Adblock Notice in Blogger: Ask Readers to Unblock Ads, Kindly

Show a friendly notice when readers use an ad blocker: explain why ads matter and let them refresh or continue. Built into Areeb, editable in Layout.

  • Adblock Notice cover

    Ads keep many blogs free, but a lot of readers browse with an ad blocker on. The Areeb theme includes an Adblock notice: a friendly message that appears when a blocker is detected, explains why ads matter, and lets the reader either turn the blocker off or keep reading anyway. It's built in; switch it on, edit the text and you're done.

    What the reader sees

    About a second after the page loads, a card opens in the middle of the screen and the page behind it is blurred:

    PartDefault text
    TitleAd blocker detected
    MessagePlease disable it for this site to continue reading.
    Note (purple box)Ads are one of the ways we fund this site…
    StepsThree short steps to pause the blocker
    Main buttonI've disabled it — Refresh
    Second buttonContinue anyway 😢

    The card follows your theme: light colours in light mode, a dark card and a soft purple note in dark mode.

    Turn it on or off

    1. Open LayoutIn Blogger, go to Layout and scroll to the EXTRAS box at the bottom.
    2. Find the gadgetLook for Adblock notice (eye = on / off).
    3. Click the eyeEye open = the notice works. Eye closed = it never shows. Click Save.

    If you don't run AdSense yet, keep it off. Asking readers to unblock ads that don't exist only annoys them.

    Edit the text

    Click the pencil on the gadget. The content is plain HTML, with a short guide at the top as an HTML comment. Change any text you like: the title, message, note, steps and button labels.

    <h2 id="abnTitle">Ad blocker detected</h2>
    <p>It looks like you're using an ad blocker. Please disable it for this site to continue reading.</p>
    <div class="abn-note">Ads are one of the ways we fund this site…</div>

    Keep the class names abn-ok and abn-skip on the two buttons. The script uses them to know which button reloads the page and which one closes the card.

    Make it optional or mandatory

    You wantDo this
    Readers can skip it (default)Keep the abn-skip button
    Readers must disable the blockerDelete the abn-skip button
    No steps listDelete the <ol>…</ol> block

    When a reader clicks Continue anyway, the card closes and the site keeps working without ads. It won't show again for the rest of that visit, even when they open other posts. A new visit (a new tab or browser session) asks once more.

    A friendly, skippable message usually works better than a hard wall. Readers who feel trapped often just leave.

    How detection works

    The check runs after the page has fully loaded, so it never slows down the first paint or hurts your Core Web Vitals. It uses two tests:

    1. A bait element. The script adds an invisible box with names that ad blockers love to hide. If it gets hidden, a blocker is active.
    2. The AdSense script. If the first test passes, it asks for Google's ad script. Blockers that work at network or DNS level make that request fail.

    The check loads no ads and sends nothing about the reader anywhere.

    Which blockers it catches

    BlockerCaught by
    uBlock Origin, AdBlock, Adblock Plus, AdGuardBait element and AdSense script
    Brave Shields, Opera, Edge built-inAdSense script
    DNS blockers (Pi-hole, NextDNS, AdGuard DNS)AdSense script
    Phone blockers (Samsung Internet, Safari content blockers)AdSense script

    No detector catches 100%. Readers who turn on special "anti-adblock" filter lists can hide the notice, and Firefox in Strict tracking protection may show it even without a blocker (ads would not load there anyway).

    Test it yourself

    1. Install a blockerAdd uBlock Origin or AdBlock to Chrome.
    2. Open your blogUse a new tab. The card should appear about a second after the page loads.
    3. Try both buttonsContinue anyway closes it for the visit; Refresh reloads the page.

    Testing in an Incognito window? Chrome turns extensions off there by default. Open chrome://extensions, click Details on your blocker and enable Allow in Incognito.

    Quick reference

    You wantDo this
    Turn it on / offLayout › EXTRAS › Adblock notice › eye
    Change the textPencil on the gadget, edit the HTML
    Make it mandatoryDelete the abn-skip button
    Hide the stepsDelete the <ol> block
    Show it again to a readerIt comes back on their next visit

    Questions

    Does the notice slow down my blog?

    No. The check starts one second after the page has finished loading and makes at most one small request. Your PageSpeed score is not affected.

    Will readers without a blocker see it?

    No. A blocker has to hide the bait or block Google's ad script. The only known exception is Firefox in Strict mode, which blocks that script by itself.

    A reader clicked "Continue anyway". When will they see it again?

    On their next visit. During the same visit they can read every page without being asked again.

    Can I write the notice in my own language?

    Yes. Edit the text inside the gadget. Everything a reader sees comes from that HTML.

    I deleted something by mistake. How do I get the default back?

    Copy the default text from the "Edit the text" section of this post, and keep the two buttons with their abn-ok and abn-skip classes.