Typo correction feature in Adblock Plus · 2012-11-21 16:40 by Wladimir Palant

Update: All the issues noted in the comments have been addressed, the next list update should resolve them. I closed the comments here because I cannot realistically reply to everybody – please use our forum instead.

Lots of Adblock Plus users were complaining about unintentionally landing on web pages that tried to use their mistake by either showing ads to them or even by installing malware. We heard you and thought up a way to fix that. A few months ago we took over the development of the URL Fixer extension and made some substantial improvements. Now this functionality is ready for prime time and has been added to Adblock Plus 2.2.

Enabling typo corrections

This is opt-in functionality, it won’t be enabled by default — it appears that many of our users simply don’t use the address bar any more. However, the first time you mistype something you will be asked whether you want to enable typo corrections. If you click “No” this message will not come up again. Of course you can also just enable (or disable) that feature in the Filter Preferences dialog.

Note that Adblock Plus won’t be able to recognize typos immediately. Unlike URL Fixer it doesn’t come with a database of “correct” domain names, it has to download it first. This should normally happen within 5 minutes after the extension installation or update.

Wrong corrections

Adblock Plus does make occasional mistakes when correcting typos. It can happen that you type in a correct domain name that is very similar to another one which also happens to be more popular. In this situation Adblock Plus might mistakenly correct the address you typed in. Simply click “No” when asked whether the typo was recognized correctly and this domain will be added to your whitelist.

Want to help? URL Fixer extension allows you to send us some data including which corrections you marked as wrong (more information). You have to opt into data collection in the URL Fixer options after installing it. The data we receive from you is fully anonymized and processed by the server automatically in order to create better correction rules.

Note that installing URL Fixer automatically disables the typo correction feature in Adblock Plus.

Monetization

The typo correction feature is an additional revenue source for the Adblock Plus project. So if you don’t want to support us then you should make extra sure it is disabled. Otherwise this is nothing to worry about.

Whenever typo correction brings you to the site of a large online shop an affiliate ID will be added to the address. This makes sure that if you buy something there we get a small amount of money from the shop. But for you this changes absolutely nothing.

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