About filters
A few standard filters are automatically added when you install GlimmerBlocker for the first time. So out of the box GlimmerBlocker provides most users with sufficient suppression of flashy ads. See the bottom of this page for description of the standard filters. Some of the standard filters are not enabled by default.
There are 2 policies governing the standard filters in GlimmerBlocker:
- I don't mind ads as a concept. I just hate animated and flashing ads which remove my focus from the content on the site. So Google text ads are not blocked.
- I would rather block too little than block too much: I prefer to have some ads to get past the filters rather than making some web-sites non-working by blocking too much.
Many of the Adblock Plus filters use the opposite policy of #2: they use overly broad blocking which makes a lot of sites non-working. The filters try to repair the damage using a lot of white-lists, but this repair only works for sites known to the filter author.
I would like the standard filters in GlimmerBlocker to be such that you can install GlimmerBlocker on your moms computer without having her call all the time because her favourite sites stopped working.
I don't visit every site in this world so if you have created a set of rules that improves the standard filters and they adhere to the above rules, I'll be happy to receive submissions for inclusion in the standard filters.
Please add a comment to the rule stating which site that made you create the rule, i.e. the site that have ads blocked by the rule. Having documented the reason for adding the rule 1) helps in the future to verify the rule is still needed as some ad agency networks go in and out of business rather quickly, and 2) some rules might influence sites you don't use yourself and knowing the original site makes it easier to improve the rule instead of just resorting to delete it without further ado.
Enhancing sites
Please note that GlimmerBlocker supports two kinds of filters: not only allows it blocking ads but it too supports improving sites. The "iTunes Store" filter below is such an example: it doesn't block iTunes or any other ads, it just enhances the user experience for users who prefer to keep iTunes in the background when clicking on a store link.
The YouTube rules:
- add a download link so you can easily download the video to your computer. It uses the name of the video as the filename.
- automatically switch to high quality (because that's just so much nicer). If you have a slow internet connection, you might want to disable this rule.
Examples:
- one site uses the same page title for all pages thereby rendering the "History" menu unusable. GlimmerBlocker changes the title to a proper page name.
- another site uses horrible line breaking (inside words, without any dash). The rule makes the site use normal line breaking.
- many of the Danish news sites are horrible on an iPhone/iPod (non optimized layout and very slow). Only a single site provides a nice iPhone experience. The filter changes the layout of some of the sites to better suit an iPhone. Using these filters require setting a Mac running GlimmerBlocker as the http proxy in the iPhone wifi setup.
Submitted Filters
| Title: | Polish sites |
| Author: | Chris Krupski (ArkSq) |
| Description: | Blocks ads and improves the appearance of most polish web sites and not only... also blocks ads on other sites. To provide feedback or to have suggestions for improving the filter, please visit arksq.tumblr.com. |
| URL: | http://glimer.freehostia.com/rules/gslate.xml |
| Title: | iTunes Store |
| Author: | Steve Streza |
| Description: | Makes opening links to the iTunes Store less of a hassle by avoiding iTunes Store links to cause iTunes to gain focus and interrupt whatever it is doing. This filter lets the iTunes Store link open in a normal browser page. It then adds a link to open the actual iTunes Store. |
| URL: | http://idisk.mac.com/stevestreza/Public/itunes-store.xml |
| Title: | Kill popup ads from snap.com |
| Author: | Andre Arko |
| Description: | SnapShots (from snap.com) are annoying graphical previews that pop up any time you mouse over a link. They seem to be enabled by default on on LiveJournal and wordpress.com, which is extremely unfortunate. This filter tries to prevent the SnapShots javascript file from loading. |
| URL: | http://idisk.mac.com/andreocean/Public/snap-blocker.xml |
| Title: | Björn's ad filters |
| Author: | Björn Kuestner |
| Description: | Additional ad filters that are not covered in the default set shipped with GlimmerBlocker. This filter includes site-specific rules and some rather aggressive general rules. |
| URL: | http://users.glimmerblocker.org/bkuestner/bjoerns-ad-filters.xml |
| Title: | Björn's German keywords |
| Author: | Björn Kuestner |
| Description: | Weitere Abkürzungen für deutschsprachinge Nutzer. Tippe z. B. "pons bagger" um eine Übersetzung für "Bagger" aus dem Pons-Wörterbuch zu erhalten. Additional keyword expansions for German speaking users. |
| URL: | http://users.glimmerblocker.org/bkuestner/bjoerns-german-keywords.xml |
| Title: | Björn's keywords |
| Author: | Björn Kuestner |
| Description: | Additional keyword expansions for English-speaking / international users |
| URL: | http://users.glimmerblocker.org/bkuestner/bjoerns-keywords.xml |
| Title: | aldaily.com etc |
| Author: | Alastair Scott |
| Description: | Blocks graphical ads on a number of sites frequently linked to from aldaily.com (and which, typically, serve their own ads - they don't use advertising networks). |
| URL: | http://glimmerblocker.thebrix.fastmail.fm/aldaily.xml |
| Title: | Pierres filter |
| Author: | Pierre Rudloff |
| Description: | This filter blocks some ad servers that are not covered by default filters (including some french websites). |
| URL: | http://users.glimmerblocker.org/rudloff/filter.xml |
| Title: | iso50 |
| Author: | Jay Williams |
| Description: | Cleans up and speeds up the site by removing the side column and unnecessary javascript. |
| URL: | http://idisk.d3done.com/public/iso50.xml |
| Title: | Popular Mobile Ad Servers |
| Author: | BigB |
| Description: | a filter for a few iphone ad networks |
| URL: | http://idisk.mac.com/psychobillyb/Public/mobile-ads.xml |
| Title: | SafeSearch |
| Author: | Chris Silverberg |
| Description: | Enforces safe-search for Google, Yahoo!, Bing |
| URL: | http://www.silverberg.net/safesearch.xml |
| Title: | Keywords using Google Search field |
| Author: | Andrew Freyer |
| Description: | This filter allows all Safari keyword expansions to be triggered from Google Quick Search Box. Also, it will submit any address bar query it does not recognize to Google (e.g. type "who was the first president" in the address bar will redirect to a Google search). |
| URL: | http://idisk.mac.com/andrew.freyer/Public/keyword-expansion-extend.xml |
| Title: | adsubtract |
| Author: | Steven Jay Cohen |
| Description: | Ported adsubtract filters to Glimmer Blocker (where they make sense). Original format at http://code.google.com/p/adsubtract/ |
| URL: | http://www.stevenjaycohen.com/files/adsubtract.xml |
| Title: | Browse iTunes store in Safari |
| Author: | Peter Speck |
| Description: | Adds the required http header for browsing the iTunes Store in Safari. Use http://ax.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewGrouping?id=1 as initial URL when browsing. |
| URL: | http://glimmerblocker.org/site/filters/browse-itunes-store.xml |
| Title: | iPhone/iPod optimizations |
| Author: | Peter Speck (GlimmerBlocker author) |
| Description: | This filter dramatically changes the layout of a few sites so they fit better on the iPhone, and in some cases are faster. The modifications are made only for Safari on iPhones/iPods and not for Mac Safari. |
| URL: | http://glimmerblocker.org/site/filters/mobile-optimized.xml |
If you have published a filter which you think is interesting for other users, please send a description of the filter.
How to subscribe to a filter
Unlock the settings by clicking on the lock:
Then select "Subscribe to filter..."
and enter the URL:
Beware that most filters require you to trust the author and enable the filter to modify content.
Filters included in GlimmerBlocker
| Title: | Ad-networks |
| Description: | This filter stop ads from 'doubleclick' and other companies/ad-agencies whose only purpose is to serve ads. |
| URL: | http://glimmerblocker.org/site/filters/default/ad-networks.xml |
| Title: | Site-specific ad removal |
| Description: | This filter stop ads which are specific to the individual sites. |
| URL: | http://glimmerblocker.org/site/filters/default/site-specific.xml |
| Title: | Intrusive/fragile ad filtering |
| Description: | This filter performs more risky filtering which may easily break when sites changes design. This filter is not enabled by default. You have to enable it yourself. |
| OBS: | This filter is not enabled by default. You have to enable it yourself. |
| URL: | http://glimmerblocker.org/site/filters/default/intrusive.xml |
| Title: | Site enhancements |
| Description: | This filter adds enhancement to sites such as download links and embedded display of attachments. This filter is not enabled by default. You have to enable it yourself. |
| OBS: | This filter is not enabled by default. You have to enable it yourself. |
| URL: | http://glimmerblocker.org/site/filters/default/site-enhancements.xml |
