How to get rid of "please turn off your ad blocker" messages

Some sites check whether you use an ad blocker. If you do, they cover the page with a message, start a countdown ("a content blocker will appear in 5 seconds"), or stop the page from scrolling until you switch your blocker off. Most people give up and switch it off, and then every ad and tracker comes back.

How the detection works

Sites usually test for a blocker in one of two ways. They load a fake ad file and check whether it was blocked, or they use a ready-made detection script that answers "is there an ad blocker?"

How Fine Print Guard handles it

Fine Print Guard is a free Chrome extension that deals with these walls in three steps:

• It answers the common detection scripts before they run, so the site is told there's no blocker.
• It leaves the site's fake "bait" ad test alone, so that test passes.
• If a wall still appears, it removes the message and the countdown and lets the page scroll again.

What it deliberately doesn't do

It doesn't get around paywalls. A site that asks you to subscribe to read is left alone. If you want to support a site you read often, pause blocking on it from the extension's panel.