Block “on the Internet” Links With the Freedom App
There’s another use for Freedom, a simple app that lets you block distracting sites like Twitter for minutes, hours, or days. As stated in the app’s blog, Freedom also works as a clickbait blocker that hides rude and misleading “On the Web” links at the bottom of news articles (also called ” chumbox” ).
This is useful if you are not using an ad blocker, but the principle is the same: Freedom blocks all traffic from the specified domain. It is impractical to block most ads that are served from a huge and ever-changing set of different domains. But most “On the Web” links go through a few top publishers, which you can easily blacklist in Freedom.
To block these pesky links, simply install Freedom ($ 29 / year or $ 119 forever), open your control panel , select Add Blacklist and enter the following domains:
- outbrain.com
- taboola.com
- zergnet.com
- revcontent.com
- shareaholic.com
Save the list, then click “Add Session” and block these sites at any time. Like any Freedom session, you can apply it to any of your iOS, Mac, or Windows devices. (While Freedom does not support Android, subscribers also get free premium access to Offtime for desktops and Android.)
This will destroy the vast majority of “On the Internet” links on your entire device, including all your browsers and applications. After starting a session, you can only access the blocked content by deleting the blacklist. So just like any Freedom block, start a short test session first.
Freedom’s main feature – blocking out distractions – costs $ 29 per year; I use it to automatically block Twitter at night. But if you don’t want to pay that much, you can still block two domains with a free account. This applies to Outbrain and Taboola.
Or you can add the above domains to your regular ad blocker. Here’s how to block domains in Adblock and Adblock Plus , as well as uBlock Origin .
Online links generate a lot of revenue for information sites that until recently included Lifehacker. But they are also a great source of fake news and sneak up in the wrong places . It’s also frustrating to flip through serious news and see close-ups of body horror and dark headlines about child actors. So break free.