcrawler or other technics to look for new ads / trackers ?

Greetz, Red.

2

I was asking, because for example something like DuckDuckGo Tracker Radar :

https://github.com/duckduckgo/tracker-radar

Greetz, Red.

3

Hi Red,

We use the same primary filterlists as uBlock Origin, primarily EasyList and EasyPrivacy. We add some of our own filter rules to allow certain ads and content through; most notably, we allow textual search ads to be displayed from certain reputable search partners (google, yahoo, bing, duckduckgo, etc). User feedback has indicated these are the fastest, least intrusive form of ads, and the revenue from them helps support the whole ecosystem.

We don’t employ any webcrawlers today but we are always experimenting with ways to make our adblock feature better, so this is something we may consider in the future. If you have any specific ideas around this feature, feel free to reach out to us directly and share them.

Hope this helps provide some clarity!

4

Hi William :slight_smile:

You have answered me on Avast Slack as well. Thnx !

Greetz, Red.

5

I installed the new ASB, but the Adblock is missing important features like

  • choose my own easylist
  • block large multimedia objects (very good for blocking the tons of videos that automatically start playing when you load news webpages
  • to select an element to be blocked directly on the webpage (right click on it or activate this feature from the menu and hover over the unwated element)

Where are these feature hidden?

6

Hi
When I add a website to my whitelist on the ad blocker (PC), it still gets blocked. Why is this and can anything be done about it?

7

Hi TERRY217
In order to find the issue, I will need more information. Would you mind:

  1. Telling me what website are you trying to unblock?
  2. Sharing with me a screenshot of the whitelist you are using?
    If you share these information, It will be easier for me to try recreating your problem. I hope we can find a solution soon :wink:
8

ahoj Jakube,

how about my questions? Any chance to revive the old and very needed functionalities?

Tomáš

9

Hi Tomáš,

Avast adblocker settings :

Avast Secure Browser > Security & Privacy Center ( the green schield ) > Adblock > Advanced settings

Greetz, Red

10

Hi Red,
there no such thing after the latest upgrade. I know it worked like this before (up until a few week ago?), but now with the freshly installed system, the new AdBlock lost almost all of its features. All you can do these days is to turn AdBlock on/off, select the mode i.e. balanced, and pick allowed webs.
Clearly, this AdBlock joined the endless line of applications that are worse with every new version - worldwide trend for a few years now.

11

Hi Tomáš
Yes, with the release of adblock 2.0 we have decided to remove some features in order to ensure smother experience for customers without the necessary insight to be using the advanced settings in a form we used to offer. That is why we simplified the setting to 3 modes, that allow you to choose the experience you desire with a single click.

Although we are planning to add some of the features back soon (for example blocking of individual elements), we do not plan on changing adblock back to a state where users would get paralyzed from the options available to them. I hope answered your question properly.

12

Hi Jakub,
that is certainly good news. Besides the selective blocking of an element (does not necessary have to be an advertisement), the blocking of the large videos is also needed. Until the upgrade is posted, it there a way how to upgrade to the older AdBlock version? Like download the dll from your web etc.

13

Hi Tomáš
I am sorry, but I do not know of any way to keep using the old versions of adblock. Although I do understand your problem with new implementation, all I can say is that I hope this change is not too uncomfortable.

14

I replicated this problem:

  1. www.investing.com
  2. not much to share, there is just this www.investing.com
    The whitelisting works for some time, but then it stops working and the webpage start complaining about being blocked.
15

There was a new version of the browser recently, but nothing got fixed here. I am growing impatient. None of the issues I reported here or in other threads or emails got fixed.
At adblock, I am still not able to block the elements that automatically play videos on webpages and not able to block large multimedia.

Can you talk to the top management of Avast and have fired the “manager”, who destroyed the acblock into a useless thing? He probably scorns users and need a simple version, instead of the almost full feature. Such disregard to users is a reason enough to fire such manager in every normal company.

16

Hi, I no longer have any of these problems with Adblock. Somehow, somewhere, Adblock has completely disappeared. There is no icon in the security centre so I cannot reactivate it. There is no clue in any of Avast’s literature as to this removal or whether some thing has gone severely wrong. It has happened on two computers I use at home but on another computer, Adblock still functions. Anyone else having this problem and anyone else got any solution? Thanks

17

Adblock is still there.

https://d1ka0itfguscri.cloudfront.net/Lh/2020/10/16/18/06/cY6DF17tyt/preview.jpg

18

No, it is not. I have already said that the icon is not in the security centre. I don’t seem to be able to insert a screen shot of the security centre but I assure you that it is not there.

19

The screenshot I posted was from my computer using the latest version of Avast Secure Browser. (Windows 10 v2004)
Maybe it’s time to do a Clean install of the Browser?

Download the installer from here, https://www.avast.com/en-us/secure-browser
Download the Secure Browser Removal tool from here, https://download.avastbrowser.com/avast_secure_browser_uninstall.exe
Save your Bookmarks via the Book Marks Manager if you have custom bookmarks so you can import them when you re-install.
Uninstall Secure Browser via Programs and Features - Reboot
Run the removal tool, reboot, run the installer import your favorites if you saved them.
A video to help with the installation: https://youtu.be/r_VLA0HMLQM
Report back if that’s solved the problem or not.
Avast has offered a separate tool to totally remove the Secure Browser if the above instructions don’t work.
You can find that tool here, https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=230288.msg1531315#msg1531315

20

Hi,

Sorry I did not get back before. I have done as you suggested and Adblock is now working on one computer. Will now do the same on the other but can only do this out of office hours, as it is used by my wife for work purposes.

Thanks for your help

Neil