AdGuard Premium Lifetime on sale at StackSocial.com

[mwb1100]

AdGuard (http://adguard.com/en/welcome.html) is being sold on a 'deal' site I haven't heard of before - StackSocial - in some sort of partnership with BitsDuJour.

A lifetime license to AdGuard Premium for 2 PCs and 2 Android devices is being sold for $40:

  - https://bitsdujour.stacksocial.com/sales/adguard-premium-lifetime-subscription

This license normally sells for $90 on the AdGuard site (the StackSocial page claims it normally sells for $120).  My recollection is that AdGuard sold these Premium licenses in a way that you had to choose whether the license would be used on a PC or an Android device - not on both concurrently.  AdGuard may have changed that (or I may have misunderstood). Anyway, this sale is being pitched as you can install on 2 PCs *and* 2 Android devices.

I myself have not used AdGuard on either device type, but it seems to be generally well received in the several posts I've read about it here and on Wilders, though some have concerns about the way it intercepts HTTPS traffic.

The sale lasts for another 2 days.

[Midnight Rambler]

it intercepts HTTPS traffic.

This feature is particularly interesting as neither of my other two ad blockers (AdMuncher and AdBlock+) do this.  Youtube ads have become really annoying.

[Innuendo]

This license normally sells for $90 on the AdGuard site (the StackSocial page claims it normally sells for $120).

Looks like they have re-done their licensing structure. They have changed things up a little and offer mobile-only and desktop-only solutions as well as a mix-and-match option. According to their new pricing, a lifetime premium license good on one mobile & one PC is $59.95...so they are just doubling that than using their figure for if you bought a 2+2 license from them for $89.90.

It looks like if you use the mix-and-match option of both PCs and Android devices, they give you the the same amount of Android licenses for PC licenses you are buying (or vice versa). That works out much cheaper than their old prices.

And this deal is still a good one. I have been pondering buying their product for a while now & I doubt it will ever be cheaper than it is with this offer.

[mwb1100]

it intercepts HTTPS traffic.

This feature is particularly interesting as neither of my other two ad blockers (AdMuncher and AdBlock+) do this.  Youtube ads have become really annoying.

Right, but some people are concerned that it does this by replacing certificates so it can be a man-in-the-middle and that can be a security issue.  However, I think the bottom line is that if you want ads blocked in sites that use HTTPS, the blocker needs access to the stream, so that means either doing this or being a browser extension so it can have access after the stream is decrypted.  Either way you need to trust the blocking software with access to the https-protected data, so I think the remaining issue is whether or not the technique potentially opens the https-protected data to other entities (be it malware on your computer or something monitoring the network). I have no idea if that's the case with AdGuard.

[Innuendo]

This feature is particularly interesting as neither of my other two ad blockers (AdMuncher and AdBlock+) do this.  Youtube ads have become really annoying.

My free beta period with AdGuard is running out soon so I've been trying to wean myself off of their product & now I'm seeing all these YouTube ads and ads before videos on news sites. It's brutal....I think it's almost worth $40 for YouTube ad-blocking alone.

(Ad Muncher used to block YouTube ads....back in the glory days of regular updates).

[Innuendo]

I just bit and bought in. It's legit. The StackSocial gives you a license code & it plugs right into either the AdGuard program or the web site itself. I can verify that the web site confirms 2 PCs + 2 mobile devices.

Sign up for the newsletter when prompted as you first visit the StackSocial web site and you'll get a 5% off coupon code that will knock the purchase price down to $37.05.

Big thanks to mwb1100 (and Curt who also posted about this deal 2 minutes before mwb1100 did!) for posting this deal. $100 is an outrageous price for an ad blocker, but $37 for four devices lifetime is much easier to swallow.

[wraith808]

StackSocial is a legitimate site.  They just normally do mac software.  I've bought quite a bit from them.  Seems like they're partnering up with BDJ to bring the two sides closer together.

[mwb1100]

I just bit and bought in.

I pulled the trigger as well. Uninstalled AdMuncher, installed AdGuard and my first few youtube tests were ad free.  My browser feels a bit snappier, too, but I'm thinking that might just be my imagination.

[Innuendo]

I pulled the trigger as well. Uninstalled AdMuncher, installed AdGuard and my first few youtube tests were ad free.  My browser feels a bit snappier, too, but I'm thinking that might just be my imagination.

It's probably not your imagination. Ad Muncher *still* has not implemented support for gzip compression, but AdGuard has had it for quite some time. That could explain the snappiness you are experiencing.

[Innuendo]

Pale Moon users who wish to use https filtering may need to follow this knowledgebase article:

https://kb.adguard.com/index.php?/Russian/Knowledgebase/Article/View/54/10/connection-is-not-trusted---firefox

The last step indicates you will need to restart your browser in order for the changes to take effect, but I did not have to when I performed the steps.

[Josh]

I pulled the trigger as well. Uninstalled AdMuncher, installed AdGuard and my first few youtube tests were ad free.  My browser feels a bit snappier, too, but I'm thinking that might just be my imagination.

It's probably not your imagination. Ad Muncher *still* has not implemented support for gzip compression, but AdGuard has had it for quite some time. That could explain the snappiness you are experiencing.

Don't forget HTTP 1.1 which supports connection pipelining and various other protocol enhancements.

[Innuendo]

Right, but some people are concerned that it does this by replacing certificates so it can be a man-in-the-middle and that can be a security issue.....

...Either way you need to trust the blocking software with access to the https-protected data, so I think the remaining issue is whether or not the technique potentially opens the https-protected data to other entities (be it malware on your computer or something monitoring the network). I have no idea if that's the case with AdGuard.

AdGuard accomplishes this by working within the system by adding its own certificate to the certificate stores rather than engage in any tomfoolery. Basically, to reference your first sentence, it is technically a man-in-the-middle attack but you are the man who is in the middle. Rather clever and ingenious, I think.

[Jibz]

I got it as well, and the AdGuard people were nice enough to combine the two licenses with the one I already had (from black friday sale). So I have a new license for 3 now (easier to manage one account for me).

I haven't actually used it yet, because I still have Ad Muncher running here and, except for facebook, I see few adds. But now I will probably try it on the other computers.

[Tuxman]

Hmm, my beta period will last some more days. Guess they'll just extend beta subscriptions for regular testers for free.

[Midnight Rambler]

Thing about these lifetime licenses is how long the company will be in business and the length of time the product will be updated.  Look at AdMuncher, for instance.  

[mwb1100]

Thing about these lifetime licenses is lifetime is how long the company will be in business and the length of time the product will be updated.  Look at AdMuncher, for instance. 

Yes that is true; that means when you purchase one of these you have to take into consideration the possibility that the company will cease to operate, renege on the deal, or even that you might decide to move on to some other software in the future.  $40 was small enough that I felt the risk was acceptable.

I did get some lifetime licenses on AdMuncher (on sale).  I'm not exactly sure if I got my 'money's worth', but I wouldn't say I'm upset.  I would be upset if they were still selling licenses, but devised some loophole such that my license wasn't eligible for updates.

On the whole, I'd say that across the set of lifetime licenses I've purchased, I'm happy with the value I've gotten.

[Curt]

I am a little annoyed / disappointed with part of the way AdGuard is working: You enter a page, you start typing, you realize a feature is missing because of AdGuard, so you click their button to "add exception" - but then the page reloads!! Conclusion: If you use AdGuard (on Firefox), install Text Area Cache, Lazarus or similar.

[Deozaan]

I try to sign up to take advantage of this offer, but when I click the big green "Sign Up" button, it just flashes  "processing..." for a split second and then goes back to saying "Sign Up."

Tried it in both Chrome and Firefox. Same results.

EDIT:
I tried it with IE and initially had the same results, but upon trying again, it worked.

[Curt]

I try to sign up to take advantage of this offer, but when I click the big green "Sign Up" button, it just flashes  "processing..." for a split second and then goes back to saying "Sign Up."

-the page is most likely waiting for the popup offer ("5% OFF your first purchase when you subscribe to receive email updates") to execute, and your settings are probably preventing popups? Nothing dangerous will happen, so you might as well turn off the filter, and take the discount.

[Deozaan]

I try to sign up to take advantage of this offer, but when I click the big green "Sign Up" button, it just flashes  "processing..." for a split second and then goes back to saying "Sign Up."

-the page is most likely waiting for the popup offer ("5% OFF your first purchase when you subscribe to receive email updates") to execute, and your settings are probably preventing popups? Nothing dangerous will happen, so you might as well turn off the filter, and take the discount.

I don't think that was it. I had already filled out the popup offer and/or closed it before trying to create my account.

Either way, I got the account created. Thanks!

[Innuendo]

Thing about these lifetime licenses is how long the company will be in business and the length of time the product will be updated.  Look at AdMuncher, for instance.

I bought my lifetime license for Ad Muncher with a discount from DonationCoder for $19.96 (after discount) on November 3, 2005. All things considered, I think it was money well-spent. Will this adventure turn out to be as wise an investment? No way of knowing, but I have lifetime licenses to NewsBin Pro and Total Commander (the latter I got through a contest here at DC) and look how long those programs have been around.

I've also got a lifetime license for Outpost Security Suite Pro that I purchased in 2009. If you've seen the prices for security suite software I think you'll agree I've saved way more than I have spent for that license.

It's a gamble, but in the case of AdGuard you're saving money from Day One. The lifetime price on this deal is cheaper than the normal annual subscription price on their web site for the same number of devices. Even if the company disappears after a year, you've saved money.

[Innuendo]

I decided I needed licenses for two more Android devices. Checked their site & the offer mentioned here cheaper than just buying two Android licenses on their own.

Fortunately, it looks like this offer has been extended....3 days left as of this writing.