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While I am not fond of ads on a webpage, I don't mind them just being there. But I don't like it when I accidentally click on ads and then a billion webpages open up.

What I am looking for is an extension or add-on that makes the links in ads unclickable. Leave the ads themselves up so the advertisers can get view counts, but take away the link behind them.

I would be nice if this extension was:

  • Free
  • could work with IE (8-9-10-11), Firefox (18+), Chrome (21+), or Opera (15+, so Blink-based)
  • not stop the ad from showing

Basically I just want somethings that takes a clickable ad and turn it into another picture on the page.

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  • 4
    AdBlock Plus' source could be modified to disable clicking than hiding the ads. However, it would take considerably longer to port the extension to all requested browsers.
    – ComFreek
    Jun 13, 2014 at 7:55
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    If you aren't able to click them, ads are useless, so why do you want to see them? Blocking them completely would have the advantage of not wasting bandwidth.
    – Oriol
    Jun 21, 2014 at 15:48
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    For $5 a month you can get CatBlock. It's like adblock but it replaces all ads with pictures of cats. I don't know if it still gets money for people owning the ads. To be honest it's as close as you'll probably get, there's very little demand for a program that an ad blocker that doesn't remove the ads.
    – Pharap
    Jul 30, 2014 at 8:19
  • You should just use Adblock Plus. If you don't click on the ads, they don't make money anyway, so there is no point in wasting bandwidth and screen space.
    – Menasheh
    Jul 31, 2014 at 16:18
  • Unless you code your own plugin/modify existing adblockers, there is no such thing yet. Most adblockers have an option to enable non-intrusive advertising and block malicious ads... Combine that with pop-up blocking and chrome's option that checks for malicious sites and that is as close as you're gonna get to your goal... By the way, most websites that use google adsense earn money only when people click on the ads... So it kinda defeats the purpose (unless you are using youtube, in which case that will help the creators)...
    – Ramimy1555
    May 2, 2016 at 9:20

1 Answer 1

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Since there doesn't appear to be an extension that does exactly what you want, here is an alternative.

You can try PrivDog. It basically blocks the harmful ads (ones that do not originate from the webpage's domain) and only displays the ones from trusted sources (ones reviewed by AdTrustMedia and authorized by the webpage's publisher). This will also speed up your browsing by reducing clutter and it protects your privacy. You'll still be helping the publishers get their ad revenue without being exposed to "malertising"

  • It is free
  • Works on all Windows browsers
  • Only stops untrusted ads from showing
  • It doesn't hurt the publishers
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