Is somebody else getting paid to use your Internet connection?

Pop-ups, one example of Internet ads

 

Are you paying too much for Internet, or at least more than you'd like? How would you like to know that there are companies out there making money on your Internet connection, and have no intention of paying you a dime of it?

Advertising itself is nothing new. It's probably older than the country you live in. But as you drive down the road and see a billboard, it isn't in your way, and it isn't sipping additional fuel out of your tank. It's just there. On TV and radio, you can't really get around ads, and they take up more and more time each year. In the 1960s, Star Trek episodes were over 50 minutes long, yet only occupied a one-hour time slot. This left less than 10 minutes for ads. Just five years ago, 'one-hour' shows were clocking in at around 42 minutes. Now they're down to 39. That's over a third of the hour spent on advertising. (Has your cable or satellite bill gone down to reflect this? I bet it hasn't.)


While there's not much you can do about television ads, short of buying your TV shows online; with the radio, you can switch to Pandora, or a paid service like Google Music All Access or Spotify. (You might also write a polite but stern letter to the owner of your favorite FM station, detailing accounts of drives to work where they played ads the whole time, only to start playing a song as you pulled into your parking spot, and because of this they've lost a listener.)

On the Internet, however, you have a choice, and you have this choice because computers are, more or less, an open platform, and as advertisers have gotten greedier, computer programmers have begun to fight back. Now, it is your choice whether or not to see ads on your computer. Here is a brief overview of how to block ads on popular platforms.

Computer: The most direct way to block ads is by replacing your HOSTS file. Now, by computer, I mean a personal computer running Microsoft Windows, Apple OS X, or Linux—any version. WinHelp2002, despite its name, is arguably the best source for a custom HOSTS file. In short (and they explain it much better), whenever your computer looks for any resource on the Internet, it first checks its HOST file. If the URL has an entry, it's redirected accordingly. A good HOSTS file will point all nasty sites to either 127.0.0.1 (localhost) or 0.0.0.0 (nothing), and the ad isn't loaded. This works in all web browsers, but if you have an application or game trying to load ads (this isn't common these days) they will be blocked as well.

Web browser: While a HOSTS file will block all ads, it's not that easy to set up. It's not hard, but it sure could be easier. If you're using a web browser, like Firefox (recommended) or Chrome (okay if you don't mind all searches going through Google, a deal-breaker for me), simply get Adblock Plus from the Add-ons manager in Firefox or the Chrome Web Store. It installs, you might have to restart the browser, and bam, all ads are gone.

Android device: While an Android device is, for all intents and purposes, just a Linux PC in a smaller form factor, it gets its own paragraph because, by default, you can't block ads so easily. First thing you need to do root the phone. I can't help you do that—there are simply too many devices out there. Best thing for you to do is Google 'root' and then the name of your phone. If you don't know it—and 'Samsung Galaxy S3' isn't good enough—go into Settings (via app drawer or Quick Settings tile grid), then About phone, and look under Model number. SCH-R530U is mine, and it differentiates my phone from the dozen or so other phones marketed as 'Samsung Galaxy S3.' What you really want is the developer codename (mine is d2usc) but you're only likely to find that with a Google search. But once you have it, don't lose it, and use it in your searches. Rooting isn't easy nor should be taken lightly, but it gives you a ton of benefits, including being able to opt out of all ads at once.

Once rooted, go into Settings, then Security, then check the box beside Unknown sources. Accept the warning and close Settings. Then point your Android device here or just Google 'F-Droid.' F-Droid is the free and open source repository of Android apps. It's free and all the apps are free, both as in beer and speech. Install F-Droid, then search it for AdAway. Install AdAway, run it (and accept the superuser prompt), and have it download HOSTS files—see Computer above, you're basically doing the same thing.

Consoles, Apple iDevices, and other 'toys': Blocking ads on anything but a computer is tricky at best. It's possible on Android (assuming you can get root) because an Android device is fundamentally similar to a PC. The difference specifically with an iPhone/iPod is that that is a 'media device'; not inferior per se but made with a different set of goals in mind. And one of them is that the user must not be allowed access to the system files. A jailbroken iOS device might be the exception; if you can find its HOSTS file (assuming it has one), you can replace it, reboot the device, and test. With video games consoles, no ad blocking is possible on the device itself, but some expensive WiFi routers can be made to block ads, sometimes requiring custom firmware. If the router is blocking ads, no device connected to it can display them.

Now, a bit about the ethics of blocking ads... Those who profit from advertising would have you believe that Hell has reserved a circle for people who block ads, to be shared with rapists and child molesters. Of course, these people are saying it from a leather sofa in a million-dollar home, with a car that costs more than your house, sipping drinks and watching an 80" 4K TV... in their basement, where they're slumming it because their spouse has the living room. Heard of a game called Flappy Bird? Popular Android/iOS game... the developer was bringing in $50,000—every day. That's a million bucks every 20 days. That's $18.25 billion a year. What did he do? He made a game where you tap the screen to fly up an inch or so at a time, dodging pipes. All the graphics were taken from various Mario games, possibly with slight alterations.

Fact of the matter is, people who profit from ads generally have more money than you do. However—did they buy your computer or phone? Do they pay for the access? Any of it? Sure didn't. But they expect you to be their tool to get rich quick. For the most part, there's really no harm in allowing them to use you. Most people do. Some of them want to install bad software on your computer to allow them to profit more from you... and some of this stuff is harmful.

What about the 'little guy' who is just trying to make ends meet by running a website? How about... Get a job? I run a free blog here, I don't put ads on it (though Google might), and my wife and I both work full time. A URL (something dot com) costs less than $20 a year for the name, and under $10 a month (to start—big sites cost a lot more) for the actual space to host the site. A minimum wage job flipping burgers can support a small website. Plus, you get to share your views with the world. Microphones aren't cheap.

All that being said... If there is a website you use that is truly independent of any major corporation, and really needs your money, be a bro and whitelist the site at least once. This is easy to do in your browser, if you haven't got a HOSTS file installed—right click on Adblock Plus's 'ABP' icon, and click, 'Disable on {name of site}.' Reload the page, and the ads will load. If they offend you, repeat the process and reload again. If they don't, you're doing the site a favor—but you're choosing to do it, it isn't being forced on you, and that makes the difference.

It really doesn't matter, actually, who owns the website. Amazon owns IMDb, for example, but that's no big secret. Reddit is owned by a fashion magazine publisher with a skyscraper in New York City, but I'd block their ads for another reason (they knowingly supported a sexual predator).

Should you block ads? It's your choice, provided you have the skill required. On a computer's web browser, it's very easy. Others... not so much. But you have the choice. If you have an iPhone, you can make your next phone an Android phone, root it, and get rid of all the ads for good. Or you can keep the ads and the phone you know. Still a choice. If you're not going to be paid for looking at ads, you can do it as a favor. If they want to pay you, that's okay too. But as long as they're only paying the people who are showing you the ads, their contract is between them. It's got nothing to do with you. And a site can't say, "To look at our site you can't block our ads." They haven't got the right.

Disclaimer: Do I dislike iPhones and video game consoles? Sure. But not blindly—the ability to block ads is just one reason why I choose Android over iOS and a gaming PC over a console. Basically, I like to own my devices, rather than the other way around. I feel that if you buy something, you should be able to modify it.