We’re becoming savvier than ever about online security – whether that’s on our personal computers or our smartphones. That said, hackers and fraudsters are also upping their game and making it even more difficult to spot scams and cybercrime.
One thing we’re getting less afraid of is blocking a website on Chrome or Safari when we see something we don’t like on our social media accounts, and even down to blocking and reporting ads we see too often. What’s behind this drive? Let’s take a look at why more and more people choose to block sites, numbers, and ads on their devices.
Website Blocking ─ What’s Behind It?
Source: tomsguide.com
There are lots of different reasons why someone might choose to block a website. Whether it’s in the home, work or school – safety is paramount. Over the last few years, people have become a lot more concerned about browsing security generally, not to mention accidentally accessing unsavory content.
Here are just a few examples of situations in which websites might be more likely to get blocked
- Perhaps you’re an anxious mom or dad who fears what their children might see or hear – especially if they have access to a smartphone, or use a laptop unsupervised.
- You might have a business and want to keep your employees from viewing or searching out inappropriate content during work time, or even when they’re on breaks.
- Simple concerns about things like cyber crime or phishing attempts can be enough to want to block as many websites as possible.
- You might be someone who is self-employed and does not want to be distracted whilst working in a home office setting.
There are lots of ways to block websites – and these can be done manually or automatically using specialized software.
For instance, blocking a website on Chrome manually is a quick, simple, and easy solution that means you don’t need to do much other than click a few buttons, or rely on expensive software to help you achieve your aims.
Web browsers such as the aforementioned Chrome allow you to do this with ease and both Microsoft and Apple allow you to do so on their machines with the help of some guided steps.
There are other ways in which you can opt to block websites, such as the use of parental controls, extensions for search browsers, productivity software (blocking software), and web filters.
Why Are More People Blocking Phone Numbers?
Source: extensivemedia.net
Smartphones really mean we’re caught between the devil and the deep blue sea in terms of connectivity.
Most of us need them for work, and we also use them for leisure as well. This means we’re constantly connected 24/7 without a break.
This also means that we’re available 24/7 – and, not to put too fine a point on it, it can get a bit much.
However, there are lots of reasons why people might choose to block numbers:
- They might be tired of nuisance calls and spam messages from companies trying to sell them things.
- Unsolicited calls from spammers and bots are another reason people hit the block button.
- Unwanted contact from friends or family members, perhaps in circumstances where there have been disagreements.
Blocking numbers can be done simply from smartphones, and there are ways to contact your cell phone carrier and get them to take action if you’re having particular issues that aren’t being helped by the block feature.
The Reasons We’re Blocking Out Ads
Source: xda-developers.com
Advertising online has always created difficulty between consumers and the advertisers themselves. Of course, consumers want to see products and services that could be genuinely useful to them, but more often than not they get bombarded with all sorts of other advertorials they don’t want to see.
If you’ve ever been on social media platforms and have looked at one advert for something then found the next time you’ve visited the same site you’re bombarded with similar content for other products, you’re not alone – and more people are getting savvy in wanting to step away from this kind of marketing.
However, ad blocking isn’t as new as we think. It goes as far back as 2002, but the first real milestone didn’t happen until 2009 when it was estimated that the number of people using this kind of technology hit 20 million.
Ad blocking technology has revolutionized this – but this has created issues with companies using digital media to get the word out about their services. Current estimates show that 912 million of us worldwide use ad-blocking technology to remove the things we don’t want cluttering up our timelines. Why is this?
- Users browsing the internet might mainly use ad blockers so they can avoid seeing or being spammed by repetitive, intrusive, or interruptive ads
- They also use them to get faster page speeds (high ad loads can still affect how quickly a page loads up)
- Data privacy concerns also drive some consumers to use ad blockers to prevent tracking them whenever they browse anything online.
There’s no denying that this does create problems for advertisers, but internet users are firm in their beliefs that they don’t want to see content that either slows down their browsing experience or opens them up to looking at products or services they have no interest in at all.
