I'm running the AdBlock extension, the effects of which I expect to be negated when I uncheck "Enable content blockers", but nothing changes on any website when I do.

On the other hand, though, "Paus[ing] AdBlock" has the expected result.

Nothing changes with Ghostery either.

Am I misunderstanding the feature, or is it just not working?

Thanks.

Put (hover) your cursor on the little stop sign with ABP at the top of the browser and check out what, if anything, is being blocked.
For example, this page has 0 out of 290 items blocked; The New York Times, 0 out of 5 items blocked; a Google search, 2 out of 22 items blocked.
So I imagine many, if not most sites have little to nothing to block. That, of course, raises the question of the real utility of the extension.
[FYI: I'm using Adblock Plus 2.8.2.]

Thanks, but that's not what I'm using. I'm using the AdBlock Safari extension...not even the same developer.

That's in Safari 11 in Sierra, by the way.

I didn't realize either of those conditions.

Will Safari 11 accept the AdBlock Plus extension (http://adblockplus.org/en/)? If so, you might want to try it out.

I've got no need for it; AdBlock does a wonderful job, and as far as I know, it's functionality is unique.

My question has nothing to do with AdBlock's functionality, rather it's Safari's functionality I'm questioning.

That is certainly a legitimate question. I use 1Blocker/1Blocker Button and "Enable Content Blockers" in Safari 11.0.1 makes a significant difference on many sites. It is sometimes the difference in a correctly rendered page and a blank window or just text running down the left margin, or even more often whether clicking on a link will work or not.

I don't know the details of how AdBlock vis-a-vis 1Blocker, but this seems to be a subject worthy of further exploration.

My question as respects my OP is "Does unchecking 'Enable content blockers' (or whatever you do in the version of Safari you're running) " disable 1Blocker? It disables neither AdBlock nor Ghostery in my Sierra/Safari 11.0, so either I'm misunderstanding the functionality or it's broken.

I'm not sure about what you'd like to explore; please clarify.

Just curious in this context: are any web sites listed in your ’Content Blockers’ box under the Websites pane of Safari prefs? Mine doesn’t, while all other items in the General/Plug-ins list to the left do. For the record, I do employ both ABP and Ghostery.

Btw, I’m sure jmb will comment, but my take on what he’d like to explore further is the workings of ‘AdBlock vis-a-vis 1Blocker’, possibly in terms of their mutual independence or interference.


NB, I just noticed that the ’Content Blockers’ box now is populated after I test-enabled content blockers on one web site only (none were previously), and that it empties when I uncheck that option. At first glance, it seems to me that the option doesn’t affect ABP’s or Ghostery’s settings, but I’ll have to look at it more closely to be sure.

Whew! Tax season is finally over!

This is what my "Content Blockers" pane shows, but I've got no recollection of how I got it looking like that.

Your initial finding, "that [unchecking] the option doesn’t [seem to] affect ABP’s or Ghostery’s settings" mirrors my inducement for posting the possible issue.

Whew! Tax season is finally over!

I took a look at 1Blocker, and I might even be inclined to overlook my aversion to the App Store for a trial d/l, but it doesn't offer one. (I've been a big fan of AdBlock because of its ability to block ANY html element on a web page, NOT just ads, but 1Blocker sounds like it offers similar functionality.)

I occasionally run into problems with my AdBlock/Ghostery combo that require me to use Safari > Develop > Disable Extensions, and I've got a few websites whitelisted in AdBlock, but I've never kept close track of the details that a good comparison of ad blockers would require, and it's a more daunting task than I'd care to get involved in, so your question will go unanswered forever...by me, at least.

And, of course, it's not just an AdBlock v 1Blocker issue, because there's a plethora of ad blockers out there, and they all claim to be the best.

Getting back to my initial question, though, I'm wondering why unchecking "Enable Content Blockers" doesn't yield the same results as "Disable Extensions"; is it a bug or a very basic lack of understanding of the two options on my part?

Well for one thing there are intelligent content blocking functions built into Safari 11 that are not extensions (and are creating a lot of anguish among advertisers).

While we are talking abut this, there are also ad blockers are neither built into Safari nor are they Safari Extensions but operate at the DNS/VPN level to block/redirect ads before they reach your computer or mobil device and would not be affected by anything set in Safari. But a given site may have to be given a pass in order to function properly — which to me is also annoying.

Ad-blocking is a $$$$ big money $$$$ running battle involving users, advertisers, content providers, and developers. There are valid arguments on all sides and no single answer is likely to suit anyone, much less everyone. There have been the occasional detente but that only lasts until one group or the other develops a better weapon and then like tribal warfare the battle starts all over again. For user's like us, the best we can do is continually re-evaluating our defenses, a willingness to tolerate a reasonable level of advertising, financially contribute to content sites we use with some regularity, and protest excessive intrusiveness by refusing to use sites/products/etc that are too intrusive.

OK, then, so have you or has anyone else noticed a difference in the content of a screen after having unchecked "Enable content blockers"; I"ve tried on a bunch of different websites, and I haven't noticed any difference in so much as a single instance.

What on Earth does the functionality do?

The people from AdBlock have tried to shine a little light on that: Knowledge baseï¹¥What is Safari Content Blocking?

Thanks for the link; I'll work my way through the doc and report back.

I have no explanation for your lack of differences and I can only speak to my own experience, but as I have previously mentioned I have run into 19 websites that either won't display at all, the HTML/CSS will not render correctly, or certain functionalities will not work unless content blockers are disabled. The list includes at&t, Starbucks store, Walmart, Imgur, and youtube.

However, that could be because of other ad blocking Safari extensions I have installed and not directly caused by the built in intelligent ad blocking. Next time I hit one of those sites I will manually disable the ad blocking extensions and compare the results. In any case, whether the failure is a result of Safari's internal blocker or an a.d blocking extension the ability to toggle blocking on a site by site basis with a single click seems VERY valuable to me.

This screenshot has got me completely confused, because it suggests that the Safari functionality I've questioned is not the same functionality that AdBlock Help is discussing.

If it is the same functionality, why the significant nomenclature difference, why no mention of the option to turn it on/off in Safari, and why can I pause AdBlock from its menu bar icon while the box is checked...at the least?

More: I just enabled Safari Content Blocking in AdBlock and got the expected results, so, yup...two different animals.

Well, I've visited Imgur and youTube with the "Enable content blockers" box checked and AdBlock and Ghostery enabled and not experienced any difficulties.

I agree that the ability to toggle blocking on a site by site basis with a single click is very valuable, but if it exists, I haven't stumbled on it yet.

This isn't exactly what you want, but it works for me, if a little inconvenient. Enable the Develop menu (Safari > Preferences > Advanced) and, if you want to disable all extensions in one fell swoop, go to Develop and click Disable Extensions. You'll have to reload the page to see the results. Afterwards, reverse the procedure (Disable Extensions has become Enable Extensions).

Thanks, Jon.

I've been aware of that option for quite some time and have used it any number of times...many, if not most, of them "on spec" and without achieving my desired results.

More: And it only deals with extensions, anyhow, not whatever it is we're discussing here.

And still more: Just found

I'm not seeing the described behavior (which sounds the same as toggling "Disable Extensions" on and off, which does work INCORRECT!).

I wonder if the feature is working for joemike in High Sierra but is broken in Sierra?

Anybody?

I have to disagree (somewhat) with this take on things. Given OS resident (or Webkit featured) functionality like Intelligent Tracking Prevention, regardless of the possibility to manage 3rd party extensions via ‘Enable content blockers’, the option to control those 3rd party extension based blocking separately—and ideally independently—is a critical tool for troubleshooting. ‘No results’ here is still a meaningful outcome, while a positive result will allow zeroing in on the responsible extension(s). But success with the latter may be dependent on interactions between the two (i.e., ITP vs extensions), a variable you seem to be interested in as well.

Beginning at the end, what I'm really interested in is that for the first time in more than 15 years of running OS X/macOS I've run across a check box that appears to be purposeless, and I've tried enough of an assortment of websites with "Enable content blockers" checked and unchecked to have thrown in the towel on further attempts to discern its purpose (so I'd still appreciate someone directing me to a site at which I can actually see something happening [I'm running the AdBlock extension and Ghostery.]).

The ability to control 3rd party content blockers separately is - more than merely important - critical, but it lies in Safari > Prefs > Extensions where you can toggle them individually, rather than in Safari > Develop > Disable Extensions which toggles them in bulk.

FWIW, and on a VERY minimal sample base of ONE website using only ONE third-party adblocking tool, I have to side with artie on my impression.....

The Washington Post as a news source online is one site I routinely see as I scan through my morning "newspaper" over coffee. It likes to lock my screen with a call to subscribe if it detects an ad-blocker....and my chosen ad blocking software, ABP (AdBlockPlus) is normally toggled on/off directly from the Tool Bar, but when I attempted to disable ad-blocking using the new feature built into Safari 11 (Safari/Settings for this website/Enable content blockers checkbox - unchecked), while the page DID reload after changing the checkbox, the ad-blocking remained unchanged.

So, to concisely summarize....the check box appears to do nothing - at least on this website and using this specific ad-blocking software.

• Most of my back and forth on this topic has been with joemike, who's running High Sierra beta, while you (I believe) and I are running Sierra.
• While I've found any number of Google references to "Enable content blockers" in Safari 11 in High Sierra, I haven't found a single one dealing with Sierra.
• I'm therefore wondering if, as unlikely as it sounds, we're dealing with a feature that is built into Sierra but hasn't been turned on yet?

As I understand it, content blocking is a feature of Safari 11, not MacOS and should work in High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan and maybe even Yosemite which is why advertisers have gotten so bent out of shape about it. However, as I am still running beta versions (MacOS 10.13.1 beta 3), and features do get turned on and off without notice, anything is possible.

Is it "Enable[/disable] content blockers" or Intelligent Tracking Prevention that the advertisers are so upset about?

The former is nothing new...no more than a new incarnation of pre-existing functionality, while the latter is brand, spanking new and faaar more offensive to advertisers.

More: Actually, "Enable[/disable] content blockers" is a boon to advertisers, because it enables us to view their ads with less effort.

Just realized: Thanks for clarifying my quoted statement. I meant "built into Safari in Sierra".

New information. Safari ad and other content blockers rely an API for access to Safari traffic. When Apple came up with the ability to enable/disable content blocking on a site by site basis they deprecated they created a new API to support the site by site content blocking. Some developers have already switched to the new API but others have not. If the content blocker is still using the old API Safari's enable/disable content blocker switch cannot work which would account for the differences Artie505 and I are seeing. Eventually Apple will turn off the old API and those content blockers that have not switched will no long work at all.

NOTE:

• This applies ONLY TO SAFARI EXTENSIONS and not to ad blocker apps or VPNs that operate outside of the Safari environment.
• The latest AdGuard extension offers the option of using the old or new API. There may be others I am unaware of — I haven't installed and tested every content blocking Safari extension.

Thanks for the update.

Ghostery hasn't issued any updates recently, but although AdBlock just issued one, I'm unable to test it at the moment, because I had issues with it and reverted.

I'll update as new info becomes available.

I just installed a second AdBlock update, and unchecking "Enable content blockers" still doesn't have its expected effect.

It may be that AdBlock is still isn't using the Content Blocking API.