Google Chrome AdBlock with Privoxy

[update 2]

Check adsweep an adblock extension for chrome

[update]
other alternatives to my original solution:

Privoxy solution:

I love the new Google Chrome Browser, especially the…:

  • – really fast render speed,
  • – new tab page
  • – and the ability to create a new window from a tab that you drop outside chrome.

Naturally, I am missing all my nice add-ons from Firefox, mainly the adblock add-on!

So I found an alternative solution: using Privoxy. Privoxy is a small web proxy that runs locally and has the ability to filter ads.

  • 1. Download & install http://www.privoxy.org/
  • 2. And then set Google chrome’s proxy options:
    Options->Under the hood->change proxy settings->Lan Settings
    Check: “Use a proxy server for your LAN”
    And under advanced add proxy address 127.0.0.1 port 8118 for http and secure but leave ftp blank.

Now you can surf the web with Google Chrome and a lot less ads!

79 thoughts on “Google Chrome AdBlock with Privoxy”

  1. Mike Drabik, Toledo, Ohio

    Thanks for the link to this ad blocking software. I’m posting before I try it – though it looks like it will work if properly installed and configured.

    What I wanted to say is I just wonder if Google will even allow an ad blocker for Chrome in the future betas and the final release. After all Google makes money off people clicking on ads (and pop-ups). My guess is unless they can find a way to keep their ad income in place they probably will never allow an ad blocker type addon to be created for Chrome. But we’ll see – maybe the Googs will surprise me.

    However, I do believe the Googs might eventually allow porn blockers addons, like FF does, since Icognito Mode doesn’t protect one from porn. As we all know all it does it keep secret the places one surfs to – including porn sites – by deleting (or keeping no record of the same).

    Will the every day Joe and Jane Blow websurfer use Chrome and abandon IE? I’d say no. Why? My experience is that most computer users want turnkey software. So, if software requires any type of user configuration most will not mess with it. Therefore, when one of these eternal noobs downloads and installs Chrome (which EN’s seem to have no problem doing) and then gets burned surfing with Chrome naked on the Net – that’ll be it: they make fast tracks back to MS’ IE and never ever look back – UNLESS THEY HAVE A TECHIE INCLINED PERSON RIGHT THERE TO EXTRICATE THEM FROM THE HOLE THEY FELL INTO.

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  5. Here’s a great tip!

    When using privoxy with Chrome (or Iron, which I prefer), you may find a “BLOCKED” message instead of the ads. If you’d like that to be blank, than just find the folder of privoxy, open the templates folder, and replace the file ‘Blocked’ with a new file called blocked.
    Create for example a new txt file.
    Rename this as ‘blocked’.
    Remove the ending tag. It should say just ‘blocked’, not ‘blocked.txt’!

  6. I’ve the following problems with the Google Chrome:
    – when I would like visit up any web site I got the following this
    message; Error 104 (net::ERR_CONNECTION_FAILED): The attempt to connect to the server failed.
    – Google Toolbar doesn’t exist on Google Chrome (it’s really strange)

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  8. Works for me- since this is at the OS level (at least in Windows) it works for ALL my browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari), making it a better application than a firefox-only solution. Thanks for the lead!

  9. Hey guys,

    If you too are annoyed by the “Request blocked by Privoxy ….” message, just add/modify your default.action file this way.

    Scroll to the “Defaults” section (search “# Defaults”). You will see this a couple lines below in the defaults section:
    +set-image-blocker{pattern} \

    change “pattern” to “blank”. That will only make images not report the block. For text-based stuff it catches, Add the following line below the set-image-blocker entry:
    +handle-as-empty-document \

    remember the \ at the end. Save your file and restart privoxy. My defaults section looks like this:

    { \
    +hide-forwarded-for-headers \
    +hide-from-header{block} \
    +set-image-blocker{blank} \
    +handle-as-empty-document \
    }
    / # Match all URLs

    Good luck

  10. Is there a way to have two proxy server defined in the browser?

    I already have a proxy server defined to access internet from the company’s network, however no ad filter function like privoxy.

    it will be nice if it can be configured to filter by privoxy first, then point to my company’s proxy server next.

    Any suggestions? Please kindly advice. Thanks.

  11. Installed Privoxy 3.0.10 on a Windows Vista system with 4 users as admin user, works fine for admin user. When I log in a regular user, I get the “Fatal Error: can’t bind to 127.0.0.1:8118 There may be another Privoxy or some other proxy running on port 8118” when Privoxy tries to start up, so it fails to start and cannot be used.

    There must be a way to have multiple users for Privoxy on Vista, I know that I don’t have any other proxies running, or any other use of port 8118, just Privoxy.

    Any idea how I can make this work for regular users as well as the admin user?

  12. I think that I understand what’s going on with my multiple user problem now. Privoxy tries to start for each user, so only the first startup will work, the rest will fail with the error message mentioned above. Then when the user that started Privoxy for the system exits that stops Privoxy for the system, so other users currently logged in lose it, so someone again must manually restart Privoxy. It works when running…I’d be happier if it was started when the system boots, and then just keeps running…I’ll look into installing it as a service, which would facilitate this.

  13. I’ve been dying without my AdBlock, but the auto complete url field made up for it. Now I won’t cry myself to sleep anymore!

  14. Does privoxy work if you’re already behind a proxy server? The only thing that stops me rom using chrome is the lack of addons. If chrome supported all these add ons (a few important ones are adblock plus, down them all, and download helper (for videos)), I’d surely make the switch. Let’s wait and watch whether the people at google figure out how to incorporate an adblock feature into their browser without hurting their ad-revenues and being fair at the same time.

  15. Wow! Works great! I have websites that took 10-15 seconds to load due to slow ads loading and now it takes a few seconds. Thanks for the info!

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  17. I was searching google for a way to block those horrible adsense ads that google ads to video you watch in your browser. So annoying on webcam sites such as blogtv.com and even youtube. Privoxy is free and it works to clean web video ads! Thanks for the article.

  18. I suggest using all the best software we can,
    Iron with adblock.ini and Privoxy.

    Instead of a weak alternative,
    Chrome (leaks private data back to Google)
    AdSweep (still downloads ads, thus allowing
    sites to continue tracking)

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