People often ask us about the confusing names of extensions and apps that are similar to AdBlock: Total Adblock, Ad Tranquility, Ad Lock, etc. None of these are products we make but they are often mistaken for our software. Besides that, their logos often look very much like AdBlock's. And even more confusing, since the code we use is open source, some of the ad blockers themselves look very much like AdBlock.
Unfortunately, even though we were around long before these imitators, there's not much we can do to stop them. Where there is a clear violation of our trademarked logo or other intellectual property, or if our code has been adapted to infect users' computers with adware, we report them to Google, Mozilla, Microsoft, or Apple, as appropriate. Product names can't be trademarked, however, so we can't stop other ad blockers from using a name similar to ours.
Since logos and names can be misleading, the best way to make sure you're downloading our product is to do so directly from our website: https://getadblock.com/.
What about Adblock Plus (ABP)?
Despite having similar names, AdBlock (https://getadblock.com) and Adblock Plus (ABP) (https://adblockplus.org) are two separate products. The reason they're similarly named is an interesting bit of internet history:
Long, long ago, somebody (not us) created a Firefox add-on called Adblock. Later on, another team created a different Firefox add-on and adopted the name Adblock Plus (ABP). When Google Chrome came along, the Adblock Plus team wasn't interested in supporting the new browser. Michael Gundlach, AdBlock's creator, decided to make AdBlock for Chrome. Later on, the Adblock Plus team decided to support Chrome as well. Over time, both AdBlock and ABP added support for additional browsers and platforms. And that's why the two most popular ad blockers have such similar names.
In early 2021, we announced that we teamed up with ABP. We look forward to this collaboration to make both products that much better!
Should I use both AdBlock and ABP?
If you have more than one ad blocker enabled, we recommend that you disable all but one of them. You might think more ad blockers equals more blocked ads, but many ad blockers can interfere with each other’s functionality, making it more difficult to block ads and even slowing down your browser's speed. It also makes it more difficult when you encounter anti-adblock notifications that ask you to disable your ad blocker.
If you’re not sure whether you have more than one ad blocker installed, follow our instructions for checking to see if AdBlock is installed: Making sure AdBlock is installed. If you have other ad blockers installed, you should find them in the same place and can remove them.
What's the difference between AdBlock and ABP?
There aren't all that many differences between the two products. It's really just a matter of preference as both extensions use the same ad blocking technology. You can compare our two ad blocking products here: Should I use AdBlock, AdBlock Plus, or AdBlock VPN?