How do ads blocker extensions work?

Question

I was wondering what is the idea behind ads blockers browser extensions? I want to develop such an extension but first i want to understand how do they do their magic. So, how do they work?

Answer 1

These extensions use filter lists, filter lists are essentially an extensive set of rules that tell Adblockers which elements of a website to block. You can add any filter list you want. For example, block tracking or malware.

All filters are translated into regular expressions internally, even the ones that haven't been specified as such. For example, the filter ad*banner.gif| will be translated into the regular expression /ad.*banner.gif$/.

Follow the link given below to get a good idea of internal working of those extensions:

https://adblockplus.org/faq_internal