According to a report, Microsoft is working on a beta test for an ad-blocker on Edge for Android. With the new feature, Microsoft is introducing a content blocker which will be powered by AdBlock Plus. We guess this means it will be able to block the same ads and have the same capabilities of AdBlock Plus for desktop. On Windows 10, Microsoft Edge users implement AdBlock through the developed extension. However, Edge for Android does not support extension. This means Microsoft has had to integrate AdBlock Plus directly into the browser. When available, users will be able to enable the blocking feature through Settings > Block Content. It is worth noting that you will need to be running the latest beta version of Edge to use the feature.

Ad-Blocking

Ad-blocking is an interesting situation at the moment. As mentioned, websites need ads to make money and when implemented well most users actually don’t mind ads. Indeed, if the website is trusted users can disable AdBlock to run ads on that site. In fact, many websites are pushing users to that with notices to disable ad blocking to view content. In most cases and for trusted sites, users are happy to do this. The website makes money, and everybody is happy. Unfortunately, ads are also an excellent way to encroach on user privacy. They can be used to curate user data and are even a danger in terms of implementing malware. Less of an issue, but still a problem, is that some websites force ads on users in aggressive ways. From videos that cannot be stopped to obtrusive pop-ups, poorly used ads can be frustrating.

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