Readability: An uncluttered view of the web
Have you ever been reading an article online only to be interrupted by an obnoxious talking ad or an expanded flash banner ad? Maybe your mouse mistakenly wandered over a video ad that advertises something you have absolutely no interest in whatsoever. These intrusive ads can be pretty annoying and it may even prompt you to leave the site altogether.
If the amount of online advertising on a site is overwhelming, you may want to check out Readabilty. The online tool takes about 10 seconds to set up and you can start using it quickly. From the Arc 90 site:
It’s almost like listening to talk radio, except the commercials play during the program in the background. It’s a pretty awful experience. Our friend to date has been the trusty “Print View” button. Click it and all the junk goes away. I click it all the time and rarely print. It’s really become the “Peace & Quiet” button for many.
Screen grab below shows what a difference Readability makes:
A simple click of the Readability button in your bookmark toolbar can make your online reading experience so much more uncluttered.
(Via Kottke)
Posted by Matt on Mar 12, 2009 |
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31 comments posted
Posted by Check this out! : Brigitte Pellerin Online - 03/12/2009
[...] Finally, a gadget worth having. [...]
Posted by Tim - 03/12/2009
First visit and immediate value. Thanks for the Readability applet.
Posted by Canada's Loose Leaf Tea Company - 03/12/2009
We’ll be telling everyone we know about your valued blog here.
Posted by allen - 03/12/2009
If an add is blinking or talking, or whatever: It gets insta-banned. Thank you, Opera-Browser!
Posted by Mel - 03/12/2009
I’ve been using Adblock Plus in Firefox for quite some time now, and I love my (mostly*) ad-free internet experience!
Melanie
* Google ads are the exception, but as they are generally text-only I find them fairly unabtrusive.
Posted by Mary - 03/12/2009
The irony of an article about a piece of software that will strip all those ads is on a page loaded with ads……
Posted by Louise - 03/12/2009
I tried Readability and did not like it. Not only does it strip unwanted stuff out, it also removes photos and links from the main text. If the article is page 1 of 3, it removes the links to pages 2 and 3! Basically, it makes HTML into just text, neutering the functionality of cross-linked pages.
Also, it is persistent. If you use it on an article in Slate, it will launch itself next time you use Slate. I haven’t figured out how to STOP it from doing that. Suggestions welcome.
Posted by 2 ways to cut computer clutter - Simpler Living - timesunion.com - Albany NY - 03/12/2009
[...] today, Unclutterer explores Readability, a tool that cuts out distracting online advertising. Posted in General [...]
Posted by Erin Doland - 03/12/2009
@Mary — Hey, now … we don’t have any talking or roll-over ads on our site. Just three banner ads. And they’re all the way over there in in the far-right hand column. Compared to the talking ones and the flash-driven ones, ours are invisible!!
Posted by Mel - 03/12/2009
Seems to me like Adblock (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865) is still far superior as it allows you to block exactly what you want, and you don’t have to click any buttons first, either.
Posted by Kim - 03/12/2009
Oh my goodness, I just tried this thing out and it was *awesome*. Not only does it take the ads away, but it reformats the text based on what you choose to make it easier to read. You can set the text size and the margin width and the type face. I think this will make some sites much nicer because I’m always having to adjust the size of the text on the screen, especially when I get too tired for my glasses to fully compensate anymore.
Posted by Sue - 03/12/2009
I’ll have to try this when reading certain sites, like msnbc, that embed pop-up ads in seemingly innocuous words scattered through the stories. I often accidentally mouse-over one of these words and suddenly have an ad in my way.
Have they even studied whether or not these ads actually work? I can’t remember a single one and close them as soon as they open. They annoy me, so if I did pay attention to them I may be disinclined to purchase whatever it is that they are advertising.
Posted by Ryan Glitaro - 03/12/2009
I’d like to throw in another vote for Firefox + AdBlock Plus plugin. My web browsing is so much cleaner with it, I have actually grown to loathe IE simply because I associate it with an ugly, cluttered in-your-face version of the web, with popups covering everything. Of course, thats just because it doesn’t support the wonderful AdBlock plugin.
Also, use RSS readers for sites you use frequently. I use Google Reader, as it’s accessible from anywhere, including my mobile phone. It knows what is read and unread, just like Gmail, but for websites. Good stuff.
Posted by jess - 03/12/2009
As someone who makes web banners for a living (I was duped!), I totally agree with solutions like this. I hate looking at them, I hate making them and the less people that want to see them the sooner we can do away with them and concentrate on making decent websites that are a pleasure to visit!
Posted by J - 03/12/2009
for the ultimate in uncluttering your web reading try the Reasy extension for firefox. RSVP reading style to speed read your sites. very effective, very fast.
Posted by Jean-Christophe - 03/13/2009
Thank you thank you thank you!!!
Wonderful discovery. I love your blog, the inspiration it provides… and now this unbelievably useful link! Thank you!
Posted by Anca - 03/13/2009
This is awesome.
Posted by Susan - 03/13/2009
Funny how there are separate applications/extensions for what Opera just does all by itself. Right-click somewhere on the page (not on the ad) > Block content and choose what you don’t want to be displayed. Still the best browser around.
Posted by Patrick Kelso - 03/13/2009
I prefer http://www.tidyread.com/. A simple bookmarklet, it doesn’t get rid of pictures and you can decide on the text format. It uses the “print friendly’ version that most sites have to generate it’s own stylesheet.
Posted by Suchin Rai - 03/14/2009
I tried Tidy Read. Awesome! Love your blog also.
Posted by Suchin Rai - 03/14/2009
I just tried out and installed Tidy Read. Awesome. I love your blog.
Posted by Jess - 03/14/2009
Really, really great toy. Excellent tip!
Posted by gypsy packer - 03/17/2009
Ads fund blogs and websites. Yes, I will block a popup and mute a sound ad, but I leave the others as an income generator for the folks who are good enough to publish “free”.
Posted by Tim Carlson - 03/24/2009
@Erin – “Just three banner ads. And they’re all the way over there in in the far-right hand column.”
Now Unclutterer has an ad at the top of articles and a text ad before the comments. It’s starting to get a bit cluttered if you ask me.
Posted by Erin Doland - 03/24/2009
@Tim Carlson — Yeah, the ads in the left column are new (since Monday). They’ll probably be there through the remainder of the recession. As an alternative, though, you could send us large cash donations. I’ll agree to remove the ad for a month if you agree to pay our health insurance for a month. That would be a good deal. Or, you could foot the bill for our server. Or, you could pay the writers’ and programmers’ salaries for us. I’m totally game if you are!
Posted by Tim Carlson - 03/25/2009
Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be a critic. I just thought it was an opportunity to point out the irony that sometimes clutter is a necessary evil!
I wish you luck during the downturn and I hope you fill the page with talking ads before cutting back on your great content.
Posted by Erin Doland - 03/25/2009
@Tim Carlson — I didn’t take it as criticism. No worries. It’s just something we’re trying. But seriously, I would LOVE it if people just sent us large cash donations
That would rock my world. Ha!
Posted by Scott Reeves - 03/31/2009
Just wanted to take a moment and thank you for sharing this. I’ve been using it steadily for the past couple of weeks.
This lovely tool has caused me to actually go through and read a lot of articles I had saved, years ago.
Posted by Ryan - 04/06/2009
Since the screenshot you gave was taken on a mac, I highly suggest you try out the new Safari 4 Beta. As with previous versions, you can toggle the Bookmarks Bar with cmd-shift-b and the bottom bar with cmd-/, but the real treat is the merging of the tab bar and the title bar. Tabs are now above the address bar giving the browser a much sleeker look. I used to swear by my bookmarks bar, but now I use Top Sites (cmd-shift-1) to the same effect.
Posted by Frank - 04/14/2009
I prefer CleanPage. Got it from:
http://www.ieaddons.com/en/sea.....=cleanpage
Posted by Readability Updated With Some Handy Tools | Arc90 Blog - 10/14/2009
[...] our already-bloated ego’s are kept in check as the praise for Readability continues to roll in. Many of us here at Arc90 use it all the time and we’re glad it’s made reading on the [...]
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