No Javascript vs AdBlock ??

6 respostas [Última entrada]
GNUser
Desconectado
Joined: 07/17/2013

Hey,

Sorry this is slight off-topic, but I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

When JS is disabled in a browser, does that prevent connections to ad services? I know ads don't execute their tracking code, but can they still track the user's IP?
That being said, is it worth using an adblock alongside disabling JS or not?

Thanks!!

jxself
Desconectado
Joined: 09/13/2010

"When JS is disabled in a browser, does that prevent connections to ad services?"

Maybe. Maybe not. It depends. The use of JavaScript is not inherently necessary to display an ad.

"but can they still track the user's IP?"

If they're still be loaded, sure, but also depends. An ad doesn't necessarily have to be served from a third party ad system.

"That being said, is it worth using an adblock alongside disabling JS or not?"

If one wants to block ads, yes.

Jabjabs
Desconectado
Joined: 07/05/2014

The good news is that it appears as though 99% of advertising nowadays is dependent on Java Script to load its parts. For them I don't think they are too concerned with people not loading JS as we are in the small minority of users that do this.

It is not an absolute solution but it would go a very long way to helping the issue. Despite that I still run ad blockers as well.

GNUser
Desconectado
Joined: 07/17/2013

Thanks for the replies.
Yes, I understand JS is the most common method of serving ads, I almost never see an ad anymore, because of the fact I always have JS disabled. But my question is, disabling JS will block the connection to the ad server? In that regard, will an AdBlock actually prevent the connection from even happening? Or do those only prevent the ad from appearing on the browser window and not the connection from being made?

Like jxself points out, not all ads and ad servers work the same. I am just curious as to how other internet users actually do their browsing around here :)
I for example have grown used to not run JS unless in very specific situations (and even so, I only allow the main website JS through NoScript). I wonder the added benefits of running and AdBlock, and how aggressive that should be (lists and filters and such).

andyprough
Desconectado
Joined: 02/12/2015

If you want to stop ad-servers in their tracks, a lot of people use /etc/hosts files which block ad-server domains. For example, this guy on github Steven Black creates and constantly updates text files that you can add to /etc/hosts that will block nearly all known ad-serving domains: https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts

If you disable js and have a good ad-blocking /etc/hosts file, and maybe use noscript on top of it, I'm pretty sure you would be covering nearly all of your bases.

GNUser
Desconectado
Joined: 07/17/2013

Thanks for the reply.
Yes, I have used hosts files before. And I know that way connections are truly cut out, meaning my IP is not leaked to those servers. However, I am curious specifically if disabling JS and/or using adblock achieves the same effect or not.

andyprough
Desconectado
Joined: 02/12/2015

>"I am curious specifically if disabling JS and/or using adblock achieves the same effect or not."

I'm no expert. But from what I've read, some adblockers block the domains before any internet connections are attempted (kind of like a hosts file), while other adblockers take a bit more time after you are making connections to start blocking. If I'm wrong about that statement, someone please correct me.