Update 6/23/2023
This article explains how to whitelist a website with an ad blocker running at the browser level, where most have an ad blocker set. However, an ad blocker can also be set elsewhere. Some Windows security software packages have an ad blocker included. For example, Kaspersky has a module called Anti-Banner and Adguard has a product called AdGuard Windows. At the DNS level: Some DNS services can block ads. Two examples are AdGuard DNS and NextDNS. Some VPNs include an ad blocker in their extension, for example, Windscribe VPN extension includes one. An ad blocker could even be added to the network hardware. An ad-blocking script could be added to a router or a Pi-Hole with an ad blocker. If running an ad blocker in one of these areas, the website would need to be whitelisted there.
Recently, Jim Hillier wrote an article about how ad-blockers have caused grief for many owners of smaller websites such as Daves Computer Tips. Jim mentioned how smaller independently owned websites, including Daves Computer Tips, rely solely on ad revenue as their source of income. Ad-blockers have decimated that income to the point that site owners are shutting up shop, sacrificing their ethics, or selling out to larger media organizations. To keep sites like Daves Computer Tips open, Jim asked users to whitelist deserving websites such as Daves Computer Tips in their ad-blockers.
But some do not know how to do this. In this post, I will cover how to whitelist a site in a browser or a browser extension.
Whitelist A Website In A Browser
Some browsers have a built-in ad-blocker. Two that I am familiar with are Brave and Vivaldi.
Brave
To whitelist a website in Brave you need to disable Brave’s shields for the website.
If Brave Shields is engaged, the “lion” near the address bar will be orange. If disengaged, the “lion” will be grey. To disengage the shields, click the “lion” and slide the toggle to the left.
Vivaldi
To whitelist a website in Vivaldi you need to disable Vivaldi’s content blocker for the website.
If Vivaldi’s content-blocker is engaged, the “shield” before the address bar will have a lightning bolt in it. If disengaged, the “shield” will be empty. To disengage the content blocker, click the “shield” and select “No Blocking”.
Whitelist A Website In a Browser Ad-Blocking Extension
There are many ad-blocking extensions that exist. Three of the most popular are uBlock Origin, AdBlock, and AdBlock Plus. I will show how to whitelist a website in each, but most of the other extensions operate similarly.
uBlock Origin
There are two ways to whitelist a website in uBlock Origin.
First, pin the uBlock extension button to the top bar if it is not already pinned. The easiest method is to click the extension button. If engaged for the site, the uBlock Origin extension button will be a solid red and have a count of the items being blocked. To whitelist the site, click the uBlock Origin button. A solid blue circle, with a line at 12 o’clock, will display. Click the blue circle. The circle will change to a blue outline. The uBlock Origin button will be greyed out, indicating that the site is whitelisted.
The second method to whitelist a website (or a list of websites) in uBlock Origin is to import a list of sites in the settings. Select “Trusted Sites”, click the “Import and append” button, and select a file with the list of websites to be imported into uBlock Origin’s trusted sites list.
AdBlock
First, pin the AdBlock extension button to the top bar if it is not already pinned. If the AdBlock button is red with a white hand in the middle, the site is not whitelisted. To whitelist the site, click the AdBlock extension button and select “Always” in the “Pause on this site:” section. The AdBlock button will be green and display a white thumbs-up indicating that the site is whitelisted.
AdBlock Plus
First, pin the Ad Block Plus extension button to the top bar if it is not already pinned. If the AdBlock Plus button is red with an “ABP” in the middle, the site is not whitelisted. To whitelist the site, click the AdBlock Plus extension button and click the “This Website” button. The AdBlock Plus button will be greyed out indicating that the site is whitelisted.
Conclusion
Whitelisting a website when using a browser’s built-in ad-blocker or an ad-blocking browser extension is very easy. It is also important if you want to see small, independent websites like Daves Computer Tips survive. As Jim stated in his article:
Keep the World Wide Web free and open by utilizing the whitelist option in your ad blockers. One simple little click can help keep those smaller, independent websites alive and well.
NOTE: It’s important to note that you do not need to click on any ads for the website to earn revenue, merely allowing the ads to display will help to no end.
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Okay. I get it. I value and trust you enough to unlock you in Brave, now that I know how.
Thank you GrannyGeek!
Thanks for the important information, totally agree about supporting small independents. Have unblocked you on uBlock Origin.
We appreciate it, Kim!
Very good article John. Really good overview and probably helpful to many such as myself. You noted that Jim Hillier had recently done an article about Ad Blockers. Give him a thanks for me as he was very helpful by answering some questions on how to whitelist web sites I like. The Daves Computer Tips has really turned into a very useful site. I always look at every email, check the give-a-ways, and look at each of the different articles in the email. I find useful articles in EVERY Daves Computer Tips it seems. Thanks to Jim and you both I donated $100 today by PayPal. Please mention it to him for me.
Hey GPT,
Message received. On behalf of John Durso and myself; thank you for the donation, and the kind words, very much appreciated.
Cheers… Jim
Hi GPT Design,
All of us here at DCT thank you for the generous support!
John
Hello John. I thought DCT was unaffected since the only blocker I use AdGuard, has DCT whitelisted. But it seems something else is blocking. Here are the other extensions I have installed on my Firefox.
Disconnect, I don’t care about cookies, and Privacy Badger.
Can you shed light on how they can be blocking DCT, Mindblower!
Hi Mindblower,
Not using Firefox, I do not use any of these. But, AdGuard and Privacy Badger are both ad blockers, so you would need to white list us on both. Not sure on Disconnect. Out of curiosity, why are you running two adblockers on your system? One should be enough.
John. Both of those two preform different additional tasks.
Here is my problem. Disabling all my extensions in Firefox, clearing the cache, doing a reboot, and I still get that Ad-blocker detected message. Also tried using Brave, followed your instructions, to whitelist DCT, but I still receive that notice. Am totally frustrated since I am doing my best to comply without any success, Mindblower!
Note: I did not receive your reply in my email account. Very strange.
Hi Mindblower,
Strange. Obviously, something is causing the issue. It is either at the browser level, operating system level (Windows if that is your OS), on your network (are you running an adblocker there?). Other thoughts, could be your internet provider, VPN provider (if you VPN in) or DNS provider is offering some service of some kind.
First thing I’d try is creating a new profile in the browser. See https://davescomputertips.com/how-to-create-and-use-browser-profiles/
That should give you a clean base to start from in your browser.
(with apologies to John for jumping in here)
MB, aren’t you using AdGuard system wide? I’m almost certain you mentioned using AdGuard system wide at some stage. If so, that’s where you need to whitelist DCT.
I’m having the same problem. Using Firefox I have Adblock Plus disabled for Dave’s Computer Tips. The icon is grayed out. I still get the message I’m using an ad blocker. I’ve checked Firefox settings and see nothing that would block this site. Puzzling.
Hi John
It means that you have another adblocker set someplace other than Firefox. An ad blocker can also be set elsewhere. Some Windows security software packages have an ad blocker included. For example, Kaspersky has a module called Anti-Banner and Adguard has a product called AdGuard Windows. At the DNS level: Some DNS services can block ads. Two examples are AdGuard DNS and NextDNS. Some VPNs include an ad blocker in their extension, for example, Windscribe VPN extension includes one. An ad blocker could even be added to the network hardware. An ad-blocking script could be added to a router or a Pi-Hole with an ad blocker. If running an ad blocker in one of these areas, the website would need to be whitelisted there.
Good Afternoon Jim. Glad you joined this thread. I whitelisted DCT in AdGuard months ago. On this Windows 11 computer I only use AdGuard, no other Firefox extensions. I even disabled AdGuard completely and still receive that blocking message.
I installed Brave (on this Windows 11 computer) following John’s instructions to the letter for whitelisting DCT in the article above.
I cannot understand why this blocking message keeps appearing? Flushing the browser cache, doing a reboot, just no luck. Not using a VPN, and just changed the Firefox DNS setting from Default to OFF. Hope this solves my problem, Mindblower!
Mindblower,
Most people have the adblocker set at the browser level with either an extension (UBlock, AdBlock, AdGuard extension, etc.) or using the internal adblocker (Brave Shields for example). But you can run an adblocker at other levels, too.
An adblocker can be running at the Windows level. THis would block ads for anything running on Windows. Check if you have a Windows security or privacy app that also blocks ads. Adguard has a Windows product called AdGuard Windows for example.
An adblocker can be run at the network level. On my router, I can add a script called Diversion which would block ads for all devices connected to the network. Ad Guard Home is another example. Or maybe you are running a Pi-Hole that is blocking ads at the Network level.
Some DNS services also block ads. AdGuard DNS for example blocks ads at the DNS level (before it even comes into your network). Check to see what DNS you are using and if it is blocking ads. Note, the DNS can be set in Windows or on your router or other network hardware.
You are using an adblocker, you just have to figure out where.
John, same issue. I am running a plain vanilla machine with Malwarebytes and Windows defender. No other software that blocks ads. Been thru Edge and can not find any ad blockers for either extensions or internal. I have whitelisted with Malwarebytes the DCT site. Where else should I look?
Hi Vincent,
First thing I’d try is creating a new profile in the browser. See https://davescomputertips.com/how-to-create-and-use-browser-profiles/ and whitelist DCT in the internal blocker if it has one. That will eliminate the browser as the cause.
If that didn’t work, see my reply to Mindblower above. 6/16 @ 11:08 pm
I can’t use any DCT links as I get the ‘You’re using an ad blocker’! So this browser profile info I can’t see.
I don’t have any ad blockers but from this thread maybe some internal one. But I never get this ad blocker warning on any other site so what is my problem?
MB and Vincent
I’ve double checked in my browsers each time following your comments. With both Firefox and Edge at default settings, and with no ad blocker extensions active, the popup is not displaying for me.
That’s not much help to you, I realize, but it does prove that the mechanism is working as expected. Sorry I can’t be of more help.
Bear in mind that any anti-tracking extension will also block ads. As does Malwarebytes Browser Guard. Also, make sure the Privacy setting in your browser is set to “Standard” (Firefox) and “Balanced” (Edge), not “Strict”.
Jim. Could a component within Kaspersky Internet Security be causing my problems? This is the only other program I use on all my computers, Mindblower!
Yes, definitely. Look for anything in Kaspersky settings related to tracking and/or ads. As I mentioned, anti-tracking measures will also block ads.
One question we haven’t covered; are the ads displaying or not?
Hi Jim. The mystery is now narrowed down to KIS. By exiting KIS, disabling all protection, the Ad-Blocker reminder is gone and I can clearly see all the advertisements. Now to dig deeper into what switch is causing the problem. From my initial search nothing pops out, Mindblower!
Mindblower & Vincent
As a followup. A DNS can block ads. To check what DNS you are using, go here https://www.dnsleaktest.com/
It will show what DNS service you are currently using. Now look up that service and see if it is service that blocks ads.
For example, AdGuard
AdGuard DNS addresses will NOT block ads, trackers, or any other DNS requests.
IPv4: 94.140.14.140 94.140.14.141
IPv6: 2a10:50c0::1:ff 2a10:50c0::2:ff
AdGuard DNS will block ads and trackers.
IPv4: 94.140.14.14 94.140.15.15
IPv6: 2a10:50c0::ad1:ff 2a10:50c0::ad2:ff
AdGuard DNS will block ads, trackers, adult content, and enable Safe Search and Safe Mode, where possible.
IPv4: 94.140.14.15 94.140.15.16
IPv6: 2a10:50c0::bad1:ff 2a10:50c0::bad2:ff
Note, the DNS can be set at:
Browser level
OS
Network
ISP
DNS could be set at none (all set as default or blank), at one level, or every level. If so, the the DNS at the highest priority will be used. I.E., the browser DNS setting will override the OS DSN setting, which will override Network DNS setting. If DNS is set no where, the ISP’s DNS will be used.
Yes John, one of the reasons I use AdGuard. But as mentioned, the problem is one of the switch settings within KIS. Much appreciate your assistance, Mindblower!
When I used KIS a while ago, I think they called their ad blocker Anti-Banner. Might still be the same. Look for a setting something like Banner or Anti-Banner.
Thank you John. That works. DCT is whitelist in the Anti-Banner and my sincere thanks to you and Jim for solving the problem.
Request you add this information to the article Jim wrote on
DCT Implements Ad-Blocker Popup Request dated 14 Jun 23.
Believe most users do not follow the entire thread, and this information will assist others the frustration I experienced, Mindblower! 🙂
I have this site white listed on Brave and a couple of ads showed, but I kept getting the Ad Blocker pop-up. I don’t have an ad blocker extension as such installed, but on yet another look at my extensions list I noticed DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials. I disabled that and voila! That was the barrier. It’s easy enough to toggle that off while viewing your site and reenable it later.
Thanks GG. Good to know, and info that will potentially help others.
Hi GrannyGeek, Glad you figured it out. I don’t use DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials, but I quickly (OK very quickly) scanned its features and I did not notice any privacy features that are not currently handled internally by the Brave browser. I’m curious why you are using DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials with Brave.
Please be more specific about “Adblocker Detected”. What is the name or names of the plugin(s) being detected?
I’ll happily turn them off, but at least meet me half way and tell me WHICH plugins to turn off. I have several things that you might detect as one, and have no way of knowing which you see as a problem, even thought they probably don’t block your ads.
Hi Andy,
We have no way of knowing where you have an adblocker set. Most frequently, an ad blocker is running at the browser level with either an extension (ex UBlock Origin) or internally (ex Brave Shields). However, an ad blocker can also be set elsewhere. Some Windows security software packages have an ad blocker included. For example, Kaspersky has a module called Anti-Banner and Adguard has a product called AdGuard Windows. At the DNS level: Some DNS services can block ads. Two examples are AdGuard DNS and NextDNS. Some VPNs include an ad blocker as an option in their extension, for example, Windscribe VPN extension includes one. An ad blocker could even be added to the network hardware. An ad-blocking script could be added to a router or a Pi-Hole with an ad blocker. If running an ad blocker in one or more of these areas, the website would need to be whitelisted there.
FWIW, your adblocker detection also interfered with trying to read this page on how to whitelist your site.
Hey Andy,
It’s pretty straightforward really. First you need to identify the culprit, as per John’s previous comment. The most likely would be a browser extension so try disabling all extensions.
Once you identify what is blocking the ads, pretty much all adblockers include a setting to either disable the adblocker for the site you are currently visiting or to whitelist the site you are currently visiting.
Hope that helps.
UPDATE: we have found a way to disable the popup for individual articles. So, John Durso’s article explaining how to whitelist DCT in adblockers is now readable.
Thanks for the article!!!
My gripes: 1. no mention of Mozilla
2. No mention of duck-duck.go
I am not a virtuoso on a PC.
Sorry that I can’t apply your tips!
GKR
Hi Karl,
1) Mozilla Firefox does not have a built in ad blocker.
2) By duck duck.go I assume that means the Duck Duck Go Privacy Essentials extension (DDGPE). If so, then the instructions are essentially the same as the other extensions mentioned.
First, click to open the DDGPE extension while on the davescomputertips.com site.
Second, click the toggle next to “Protections are ON for this site”. The toggle will switch ad blocking to off and it will now say “Protections are OFF for this site” next to the toggle..