# Can website's de-throttle your connection based on your use of Adblock? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-websites-de-throttle-your-connection-based-on-your-use-of-adblock/514424 "2009-10-20T01:34:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![strqwert44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@strqwert44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/strqwert44)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-websites-de-throttle-your-connection-based-on-your-use-of-adblock/514424/1 "2009-10-20T01:34:35Z")
Like many Firefox users I use AdBlock. Today my connection to [hulu.com](http://hulu.com) was very slow/constantly stopped to buffer more data on Firefox while connecting via Chrome (no adblocking) had no problem. Since hulu/youtube/etc. are all ad-supported, I was wondering if has anyone heard of websites dethrottling a connection due to the use of AdBlock. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-websites-de-throttle-your-connection-based-on-your-use-of-adblock/514424/2 "2009-10-20T01:55:46Z")
I’m not sure what you mean by de-throttling, but the last time I went to ifilm, I was told that I had to disconnect adblock blocking software for access, so it seems, at least, to know that I am running it. It seems as though ifilm has been taken over by the Spike network. Bob ---
**Author:** ![Mike.V](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Mike.V](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike.V)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-websites-de-throttle-your-connection-based-on-your-use-of-adblock/514424/3 "2009-10-20T02:13:23Z")
I don’t think websites can detect Adblock directly (that is, nothing is sent in the HTTP request indicating that particular extension is present). It’s possible that a website could detect it indirectly using an adserver it controlled (something like set a cookie via [http://ads.hulu.com](http://ads.hulu.com) and use a backend process to determine if it has reached your computer). But such a method would be unreliable and I doubt major websites like Hulu would use it. You can test if the connection problems are caused by Firefox or one of its extensions by running it in [safe mode](http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Safe+Mode). ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-websites-de-throttle-your-connection-based-on-your-use-of-adblock/514424/4 "2009-10-20T09:31:30Z")
“Dethrottling”? Is that anything like dethawing? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-websites-de-throttle-your-connection-based-on-your-use-of-adblock/514424/5 "2009-10-20T12:16:36Z")
Hulu doesn’t throttle back the connection speed because of ad block. It would do no good with a streaming broadcast anyway, because only a small amount of content downloads before it’s played. It’s the bandwidth of you connection or the encoding of the show on Hulu that is the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-websites-de-throttle-your-connection-based-on-your-use-of-adblock/514424/6 "2009-10-20T15:44:26Z")
I don’t know if this answers your question exactly, but here’s what Hulu says about [ad blockers.](http://www.hulu.com/support/advertising) > [@](#): > > Advertisements continue to make Hulu a free service to our users. We ask that you disable any ad blockers while using Hulu. Otherwise, an ad-blocker screen will appear whenever Hulu is unable to retrieve an advertisement while you are streaming a video. In some cases, this screen may appear due to a transient issue with our ad servers. If you have disabled your ad blocker and see this screen repeatedly, your network is likely blocking Hulu’s ad traffic. Some users trying to access Hulu internationally may also receive this message; Hulu is not available outside the U.S. at this time.