<ul data-eligibleForWebStory="false"><li>A new study suggests that ad blockers may not be as effective as users think and could even lead to worse ads being shown.</li><li>The study focused on Adblock Plus' 'Acceptable Ads' feature, which aims to balance ad support for websites with providing users a better browsing experience.</li><li>Users with the Acceptable Ads feature turned on saw 13.6% more problematic ads than those without any ad blockers, including ads with inappropriate content and misleading claims.</li><li>The study raises concerns about ad platforms potentially targeting users with ad blockers with lower-quality or riskier ads, posing privacy risks. The research will be presented at the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium on July 15, 2025.</li></ul>

Are ad blockers backfiring? New study finds they may show you worse ads

Discover more