Facebook users block 'annoyances' with new Adblock Plus tool Facebook users can already customise their accounts with Adblock Plus. Under default settings, ABP blocks all Facebook ads including sponsored stories, page post ads, standard ads and promoted posts. However, there are other unneeded, potentially unwanted elements that insert themselves automatically into users' news feeds and sidebars, such as reminders for a forthcoming event at a nearby bar, or suggestions for "People you may know" and "Games you may like" in the sidebar and "Upcoming events" in your news feed. "We built this feature because it allows you to individualise your Facebook experience," said AdBlock's Sven Hartz in a blog post. If you find all these elements annoying, blocking them is now easy. But you might like some and not others - this gives you the right to choose. Earlier this year, Facebook made its adverts appear more like ordinary posts by users, to make it easier for companies to compete against people's "friends" for attention. In many cases, the only indicator that they are commercial messages is the word "sponsored" which appears in small grey print below. A Facebook spokesman said at the time that making adverts less obtrusive improves the user experience, and helps advertisers to fight for attention. They are not just competing with other businesses. They are competing with life. People are getting married. People are having babies," he said. The social network is also courting advertisers by simplifying the process of creating ads. It automatically turns as many adverts as possible into so-called "sponsored stories," which aim to replicate the effect of word-of-mouth marketing online.