Built-in ad blocking has now arrived for the almost 120 million users of the Opera Mini browser for Android. Opera is the first major browser to integrate an ad blocker, for more rapid webpage loading and massive savings on mobile data, extending users’ data caps even further.
The full-featured Opera Mini browser now loads webpages 40% faster than with the ad blocker disabled.
Opera Mini is known for its compression technology, which drastically reduces the size of data from a webpage. By also blocking ads, Opera Mini users can achieve up to 14% in data savings on top of that, so that less is deducted from a user’s mobile data allowance. That means users’ data packages can last even longer, for more news, more social media and more of the web.
“Our ad blocker speeds up Opera Mini by stopping ad requests that slow down your browser, making it 40% faster compared to the previous, already fast Opera Mini version,” says Nuno Sitima, SVP Mobile Browsers, Opera. “This is a frequently-requested feature from users who want faster browsing that’s less data hungry and less distracting. Opera Mini is the best choice for a fast browser on any Android phone.”
The rise of ad blockers
Ad blocking is particularly significant for mobile, where online ads can hike up data charges and affect network experience. They also take up valuable screen space, and slow you down when you want to look up information quickly on your mobile.
Research by Enders Analysis found that anywhere between 18% and 79% of data downloaded on smartphones is from ads. While smartphone penetration is increasing across the globe, the cost of data is still prohibitively high for many, and heavy ads only exacerbate this problem.
A survey by GlobalWebIndex found that, in 4Q2015, 79% of respondents were either already blocking ads on mobile or were interested in doing so. Speed and data savings were among the top six reasons for blocking mobile ads.
Block ads in Opera Mini
Switch your mobile browsing to Opera Mini. With ad blocking fully baked in, you don’t have to waste time on finding and installing other apps.
Under the “O” menu in Opera Mini, tap the data-savings summary. From there, simply toggle “block ads” on and off. On Android, the ad blocker is available in both high- and extreme-savings modes. Ad blocker also debuts today in a stable version of Opera’s browser for computers.
Today’s release of Opera Mini for Android also adds speed and performance improvements. It gives you the ability to add websites to your device’s home screen, so favorite sites are always at your fingertips, and a brings a redesigned Discover newsfeed for top articles across the web.
Opera Mini is a robust browser with many reasons to make it your new default browser. It works seamlessly in any network conditions (including Wi-Fi, 4G, 2G and everything in between), compresses the size of webpages for huge data savings and getting more out of your data package and optimizes video to reduce buffering delays.
Take the ad blocker for a spin in the free Opera Mini for Android.
