BotherBlocker

About

# BotherBlocker - Chrome Web Store Listing

## Short Description (132 characters max)
Block annoying popups, newsletters, and overlays that appear after page load. Take back control of your browsing experience.

## Detailed Description

**Tired of websites that look fine at first, then bombard you with popups?**

BotherBlocker stops the annoyances that appear *after* a page loads - those "Subscribe to our newsletter!" modals, cookie banners, sticky notification bars, and layout-shifting ads that ruin your reading experience.

### ✨ What BotherBlocker Does

Unlike traditional ad blockers, BotherBlocker focuses on **time-delayed interruptions** - the scripts and overlays that websites sneak in after you've started reading. It intelligently blocks:

- 🚫 Timed popup modals ("Sign up for our newsletter!")
- 🚫 Late-loading advertisements that cause layout shifts
- 🚫 Sticky bars that slide in from the bottom or top
- 🚫 Full-screen overlays demanding your email
- 🚫 "Free trial" and paywall prompts
- 🚫 Cookie consent banners (the annoying ones)

### 🎯 Key Features

**Smart Blocking Levels**
- **Mild**: Blocks only scripts
- **Medium**: Scripts + iframes
- **Aggressive**: Everything including modals and timers (default)
- **Maximum**: Nuclear option with AI-powered overlay detection

**Instant Activation**
- Configurable delay (0.1 to 10 seconds)
- Default: 0.1s for instant protection
- Let the page load first, then block the annoying stuff

**Site Control**
- Easy whitelist for sites you trust
- Per-site on/off toggle
- 120+ trusted domains pre-whitelisted (banks, social media, government sites)

**Real-time Stats**
- See exactly how many scripts/overlays were blocked
- Badge icon shows blocked count at a glance
- Like uBlock Origin, but for time-delayed annoyances

### 🛡️ Privacy & Trust

- ✅ **Zero data collection** - Everything runs locally
- ✅ **No tracking** - We don't know what sites you visit
- ✅ **No external servers** - All storage is local to your browser
- ✅ **Open source friendly** - Transparent about what we do
- ✅ **No ads** - We block them, we don't show them

### 🎓 How It Works

1. **Page loads normally** - Let legitimate content load first
2. **Wait for configured delay** - Default 0.1 seconds (instant)
3. **Block new scripts** - Prevent late-loading annoyances
4. **Remove overlays** - Detect and remove popup elements
5. **Restore scrolling** - Fix scroll-blocking CSS

### ⚙️ Perfect For

- Reading news articles without interruptions
- Browsing recipe sites without modal spam
- Enjoying content without newsletter prompts
- Sites that became unusable due to aggressive popups
- Anyone who values their time and attention

### 🌟 Trusted Sites

BotherBlocker automatically disables on 120+ trusted domains including:
- All major banks (Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, etc.)
- Social media (Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.)
- Government sites (IRS, SSA, healthcare.gov, etc.)
- E-commerce giants (Amazon, eBay, Walmart, etc.)
- All .edu domains
- Healthcare providers
- Email and productivity tools

These sites need their JavaScript to function properly, so we stay out of the way.

### 🚀 Getting Started

1. Install BotherBlocker
2. Browse normally - most sites work great with default settings
3. If a site breaks, click the extension icon and add it to your whitelist
4. Adjust blocking level if needed (Aggressive is recommended)

### ⚠️ Important Notes

- **May break some sites**: The aggressive blocking modes can interfere with legitimate site functionality. Use the whitelist feature for sites that don't work properly.
- **Maximum mode is experimental**: The "Nuclear" option uses heuristic detection and may be too aggressive for some sites. Start with Aggressive mode.
- **No guarantee**: Some very sophisticated popups may still get through. We're constantly improving!

### 💡 Why BotherBlocker?

Modern websites have gotten worse. They load clean, hook you in, then assault you with popups. Traditional ad blockers miss these because they're not ads - they're JavaScript that runs *after* the page loads.

**We're taking back the web, one popup at a time.** ✨

If BotherBlocker helps you reclaim your browsing experience, consider [buying me a coffee](https://buymeacoffee.com/botherblocker) ☕

### 🔒 Permissions Explained

**Why we need access to all websites:**
BotherBlocker needs to run on every site you visit to detect and block time-delayed popups and overlays. The extension runs entirely locally - we never transmit your browsing data anywhere.

**What we do with your data:**
Nothing. We don't collect it. All settings and statistics are stored locally in your browser using Chrome's storage API.

### 📝 Support & Feedback

- Report issues on our GitHub
- Feature requests welcome
- Built with ❤️ for people who hate popups

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**Version**: 1.0.0
**Last Updated**: October 2025
**Developer**: BotherBlocker