16 things that are annoying on the Internet and how to get rid of them

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Make surfing the web really comfortable.

1. Spoilers

The internet is filled with spoilers. As soon as you are about to watch a recently released series, say, "Game of Thrones", as you catch your eye its content, painted in some blog or social network. The pleasure is spoiled.

Solution. Install the special browser extension Spoiler Protection, and then add keywords related to your favorite movie or TV series to its blacklist. For example, enter the word "Daenerys" in the Spoilers section, and all Khaleesi adventures, descriptions of which you come across in Google search results and on other sites, will be smeared in red.

Install Chrome Extensions in Opera and Yandex Browser will help the Install Chrome Extensions add-on.

2. Pop-ups

You open some useful website or video, and suddenly a pop-up window appears with advertisements for “win-win” bets or online stores with T-shirts. You have to get distracted and reach for the button to close such a window. This is annoying.

Solution. Install the special Poper Blocker extension, which can block pop-up windows with ads and other nasty things, and forget about this problem.

There is also its alternative for Opera and Yandex. Browser.

3. Autoplay video

Some web pages contain embedded videos that start playing as soon as you visit the site. This is not very pleasant if you just want to read the text in silence.

Solution. Install the AutoMute extensions for Chrome or Auto Mute Plus for Firefox. In them, you can flexibly configure which sites should mute the video being played, using black and white lists. In newer versions of Chrome, you can turn off sounds from unwanted sites without third-party tools.

Another option is the Disable HTML5 Autoplay extension, which not only mutes the sound, but disables the playback of unwanted videos altogether. If you need to watch something - click on the video.

4. Notifications

Modern sites are very fond of notifying about everything. While this can be useful for new messages on social networks or in the mail, advertising push notifications or news reminders are just distracting. If you, when visiting a new site, without looking, click on the "Allow notifications" button, in the future it will bombard you with reminders again and again.

Solution. Prevent sites from showing you notifications. How to do this is written in our guide. Or, set up an exclusion list to only receive notifications from the sites you want.

5. Malicious sites

They are capable of infecting your computer with viruses or stealing personal data. Popular browsers have built-in protection against phishing and infected sites, but it often leaves a lot to be desired.

Solution. Try installing Web of Trust. This extension will warn you if the resource you are switching to poses any danger.

Web of Trust →

6. Web miners

A separate category of malicious sites is those that use your computer's resources to mine cryptocurrency. They can greatly increase the load on the processor, so that the browser will start to freeze.

Solution. Install the minerBlock extension. It will not allow visited sites to mine directly in your browser.

7. Limited scrolling

Fortunately, resources with articles spanning multiple pages are a thing of the past. They were replaced by sites with infinite scrolling. Nevertheless, there are still instances where you have to click on the arrows below to switch pages. And if the search engines are still forgivable, then the portals where longreads have to be read in pieces, turning over the pages, are wildly enraged.

Solution. AutoPagerize will turn the sites you are viewing into infinite scrolling pages and eliminate the need to click on the Back and Forward buttons.

eight. Lost text

You typed a long meaningful comment or entered your data into the registration form on some resource, accidentally refreshed the page (or simply switched to another tab), and the text disappeared. You can type it again or simplify your task.

Solution. Install a special extension to restore the text automatically.

9. Pop-ups with offers to subscribe

As soon as you open the site and start reading the article - in a second the text overlaps the offer to enter your email address, subscribe to the newsletter, register … And you frantically start looking for a cross that should cover all this.

Solution. The Behind The Overlay extension hides extraneous elements on the page that are overlapping content with one click. Click on the icon in the browser bar and all requests to subscribe will disappear.

Behind The Overlay Website

Behind The Overlay by Nicolae Namolovan Developer

10. Territorial restrictions

“Site not available in your country”, “video not available in your region” … Sound familiar? It is very annoying when some service, like Spotify or Pandora, greets you with such messages.

Solution. Proxy and VPN. There are a lot of them - for every taste and for any browser. Check out our selection of VPNs and proxy guides to find the tool for your needs.

11. Obscenity

Jack Nicholson once told The New Penguin Dictionary of Modern Quotations: “I went offline. There is so much porn there that I just had no time to leave the house. If you feel that you, like Jack, have become addicted to an abundance of adult videos on the Web or you have children at home, you can filter out obscene content effortlessly.

Solution. The vRate extensions for Chrome, FoxFilter for Firefox and Adult Blocker for Opera and Yandex Browser automatically hide adult content after installation.

12. Advertising

Unobtrusive advertising on sites allows their owners to feed themselves, but when advertisers do not know what to do, their bright banners simply interfere with life. The same applies to the occasional pop-up ads on YouTube.

Solution. Lifehacker has prepared for you a comprehensive guide with which you can remove ads from your browser once and for all. And if you are too lazy to read it - just install the good old Adblock Plus, and you're done.

Adblock Plus - free ad blocker adblockplus.org

Adblock Plus by Adblock Plus Developer

Adblock Plus adblockplus

Adblock Plus →

13. Website trackers

The same story as with advertising. Websites don't just offer you to buy something. They also diligently track what you were looking for, which links you clicked on, and how many times you visited certain pages. Someone does not care, someone is annoyed.

Solution. The most popular addon Ghostery, designed to fight all types of surveillance.

Ghostery - Confidential Ad Blocker by Ghostery Developer

Ghostery ghostery

Ghostery →

14. Social media buttons

The constant requests to share with friends are very annoying for introverts who have no friends and those who are not very active on social networks.

Solution. Have you already installed Adblock Plus? Add this subscription to it, and the buttons "Share", "Submit" and "Publish" will stop looming before your eyes.

15. Cookies warnings

“Our site uses your cookies”, “Do you mind that we use your cookies?”, “We need your cookies to provide you with a unique user experience” … Yes! Yes! I do not mind. Use, don't use, maybe I don't even know what these cookies of yours are. Just stop displaying banners at the bottom of the half-screen.

Solution. The I Don’t Care About Cookies subscription for Adblock Plus will finally remove these requests.

16. Password confusion

We use many sites. They all ask to register, come up with a complex password, and choose a unique login. Over time, you just start to get confused in all your accounts.

Solution. There are many password managers that will remember and enter all the necessary information for you. And if necessary, new ones will automatically come up.