Chrome Extensions are small programs that modify and enhance the functionality of the Chrome browser. The two most popular extensions listed in the Webstore are “AdBlock” and “Adblock Plus” – but which one of the two is the better one? This post will explore the differences between the two ad blocking extensions.
[Editor’s note: this review was written by Tom from chrome-plugins.org, a non-profit project that features reviews of extensions, apps and themes for the Google Chrome browser.]
AdBlock was created by an independent developer for Chrome and Safari when Adblock Plus was still only available for Firefox. He claims to have been inspired by the Adblock Plus movement but is not related to it. Instead he is working on AdBlock for profits from donations as well as paid clones users can purchase voluntarily to support him. Both adblock extensions provide exactly the functionality you expect from them, all ads are reliably blocked on every website. The extensions themselves don’t block anything – the unwanted elements such as advertisements are defined by filter lists.
Adblock Plus for Google Chrome was created by the Adblock Plus community, an open-source movement that is supported by many voluntary contributors who aim to make the internet better for everyone by eliminating bad advertisements. It was originally created for Firefox and was only recently ported as a beta version to Google Chrome. With more than 125 million downloads it is themost popular browser addon in the world.
Both AdBlock and Adblock Plus use the same filter lists that were created for Firefox Adblock Plus. While this works fine on banners and layer-ads, blocking ads embedded in videos is not possible due to a limitation in the blocking capability of the Chrome browser. Adblock Plus has implemented a workaround to that limitation which, unfortunately, only works on Youtube.com and not on other video sites or embedded videos.
While both extensions work almost on a same level, a more detailed analysis is needed in order to find out which one of them is the better adblocker:
 Adblock |
 Adblock Plus |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Installation process | 8 | 10 | Small deduction of points for AdBlock due to the fact that an intrusive window is opened during the installation that asks for a donation to the developer |
| User interface | 9 | 7 | Adblock Plus is still in beta and so far only has a rather minimalistic interface |
| Speed | 8 | 10 | AdBlock slows down the browser when multiple tabs are opened |
| Blocking banner ads | 10 | 10 | Both are using the same filter lists and hardly miss any ad |
| Blocking video ads | 4 | 7 | Video ads often cannot be blocked due to a limitation in the WebKit engine Chrome is based on. Adblock Plus performs significantly better on youtube.com |
| Creating own filters | 9 | 7 | Both provide the functionality to easily create own blocking rules;AdBlock makes it slightly more convenient to select unwanted elements on a website |
| Total | 48 | 51 |
Conclusion: In conclusion, both extensions are efficient adblockers, although not as good as the Firefox one. Adblock Plus is based on the same code as the Firefox version and therefore is little bit more sophisticated as it doesn’t negatively impact the performance of the browser and works more reliably on youtube.com. You can install the Adblock Plus extension here.
