How to block Blockadblock manually using uBlock Origin

Ashwin
Aug 28, 2019
Firefox add-ons, Google Chrome extensions, Network
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54

A few days ago I encountered an issue with a website. It was displaying a "disable your ad blocker" page; this particular site did not provide a choice in this regard as many other sites do. Many sites display an adblocking detected message but let users browse the site by giving them an option to continue with an adblocker.

The message itself may not be unusual as plenty of sites use it on today's Internet but it was in this case a bit strange. I have been using uBlock Origin to block ads and Nano Defender to counter the ad blocker-blockers. I have used the website before and it used to work perfectly with the blockers but for some reason now it didn't; something must have changed.

There was no other way to get the file I wanted as it wasn't available anywhere else so I did what I had to: block Blockadblock. Hey, you can't make me do what I don't like.

How to block Blockadblock manually

1. Add the following script to your ad blocker. I used Ublock Origin (Dashboard > My Filters). It may work with other add-ons.

@@||example.com^$generichide
example.com##script:inject(bab-defuser.js)

2.Replace the address "example.com" with the URL of the website which has Blockadblock on it.

3. Click on Apply changes.

Reload the page which you were trying to access. And it should work perfectly even when your ad blocker is fully functional. You have to do this for every website which has blockadblock enabled if it does not work correctly.

Note: This issue was temporary and has since been fixed, but I wanted to guide users how to do it because this works with most anti-ad blockers. Who knows when it could come in handy?

Why you may want to do this?

There are lots of reasons why. Technical stuff can be a reason. Filters used by add-ons can get broken and it may take a while before it is fixed. You don't have to wait for that. When this happens, you may want to (should) report it to the add-on/filter maintainer. Malicious scripts which force you to disable your ad blocker (yes I consider them malware) get smarter all the time and bypass ad blockers, and it takes some time before the maintainers of the filter list update them to make the filters work again.

When a website asks you to disable your ad blocker, assume the worst. Extensions like uBlock Origin are part of your computer's security set-up along with your anti-virus and firewall.

You should never disable any of these just to get something working but you may do so if you use the site often and want to make sure that its receives revenue from ad interactions so that it can stay online.

Besides, ads are vulnerable to malware injections which in turn can affect your browser/computer. I don't even have to mention the privacy issues with ads as they exist as well. Either use the script to block the anti-ad block, or if you feel bad about it close the page and move on. Do not disable your ad blocker and compromise your security just because a site attempts to force you to do so.

What about internet ethics?

In my opinion, any website which forces the visitor to disable your ad blocker to access the site does not really care about the visitor. While it is understandable that sites need to make money to survive, forcing users to disable adblockers is the wrong way to do that because the ad system is broken in its current form.

However, when a website asks you to consider disabling your ad-blocker to support them you can choose to do it provided that the site is trustworthy and does not bombard you with annoying ads. I do that sometimes as advertisement is essential for many sites on the Internet.

Summary
Article Name
How to block Blockadblock manually using uBlock Origin
Description
How to block Blockadblock manually using uBlock Origin. You just have to copy and paste 2 lines in your ad blocker's settings, and edit them slightly.
Author
Publisher
Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Anonymous said on September 30, 2021 at 5:58 pm
    Reply

    Thank you soooo very very much! It worked amazingly.

  2. Anonymous said on March 17, 2021 at 5:05 pm
    Reply

    *##+js(bab-defuser.js)
    if you want to block “BlockAdBlock” on every website.

    1. blockadblock admin said on April 19, 2021 at 1:26 pm
      Reply

      thanks man, worked perfectly

  3. Anonymous said on August 9, 2020 at 4:00 pm
    Reply

    This worked perfectly first time. You legend.

  4. Anonymous said on August 7, 2020 at 7:05 pm
    Reply

    yay epic

  5. PhantomDrive said on July 20, 2020 at 12:53 am
    Reply

    “internet ethics”

    Are you familiar with the term “oxymoron”?

  6. Thanks said on June 16, 2020 at 9:19 pm
    Reply

    BlockadblockBlocker Great :D

  7. Jake J. said on June 6, 2020 at 11:59 pm
    Reply

    READ THIS !!

    The thing is if you block ads, you stop supporting the website and that is not good! Please don’t do this and support sites so they can write, they also need to pay bills.

    1. Peter said on June 13, 2020 at 9:09 am
      Reply

      Don’t worry my dear we know who use ethical adverts and we unblock the domains that deserve it.
      Forcing someone to close adblock and spam ads is not the way to pay your bills. Now GFY :)

  8. Anonymous said on May 28, 2020 at 11:56 pm
    Reply

    This isn’t working for me :( Any other tips or suggestions? Please & thanks

  9. Nemesis306 said on May 21, 2020 at 8:03 pm
    Reply

    Thank you!

  10. Yinna said on April 30, 2020 at 8:11 pm
    Reply

    Thank you! This still works.

  11. thunder said on April 13, 2020 at 6:46 pm
    Reply

    i forget to say its happen after i add this lines…

  12. thunder said on April 13, 2020 at 5:16 pm
    Reply

    work yesterday but today ublock dont work at all!

  13. itsDavid2103 said on March 8, 2020 at 6:19 am
    Reply

    Thanks so Much, a site I regularly use inputted Anti-Adblock recently and this solves all my issues with it!

  14. gazoo said on January 20, 2020 at 7:10 pm
    Reply

    After reading through the comments, I settled on the below (which seems to be the most up to date):

    @@||example.com^$generichide
    example.com##+js(nobab)

    Note: the syntax used in the article also worked.

    What I had been doing before was activating Firefox’s Reader View, which bypassed the ‘block Blockadblock’. I later found an extension named : Auto Reader View by Patrick Marchwiak : which automatically displays a domain in Reader View (on a per domain basis). It also does a better job (more full-featured) than FF’s built-in Reader View.

    This works pretty well on the few sites I’ve encountered. Haven’t decided which is the best method as Reader View is pretty nice though less interactive.

  15. Davidii said on December 24, 2019 at 5:08 pm
    Reply

    Thank you so much.

    1. Willem said on March 26, 2020 at 8:31 am
      Reply

      Agreed, it is annoying to be interrupted by adds, but there’s a simple reason why sites use them: their servers and internet connections are not free. You pay for yours, don’t you? Do you pay when your car needs service, or petrol (or electricity)? So it is obvious you have to pay for access. Either by advertisement or a fee, either per visit or regular. Because you seem reluctant to pay, you’re denied access. Similar to being denied internet services if you don’t pay your service provider.

  16. Thankful visitor said on November 13, 2019 at 2:19 pm
    Reply

    Thanks! Works like a charm on a site with dynamic anti-adblocker popups.

  17. Anonymous said on October 19, 2019 at 9:14 am
    Reply

    seems to work on blockadblock, but I have problems getting results on other websites. Any idea?

  18. gar said on October 3, 2019 at 12:27 pm
    Reply

    thanks! just blocked the Ads on your website! perfect..:0(

  19. Klaus said on September 1, 2019 at 9:59 am
    Reply

    I have no problems with those websites since I’m using Nano Adblocker + Nano Defender.

  20. Dave said on August 31, 2019 at 7:24 am
    Reply

    Works great with adblock plus on edge. Thanks for the tip.

  21. Martin said on August 30, 2019 at 10:35 am
    Reply

    IT has a long way to go if any problem is to be resolved by typing “@@||example.com^$generichide
    example.com##script:inject(bab-defuser.js)”!

  22. Martin said on August 29, 2019 at 1:17 pm
    Reply

    I actually question the legality of a website looking to see if you are using an ad-blocker.

  23. MarkDubya said on August 29, 2019 at 1:15 am
    Reply

    AdGuard uses #%#//scriptlet(“prevent-bab”) and it seems to work just fine.

  24. Anonymous said on August 29, 2019 at 1:00 am
    Reply

    Speaking of supporting websites… Does anyone know of any “proxy” services for PayPal? Like, pay a third party with, say, Bitcoin, and they make purchases for you via PayPal?

  25. erwan said on August 28, 2019 at 8:44 pm
    Reply

    doesnn’t work on ***; instead i use disable javascript on this site with ublock origin

  26. OldBen said on August 28, 2019 at 6:26 pm
    Reply

    IRONY:

    “WE NEED YOUR HELP
    Advertising revenue is falling fast across the Internet, and independently-run sites like Ghacks are hit hardest by it. “

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on August 28, 2019 at 7:06 pm
      Reply

      Why would you say that? It is clear that we don’t implement any anti-ad-blocking mechanisms here on the site but appeal to people instead. If you like the site and don’t want to see it vanished you may support it one way or another if you can.

      If that fails, sites like this one will be gone sooner or later.

      1. Hans said on August 29, 2019 at 9:14 am
        Reply

        I think he means that you are apparantely using an adblocker as well while on other sites.

      2. Martin Brinkmann said on August 29, 2019 at 9:41 am
        Reply

        It is not my article. But yes, I do use an ad-blocker. I do disable it on sites that I like as I want them to remain available and continue to publish great content. I do clear cookies regularly and try my best not to be tracked though, but ads are fine on these sites as I want these sites to survive.

  27. Robert Ab said on August 28, 2019 at 5:55 pm
    Reply

    The latest syntax would be shorter:
    …##+js(nobab)

    gorhill4 (uBlock Origin developer) wrote: https://www.reddit.com/r/uBlockOrigin/comments/cwk2og/how_to_block_blockadblock_manually_using_ublock/eycf6um

    1. Tom Hawack said on August 29, 2019 at 10:24 am
      Reply

      OK. So we’d have (for several sites),
      blockadblock.com,example.com##+js(nobab)

      But the article mentions as well,

      @@||example.com^$generichide

      What is this generichide?
      Does this mean that any site added to ##+js(nobab) must be added as well to ^$generichide, i.e. :

      @@||blockadblock.com,example.com^$generichide

      Thanks. I’m a bit confused with uBO blocking syntax as you see …

      1. Anonymous said on August 29, 2019 at 4:21 pm
        Reply

        `$generichide` option disables generic cosmetic filters on page (these which only hide content and which are enabled on all pages). This option alone is enough to fool less advanced anti-adblocks. I don’t think it’s needed with `bab-defuser.js`.

      2. Tom Hawack said on August 29, 2019 at 9:18 pm
        Reply

        @Anonymous, thanks. I’ve tried myself to gather info about this `$generichide`, especially on uBO’s GitHub repositories but what I found was rather technical.

        As far as I’m concerned I assume Blockadblock is already handled by one at least of my uBO filter lists given the fact that disabling the two lines hereafter in ‘My filters’ did not lead to blockadblock.com requiring that I block my adblockers …

        blockadblock##+js(nobab)
        @@||example.com^$generichide

        I’d have to search to know what uBO lists handle BaB but I wouldn’t be surprised it be one of the built-in lists, presumably uBlock filters – Annoyances …

  28. Tom Hawack said on August 28, 2019 at 5:03 pm
    Reply

    By the way the site blockadblock.com itself uses its anti-adblocker :=) so there’s a place to test :

    We’d have :
    blockadblock.com##script:inject(bab-defuser.js)
    or rather, as pointed out above by uBlock-user :
    blockadblock.com##+js(bab-defuser.js)

    I didn’t know that “script:inject” was deprecated uBO syntax, replaced now by “+js” (all without quotes of course).

    1. uBlock-user said on August 28, 2019 at 8:02 pm
      Reply

      blockadblock.com##+js(nobab)

      Much shorter now

  29. uBlock-user said on August 28, 2019 at 3:49 pm
    Reply

    > You have to do this for every website which has blockadblock enabled if it does not work correctly.

    No need to, just copy paste the domain name and attach it with a comma.

    example.com,example2.com##+js(bab-defuser)

    Also avoid adding .js at the end of the scriptlet as it’s no longer needed for the new syntax.

    1. Anonymous said on November 14, 2021 at 1:24 am
      Reply

      You have no idea just how awesome you are. Every site, post, reddit etc didn’t work and I thought I was a moron until I read this and realized they were all using outdated syntax and didn’t have the foresight or bo+ther to update.

      So yes, everyone who can’t seem to get this to work, update the syntax in the line to +js instead of script:inject and it should work.

    2. Anonymous said on November 13, 2021 at 12:08 pm
      Reply

      Works perfect, thanks.

    3. muiecanu imi scriunumele said on March 26, 2021 at 4:30 pm
      Reply

      This did it for me ! Thank you for taking your time to share !

  30. uBlock-user said on August 28, 2019 at 3:43 pm
    Reply

    “script:inject” is deprecated uBO syntax, use +js instead.

  31. Alex said on August 28, 2019 at 2:36 pm
    Reply

    Why not block this globally instead of on specific sites?

  32. ULBoom said on August 28, 2019 at 2:21 pm
    Reply

    Some sites seem to pop the adblock message for a while, then remove it, then place it again; The Weather Channel does this. It’s annoying but not as bad as very popular widely linked sites such as Washington Post that periodically won’t let you view the site without signing into a free account, claiming you’re in private browsing mode even if not.

    This fix didn’t work on WaPo, not sure if it’s capable of doing so.

  33. Anonymous said on August 28, 2019 at 12:56 pm
    Reply

    Would having NoScript installed alongside an ad blocker have prevented the “disable your ad blocker message?

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on August 28, 2019 at 1:02 pm
      Reply

      Maybe, provided that you did not allow the main domain to run JavaScript.

  34. Paulus said on August 28, 2019 at 11:30 am
    Reply

    Could it be that those website are taking a leaf out of the Google behaviour manual?
    Could it be that there thinking when a giant company is making it legal to force feed a structure of less blockade advertisement, (and as indirect result less security) by the ad blockers nobody will fall over there behaviour?
    Could it also be that next to that that those website are thinking that because there operating in the shadow of a giant company there will be even less change, that there getting banned by the users, because of there behaviour?

  35. Tom Hawack said on August 28, 2019 at 10:07 am
    Reply

    Nice find, Ashwin; and I couldn’t agree more about your interpretation of sites refusing access unless the user’s adblocker be disabled for them. It’s unfair. We can and we do criticize an advertisement polluted Web but as long as the user has the choice, even if that choice requires specialized tools, then it remains fair, so to say. A site going further than that is a force-feeder and deserves either to be boycotted either to have its dictatorship bypassed by … an anti-anti-adblocker solution.

  36. Anonymous said on August 28, 2019 at 9:02 am
    Reply

    Thanks. Do you have a site I can test this on?

    1. WDGaster said on September 11, 2022 at 12:23 pm
      Reply

      emoji.gg this site used blockadblock
      here is script
      @@||emoji.gg^$generichide
      emoji.gg##script:inject(bab-defuser.js)

    2. BM said on August 30, 2019 at 12:07 am
      Reply

      Wouldn’t the element picker (the eye dropper icon) be able to do this?

    3. OldBen said on August 28, 2019 at 6:41 pm
      Reply

      You can test at https://blockadblock.com ;)

    4. Tom Hawack said on August 28, 2019 at 12:33 pm
      Reply

      As mentioned by Ashwin, the author of the article, “Note: This issue was temporary and has since been fixed”; nevertheless as you I’d like to test a site which uses Blockadblock, that Blockadblock which can be defeated from now on.

      How many .com sites start with ‘snow’ and include likely 7 characters, just to bounce on the obfuscated site appearing in the article’s screenshot?

      Need a private eye.

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