Ad and content blocking

Remove unwanted content like ads, trackers, cookie consent banners, marketing popups, and location overlays to capture clean screenshots.

Ad, cookie banner, and popup blocking are enabled by default across capture APIs. Set blockAds: false, blockCookieBanners: false, or blockPopups: false when you need the corresponding page elements preserved.

Quick options

Ad blocking

Common advertising networks are removed by default:

{
  "url": "https://example.com"
}

This blocks:

Google Ads
Facebook Ads
Amazon Ads
Common ad networks and exchanges
Tracking pixels

GDPR/CCPA cookie consent popups are removed by default:

{
  "url": "https://example.com"
}

This handles:

OneTrust
Cookiebot
TrustArc
Custom consent implementations
EU cookie notices

Page-blocking marketing and location interruptions are removed by default:

{
  "url": "https://example.com"
}

This handles common forms of:

Newsletter and subscription dialogs
Promotions and discount offers
Country, region, language, and currency selectors
Surveys and app-install prompts
Notification prompts and age gates
Delayed modals, dimmed backdrops, and scroll locks
Dialogs rendered inside open shadow roots

Detection combines interruption-related semantics with modal-like structure and geometry. Inline newsletter sections and ordinary page content are left intact.

Disable blocking

Set an option to false if you want to preserve that content:

{
  "url": "https://example.com",
  "blockAds": false,
  "blockCookieBanners": false,
  "blockPopups": false
}

See Remove popups and overlays for examples, fallback strategies, and guidance on when to keep dialogs visible.

Block levels

For more comprehensive blocking, use the blockLevel parameter:

{
  "url": "https://example.com",
  "blockLevel": "pro"
}

Available levels

Level	Description	Use case
`none`	No domain blocking	Full page render
`light`	Basic ad networks	Minimal blocking
`normal`	Common trackers and ads	General use
`pro`	Aggressive blocking	Clean screenshots
`pro_plus`	Very aggressive	Maximum blocking
`ultimate`	Most aggressive	May break some sites

Higher block levels may break some websites that depend on blocked resources. Test your target URLs before using aggressive levels in production.

What gets blocked

Each level includes everything from lower levels plus:

Light

Major ad networks (Google, Facebook, Amazon)
Basic analytics (Google Analytics)

Normal

Social media trackers
Marketing pixels
A/B testing platforms
Session recording tools

Pro

All third-party tracking
CDN-hosted trackers
Fingerprinting scripts
Most advertising

Pro Plus

Aggressive list additions
Regional ad networks
Crypto miners
Malware domains

Ultimate

Everything above
Edge cases and new trackers
May over-block legitimate resources

Hide specific elements

For fine-grained control, hide elements by CSS selector:

{
  "url": "https://example.com",
  "hideSelectors": [
    ".newsletter-popup",
    "#chat-widget",
    "[data-testid='promo-banner']",
    ".sticky-footer-ad"
  ]
}

Selector examples

Element	Selector
Chat widgets	`#intercom-container`, `.drift-widget`
Newsletter popups	`.modal-newsletter`, `[data-popup='newsletter']`
Promo banners	`.promo-banner`, `.announcement-bar`
Social share buttons	`.share-buttons`, `.social-links`
Fixed headers	`.sticky-header`

You can hide up to 50 selectors per request.

Custom CSS

Inject CSS to hide or modify elements:

{
  "url": "https://example.com",
  "customCss": ".newsletter-modal { display: none !important; } .hero-section { background: #fff; }"
}

Common patterns

Hide multiple elements:

.ad-container, .sponsored-content, .affiliate-link {
  display: none !important;
}

Remove sticky positioning:

.sticky-header, .fixed-sidebar {
  position: relative !important;
}

Disable animations:

*, *::before, *::after {
  animation: none !important;
  transition: none !important;
}

Examples

Clean article screenshot

curl -X POST 'https://api.allscreenshots.com/v1/screenshots' \
  -H 'X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://example.com/article",
    "blockAds": true,
    "blockCookieBanners": true,
    "blockPopups": true,
    "hideSelectors": [
      ".newsletter-modal",
      ".related-articles",
      ".comments-section"
    ],
    "fullPage": true
  }' --output clean-article.png

E-commerce product page

curl -X POST 'https://api.allscreenshots.com/v1/screenshots' \
  -H 'X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://example.com/product",
    "blockLevel": "pro",
    "hideSelectors": [
      "#chat-widget",
      ".upsell-section"
    ],
    "customCss": ".price-tag { font-size: 24px !important; }"
  }' --output product.png

News website

curl -X POST 'https://api.allscreenshots.com/v1/screenshots' \
  -H 'X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://example.com/news",
    "blockAds": true,
    "blockCookieBanners": true,
    "blockPopups": true,
    "blockLevel": "normal",
    "customCss": "video { display: none; } .paywall-overlay { display: none !important; }"
  }' --output news.png

Best practices

Use the defaults first

Begin with the default blockAds, blockCookieBanners, and blockPopups behavior:

{
  "url": "https://example.com"
}

Only increase blockLevel if needed.

Test before production

Some sites break with aggressive blocking. Test your target URLs:

const levels = ['none', 'light', 'normal', 'pro'];

for (const level of levels) {
  const screenshot = await capture({
    url: 'https://example.com',
    blockLevel: level,
  });
  // Verify output visually
}

Use selectors for specific elements

If blocking breaks functionality, switch to targeted selectors:

{
  "blockLevel": "none",
  "hideSelectors": [
    ".specific-ad-container",
    "#that-annoying-popup"
  ]
}

Combine approaches

Layer blocking methods for best results:

{
  "blockAds": true,
  "blockCookieBanners": true,
  "blockPopups": true,
  "blockLevel": "light",
  "hideSelectors": [".newsletter-modal"],
  "customCss": ".chat-widget { visibility: hidden; }"
}

Ad and content blocking

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