Block those popups

Nowadays, both Firefox and Internet Explorer have pretty good inbuilt popup blockers that catch most of those annoying ads. However, there are always some sites that seem to squeeze them through, especially annoying things like Java applets which tend to be slow to load. With this in mind, we bring you a selection of the most popular pop-up blockers at Softonic to help you stop those bad boys.

First up is the none-too-subtely named Smart Popup Blocker which comes with a number of customisable features that cover all angles of popup defence. A sound notifies you when popups have been blocked which is useful because sometimes I find that Firefox blocks Windows that I actually want to see. Once you’ve received the popup alert, you can choose whether to accept or block it permanently. There’s also a handy feature to clean the cookies in your system so that those annoying advertisers can’t track your activity. However, if you use a third-party cleaner, this won’t be of much use.

An alternative is CleanMyPC Popup Blocker which actually ‘learns’ which pop ups you’ll probably need and which you won’t. So for example, if it detects you’re on a secure banking site, it will usually allow popups regarding your logins but block those trying to sell you extra services. Note, however, that this program only works with Internet Explorer.

Finally, not to leave out Firefox users, Adblock Plugin is specifically designed to complement the second most popular browser by blocking unwanted dodgy advertisements on websites. Adblock allows the user to specify filters which remove unwanted content based on the source-address. Every time a webpage loads, Adblock will intercept and disable the elements matching your filters. However, this is only really useful if there is a specific site you are trying to block – unless the source address is in the filter, pop-ups will get through.