Samsung Brings Ad Blocking To Its Android Browser

Samsung has pushed out an update to its Samsung Internet mobile browser today that lets users install ad block plugins.

The update will be pushed to Samsung smartphones running on Android Lollipop or newer, such as the S6, with users able to install apps that will block ads on the websites they visit with Samsung Internet 4.0 and up.

The argument in favour of adblocking claims that by blocking website adverts, pages load faster and use less mobile data, but opponents are adamant adblocking will be the death of free content on the Internet, as advertisers pull their economic rug out from beneath websites.

Adblock Fast

Apple last September enabled content and ad blocking for iOS users, with Adblock Fast and other adblocking plugins storming the download charts.

Samsung has partnered with Adblock Fast for today’s over-the-air update, with Adblock Fast claiming that its open source, free software loads Android webpages 51 percent faster.

“When Apple rolled content blocking out to hundreds of millions of iOS users in September, ad blocking became kind of a big deal,” said Adblock Fast today, “and our Adblock Fast app was the first free and first open-source ad blocker on that platform.”

Adblock Fast said it has since then picked up more than 200,000 users.

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