Security Review

Is adblockplus.org legit or a scam?

Our verdict:Safe· 84/100

Official Adblock Plus site by eyeo GmbH — legitimate open-source ad blocker with 20+ year domain history, clean security scan, and no malware or financial-scam reports.

adblockplus.orgScanned 23h ago
0
Trust score
SAFE
Heuristics 89·MT 82
View density

Analysis Summary

Threat Intelligence
0/92
All engines report clean
Domain Age
20 years old
Registered Jun 9, 2006
MT Intelligence
Safe
Low likelihood · 92% confidence
SAFE

No threats detected

All checks passed. This site appears legitimate — but always stay alert for phishing even on trusted domains.

Website Preview

Screenshot of adblockplus.org
LIVE RENDER
adblockplus.org

Automated page render — captured in a safe sandbox. What an ordinary visitor would see when loading the site. See full visual analysis →

Visual Screenshot Analysis

We capture a fresh screenshot of the live page and ask a vision model to look for scam visual patterns — fake trust badges, countdown timers, overlay pop-ups, and visual clones of legitimate brands.

5
/ 100
Low visual risk

Visual red flags detected in the screenshot

The page presents a clean, professionally designed layout consistent with the legitimate Adblock Plus product website, with no visual scam indicators detected.

Visual risk5/100

What our vision model saw

5 signals

Professional, consistent branding with AdblockPlus logo, navigation, and product UI mockup throughout the page.

Media credibility bar displays recognizable press logos (Business Insider, TechCunch, WSJ, New York Times, MediaPost) in a standard format.

Standard cookie consent banner at the bottom with settings and dismiss options — no intrusive overlay or permission prompt.

Clear, functional navigation with Download, About, Premium, Help, language selector, and Log In — no broken layout or placeholder text.

No countdown timers, urgency tactics, fake trust badges, or suspicious form fields visible.

MT Intelligence

Advanced threat intelligence
MT Security Analyst
Low scam likelihoodengineMT · Guardiantrust82/100
MT AgentLive web researchVisual inspection
0%
Confidence
Adblock Plus is a well-established, open-source ad blocker maintained by eyeo GmbH, a German software company incorporated in 2011. The domain adblockplus.org was registered over 20 years ago and ranks in the global top-100k by traffic. Our antivirus network flagged zero detections across 92 engines, browser blocklists are clean, and the hosting IP has zero abuse score. The page displays professional branding, legitimate press mentions, and functional navigation with no phishing or credential-harvest patterns. While the evidence package notes past controversies — including 2013 accusations of fake reviews and whitelisting practices, plus a 2017 incident where scammers created fake Adblock Plus extensions on the Chrome Web Store — none of these involve the official adblockplus.org domain itself or financial fraud. The company has faced legal challenges from publishers over ad-blocking legality but has won key rulings in German courts. Independent review sites confirm the official product is legitimate and effective.
Full dossier
Analysis complete

Page Content

The homepage presents a clean, professional layout with clear product messaging, download links for multiple browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, Safari), and a premium tier offering. The page includes recognizable press logos (Business Insider, TechCrunch, WSJ, New York Times, MediaPost) and standard cookie-consent UI. No login form, countdown timers, urgency tactics, or suspicious form fields are present. Body text emphasizes ad blocking, tracking prevention, and malware avoidance — core product features.

Infrastructure

Domain registered over 20 years ago (7313 days) via RegistryGate GmbH. SSL certificate valid (issued by Google Trust Services, 44 days to expiry). Hosting IP 199.36.158.100 has zero abuse score and clean reputation. No redirects, homoglyphs, or IDN tricks detected. The page is a JavaScript single-page app that loads content dynamically.

Domain History

adblockplus.org is the official domain for Adblock Plus, developed and owned by eyeo GmbH (Berlin/Cologne, Germany), a company incorporated in 2011. The domain has been in continuous operation for over two decades and is listed on official browser extension stores (Chrome Web Store, Firefox Add-ons, Apple App Store, Google Play) with high user counts and featured status.

Web Reputation

Zero detections across our antivirus network (0/92 engines). Major browser blocklists are clean. Independent review aggregators and ad-blocker testing sites (adblock-tester.com, pcrisk.com, TechRadar) confirm the official product is legitimate, effective, and open-source (GPLv3). No scam reports, malware infections, or user financial complaints found for the official domain. Past controversies involve the company's 'Acceptable Ads' business model (allowing non-intrusive ads by default, with large advertisers paying licensing fees) and historical accusations of fake reviews — not fraud or malware.

Risk Factors
3
  • The 'Acceptable Ads' program has drawn criticism for allowing whitelisted ads from paying advertisers, though this is a business-model controversy, not a scam.
  • Fake Adblock Plus extensions have appeared on the Chrome Web Store in the past (e.g., 2017 incident with 37,000 downloads), but these are clones, not the official domain.
  • Past accusations (2013) of fake reviews and whitelisting friendly sites, documented in Wikipedia and security forums, though no evidence of financial fraud or malware.
Positive Signals
5
  • Domain registered over 20 years ago with consistent, professional operation.
  • Zero malware detections across 92 antivirus engines and clean browser blocklists.
  • Official listing on all major browser extension stores (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) with millions of active users.
  • Open-source codebase (GPLv3) with transparent development on GitLab, allowing community code review.
  • Confirmed legitimate business registration: eyeo GmbH, German company incorporated 2011, legally defended in multiple court cases with favorable rulings.
AI Recommendation
Adblock Plus is safe to download and use. If you encounter a fake Adblock Plus extension or app on a third-party store, verify it is from the official eyeo GmbH publisher before installing. The official product is open-source and available on all major browser extension stores.
Next-gen fraud intelligence
Evidence-backedCross-checked

Web Research Findings

Our live research agent queries scam-report databases, consumer-review sites, news coverage, and general web search for adblockplus.org, then cross-checks business-registration records and look-alike domain patterns. Everything below is pulled from what it actually found.

Domain age
20 yrs
Registered Jun 2006
Business registration
Active · Germany
Site traces back to an actively registered business.
Clone check
Not a clone
No well-known site's layout or branding detected here.
Typosquat check
No look-alike match
The domain doesn't resemble any well-known brand's spelling.
Web mentions
3 scam reports · 3 positive
Key findings
7 headline facts from open-web research
  • Official site for Adblock Plus, a free open-source (GPLv3) ad blocker developed by eyeo GmbH, a German company incorporated in 2011.
  • Domain registered over 20 years ago (7313 days); listed on official browser stores with high user counts and featured status.
  • Controversy over "Acceptable Ads" program: allows non-intrusive ads by default; large advertisers pay licensing fees to eyeo for whitelisting (small sites free).
  • Past accusations (2013) of "mafia-like" ad network ties, fake reviews, and whitelisting friendly sites (from Wikipedia and blogger reports).
  • Fake Adblock Plus extensions/apps have appeared on Chrome Web Store (e.g. 2017 incident with 37k downloads); official version repeatedly confirmed safe and not hacked.
  • No direct scam reports, malware infections, or user financial complaints found for the official adblockplus.org domain or eyeo GmbH product.
  • Company has faced (and largely won) legal challenges from publishers (e.g. Axel Springer, Zeit) over ad blocking; German courts ruled in its favor on competition and copyright issues.
Scam reports (3)
Direct quotes from public scam databases, forums, and news.
  • Wikipediaopen

    "Adblock Plus whitelisted all ads coming from "friendly" sites and subsidiaries, and promoted their product using fake reviews and pornography."

  • Wilders Securityopen

    "Additionally Faida used several several fake accounts to place fake reviews and guest articles for Adblock Plus on blogs and reddit."

  • Enterprise Timesopen

    "Scammers put fake Adblock Plus app onto the Chrome Web Store. 37000 users download it thinking it was the real thing before anyone noticed."

Positive reviews (3)
Quotes indicating the site is legitimate.
  • adblock-tester.comopen

    "Adblock Plus is a legit ad blocker, and it does what it says. Blocks ads, speeds up pages, and reduces tracking. It's open-source, so its code is transparent..."

  • pcrisk.comopen

    "Effective ad removal: Blocks most ads out of the box, significantly cleaning up web pages. Easy to use: Simple setup and interface..."

  • TechRadaropen

    "AdBlock Plus provides an effective tool for removing ads and enjoying your browsing experience. ... we’d recommend it to every internet user."

Business registration
Status: active · Germany

Developed and owned by eyeo GmbH (German software company, Berlin/Cologne), incorporated 2011. Legally defended in multiple German court cases (won key rulings on ad blocking legality).

Research summary
Narrative write-up from our AI analyst, grounded on the facts above

Web research confirmed adblockplus.org is the official domain for Adblock Plus, a legitimate open-source ad blocker developed by eyeo GmbH (German company, incorporated 2011). Independent review sites (adblock-tester.com, pcrisk.com, TechRadar) rate the product as effective and trustworthy. No scam reports or financial complaints were found for the official domain or company.

The evidence package noted historical controversies: Wikipedia and security forums documented 2013 accusations of fake reviews and whitelisting practices by the company; a 2017 incident involved scammers creating fake Adblock Plus extensions on the Chrome Web Store that deceived 37,000 users. However, these do not involve the official adblockplus.org domain, which has never been hacked or used for fraud. The company has faced legal challenges from publishers over ad-blocking legality but has won key rulings in German courts.

Antivirus Engines

Clean pass · verified
Clean across 92 engines

We cross-check every URL against our antivirus network of 92 malware and blacklist engines. None of them flagged this URL in the last scan.

0Malicious0Suspicious61Harmless92Engines
Clean
Kaspersky
Clean
Bitdefender
Clean
Microsoft
Not in pass
ESET-NOD32
Not in pass
Avira
Not in pass
Sophos
Clean
Fortinet
Clean
Google Safebrowsing
Clean
Emsisoft
Clean

No engine detections. The URL passed every antivirus and blacklist engine we queried in this scan. Stay vigilant — AV coverage is only one signal among many.

Security Scans

Blacklist Check
Not flagged on major threat lists

Checked against the major public blocklists used by browsers and security tools — no hits.

Contact Verification

We fetched the page and looked for real-world contact details. Legitimate businesses almost always publish an email on their own domain, a phone number, and a postal address. Scam shops usually don't.

What We Found
No clear contact details on the page
Emails on site's domainNone
Phone numbersNone
Postal addressNot listed
Linked social profiles4
Signal Summary
Several contact red flags
  • No contact email found anywhere on the page.
  • No phone number listed on the page.
  • No postal address visible on the page.
  • Links to 4 social profiles.

Domain & Encryption

Domain History
Age20 years old
RegistrarRegistryGate GmbH
RegisteredJun 9, 2006
ExpiresJun 9, 2027
Owner privacyVisible
Encryption Certificate
StatusValid
ProtocolTLSv1.3
IssuerGoogle Trust Services · WR3
ExpiresAug 1, 2026 (44d)
Self-signedNo
Hosting & Technology
HostingGoogle LLC
Server locationUS
PopularityTop 100k worldwide

Redirect Chain

Hops
1
Cross-domain
No
Lookalike
No
Punycode
No
  • 1301http://adblockplus.org/
  • 2200https://adblockplus.org/

Server Reputation

Abuse Intelligence
Confidence score0%
Reports on file59
ISPGoogle LLC
Usage typeContent Delivery Network

Still, stay alert

No major threat indicators — but a clean scan does not guarantee every page is safe, and phishing emails routinely spoof real domains.

  • Double-check the exact URL in your address bar

    Confirm you are actually on adblockplus.org and not a lookalike like a-dblockplus.org.com or an IDN homoglyph.

  • Use a password manager

    Password managers only auto-fill on the exact domain they were saved for — they refuse to fill lookalike domains, which is the single best phishing defence.

  • Discuss this site on the forum

    If you have first-hand experience with this site — good or bad — share it with the MalwareTips community.

    Open

Reputation Sources

How this domain rates across independent threat-intelligence and blocklist providers.

Google Safe Browsing
Not listedCheck ↗
VirusTotal
Not listedCheck ↗
AbuseIPDB
Not listedCheck ↗

Referenced Domains

Outbound domains this page links to or loads resources from. Each links to its own security scan.

Safety FAQ

Common questions about this site, answered directly from the scan data above — so the answers always reflect the latest verdict on this page.

  • Our automated security review found no threat indicators on adblockplus.org. The site appears legitimate based on the signals we checked, but always stay alert for phishing emails that spoof real domains.
  • adblockplus.org passed our automated security checks with a trust score of 84/100. No antivirus engines or major blacklists flagged the site at the time of the last scan.
  • Yes. adblockplus.org presents a valid TLSv1.3 certificate issued by Google Trust Services · WR3, expiring in 44 days. Note that SSL only encrypts the connection — it does not guarantee that the site itself is trustworthy.
  • adblockplus.org is 20.0 years old, registered on 6/9/2006 through RegistryGate GmbH. Scam domains are often freshly registered — a site under 6 months old warrants extra caution.
  • No. All 92 antivirus engines in our malware network report adblockplus.org as clean.
  • No. adblockplus.org is not currently listed on the major browser blocklist feeds that modern browsers use.
  • adblockplus.org resolves to an IP operated by Google LLC in US (usage type: Content Delivery Network). Hosting location alone doesn't make a site good or bad, but unusual geography for a brand's claimed country is one of many signals we weigh.
  • Yes. adblockplus.org sits in the global top-100k on Cloudflare Radar, which means it has substantial real-world traffic. That does not automatically make it safe, but established brands almost always rank here and throwaway scam domains almost never do.

Final Verdict

0
Trust / 100
Final Verdict·adblockplus.org
SAFE

Adblock Plus is the official website for a legitimate, open-source ad blocker developed by eyeo GmbH, a German company established in 2011. The domain is over 20 years old, carries no malware detections, and is listed on all major browser extension stores. Past controversies centre on the company's business model (the 'Acceptable Ads' program), not on scam activity or malware.

Adblock Plus is safe to download and use. If you encounter a fake Adblock Plus extension or app on a third-party store, verify it is from the official eyeo GmbH publisher before installing. The official product is open-source and available on all major browser extension stores.

AV engines
92
MT passes
2
Net signals
0
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Community review

User reviews & comments(0)

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This report is generated automatically by combining threat intelligence, domain signals, and an AI security analyst. It is informational, not legal advice. Always use your own judgement before sharing personal information or money online.