How to Create the Perfect Adblocker
1. Block ads.
2. Block sponsored posts. Most of these should actually be pretty easy. Some are already blocked!
3. Block tracking pixels and analytics, because why should they know who’s reading?
4. Block… JavaScript?
5. Block paywalls, which are actually just giant ads for subscriptions.
6. Actually just block everything except text and images, and some gifs.
7. Block affiliate links. This should be VERY easy.
8. Mask URLs. What do they even mean?
9. Block logos, so you’re closer to the writers themselves.
10. Block bylines, so you’re closer to the content itself.
11. Block ALL content deemed “clickbait,” as decided first by a dedicated subreddit and then by user reporting tool.
12. Add profiles, to aggregate all your decisions in one place, and to give you a way to collect your content in one place.
13. Make those profiles public, to allow you to share your content.
14. Put stories in a feed of some sort.
15. Add a re-posting functionality, to allow High Quality ad-blocked content to go viral.
16. Allow video, but block all ads.
17. Allow podcasts, but block all the parts where the host talks about Audible or Squarespace or whatever. This should also be easy, with the user reporting tool.
18. Start keeping track of the content that readers engage with the most, adding this information to a database that can be compared with the clickbait database, which has gotten a little boring.
19. Using this data, present users with a mixture of things they SAY they want and things they actually seem to want.
20. Make it free!!
21. Add ads, to support this app that people love!
With additional blocking by Matt Buchanan