Adblock Plus corrects typos now

Martin Brinkmann
Dec 1, 2012
Updated • Jul 31, 2013
Internet
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The popular advertisement blocking extension Adblock Plus has been criticized recently for its acceptable ads feature that enables some ads on the Internet. While ads have to abide to a strict ruleset, like not annoying the hell out of the user with sound and flashing animations, it is something that may have harmed the software's reputation as an "all-ads" blocker.

The feature can be disabled completely, so that all ads are again blocked when you are using the extension in your web browser. To disable it, open the Adblock Plus options and uncheck the "allow some non-intrusive advertising" under Filter lists.

Adblock Plus's new typo correction feature has been controversially discussed on Reddit. It is not really clear why as it seems opt-in which means that Adblock Plus users need to enable it before it becomes available.

The functionality has been ported over from the popular URL Fixer Firefox extension. An option is displayed to turn on the feature the first time you mistype a web address. Please note that it will download an auto-correction list which may take a couple of minutes before it becomes available. The download is handled in the background.

When you mistype an url that is in the filter list you are automatically taken to the selected destination. Adblock Plus displays a notification at the top of the browser that informs you that the address has been corrected. Here you have the option to block this from happening again by clicking on the no button.

adblock plus corrected the address

If you do, the site will be added to the whitelist to prevent future redirects. You are also taken back to the site you originally wanted to access.

The feature has been controversially discussed on Reddit for its monetization inclusion. Affiliate IDs are added when you the auto correction takes you to select online shopping sites such as Amazon. The Adblock Plus team earns commission every time products are purchased on those sites.

If you have enabled the feature by accident and want it disabled again, for instance because it is taking you to the wrong addresses all the time or because you do not like the monetization, do the following:

  • Enter about:addons in the Firefox address bar
  • Locate Adblock Plus and click on the options button next to it.
  • Locate the filter preferences button and click on it.
  • Go to the typo corrections tab in the interface and uncheck "correct mistyped internet addresses".

Please note that the feature is currently only available in Firefox, and not in versions for other browsers. It is however likely that the feature will be implemented in other browsers eventually.

Update: The developers have removed the typo correction from Adblock Plus.

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Comments

  1. ilev said on August 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm
    Reply

    Doesn’t Windows 8 know that www. or http:// are passe ?

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on August 4, 2012 at 7:57 pm
      Reply

      Well it is a bit difficulty to distinguish between name.com domains and files for instance.

    2. Leonidas Burton said on September 4, 2023 at 4:51 am
      Reply

      I know a service made by google that is similar to Google bookmarks.
      http://www.google.com/saved

  2. VioletMoon said on August 16, 2023 at 5:26 pm
    Reply

    @Ashwin–Thankful you delighted my comment; who knows how many “gamers” would have disagreed!

  3. Karl said on August 17, 2023 at 10:36 pm
    Reply

    @Martin

    The comments section under this very article (3 comments) is identical to the comments section found under the following article:
    https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/15/netflix-is-testing-game-streaming-on-tvs-and-computers/

    Not sure what the issue is, but have seen this issue under some other articles recently but did not report it back then.

  4. Anonymous said on August 25, 2023 at 11:44 am
    Reply

    Omg a badge!!!
    Some tangible reward lmao.

    It sucks that redditors are going to love the fuck out of it too.

  5. Scroogled said on August 25, 2023 at 10:57 pm
    Reply

    With the cloud, there is no such thing as unlimited storage or privacy. Stop relying on these tech scums. Purchase your own hardware and develop your own solutions.

    1. lollmaoeven said on August 27, 2023 at 6:24 am
      Reply

      This is a certified reddit cringe moment. Hilarious how the article’s author tries to dress it up like it’s anything more than a png for doing the reddit corporation’s moderation work for free (or for bribes from companies and political groups)

  6. El Duderino said on August 25, 2023 at 11:14 pm
    Reply

    Almost al unlmited services have a real limit.

    And this comment is written on the dropbox article from August 25, 2023.

  7. John G. said on August 26, 2023 at 1:29 am
    Reply

    First comment > @ilev said on August 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm

    For the God’s sake, fix the comments soon please! :[

  8. Kalmly said on August 26, 2023 at 4:42 pm
    Reply

    Yes. Please. Fix the comments.

  9. Kim Schmidt said on September 3, 2023 at 3:42 pm
    Reply

    With Google Chrome, it’s only been 1,500 for some time now.

    Anyone who wants to force me in such a way into buying something that I can get elsewhere for free will certainly never see a single dime from my side. I don’t even know how stupid their marketing department is to impose these limits on users instead of offering a valuable product to the paying faction. But they don’t. Even if you pay, you get something that is also available for free elsewhere.

    The algorithm has also become less and less savvy in terms of e.g. English/German translations. It used to be that the bot could sort of sense what you were trying to say and put it into different colloquialisms, which was even fun because it was like, “I know what you’re trying to say here, how about…” Now it’s in parts too stupid to translate the simplest sentences correctly, and the suggestions it makes are at times as moronic as those made by Google Translations.

    If this is a deep-learning AI that learns from users’ translations and the phrases they choose most often – which, by the way, is a valuable, moneys worthwhile contribution of every free user to this project: They invest their time and texts, thereby providing the necessary data for the AI to do the thing as nicely as they brag about it in the first place – alas, the more unprofessional users discovered the translator, the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, the greater the aggregate of linguistically illiterate users has become, and the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, as it now learns the drivel of every Tom, Dick and Harry out there, which is why I now get their Mickey Mouse language as suggestions: the inane language of people who can barely spell the alphabet, it seems.

    And as a thank you for our time and effort in helping them and their AI learn, they’ve lowered the limit from what was once 5,000 to now 1,500…? A big “fuck off” from here for that! Not a brass farthing from me for this attitude and behaviour, not in a hundred years.

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