I'm not a fan of banner ads, browser pop-ups nor of what's come to be called behavioural advertising. I find that such online marketing largely falls into two categories. The kind that has nothing to do with what I'm interested in, and the kind that is surprisingly well targeted to my personal interests. Since the former is irritating and the latter is downright creepy, I'm not likely to click on any online ads anytime soon. That said, I'm certainly not against commercial promotion and far be it from me to pass judgment on one of the most profitable ways to spend - and make - money online ($25B in 2010 and an estimated $31B in 2011). I'm even sympathetic to the argument that online advertising keeps the Internet humming along quasi-free as the services we practically depend on in turn depend on advertising dollars to help them resist the temptation to charge us.
However, when this online marketing comes with security surprises and compromises user privacy, I am forced to give it a thumbs down. So what's the best way to block Internet ads?
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