Researchers at Princeton and Stanford have developed Perceptual Ad Blocker, an ad-blocker able to detect ads by scanning a page's source code rather than reading its HTML markup or tags. The researchers say their system is more accurate because it can identify the exact page that contains ads, as opposed to just detecting them in general. The proof-of-concept is currently in tests as a Chrome extension that enables ads to be displayed without identifying text, although its full ad-blocking capabilities may be introduced later.
Researchers at Princeton and Stanford have developed Perceptual Ad Blocker, an ad-blocker able to detect ads by scanning a page's source code rather than reading its HTML markup or tags. Although the technology can be circumvented to show ads or pop-ups urging users to whitelist the site, the proof-of-concept identifies how web browsers' architecture favours users and ad-blockers, according to Arvind Narayanan, one of Perceptual Ad Blocker's creators. The proof-of-concept is currently in tests as a Chrome extension that enables ads to be displayed without identifying text, although its full ad-blocking capabilities may be introduced later.