Opera has become the first desktop Web browser to introduce built-in ad blocking and to clearly encourage users to turn it on to improve their browsing experience.

Browsers like Chrome or Firefox include plugins like AdBlock Plus to block ads. But with Opera's 37.0.2162.0 developer build for Mac OS and Windows, it is included right into the software. According to Opera, turning on the ad-blocking feature can reduce page load times by 90 percent, which PCWorld established using a test build.

As per Krystian Kolondra, the senior vice president in charge of engineering for Opera, the present approach to advertising is affecting users' online experiences. In an email, he said, "Our goal is to provide the fastest and the smoothest online experience for our users. While working on that we have discovered that a lot more time is spent on handling ads and trackers than we thought earlier."

When you install the new version of Opera and load a page, immediately a popup appears, asking if you "would like to block ads and surf the Web faster." If you agree to Opera's invitation, ads are blocked at once. Otherwise, you can either check a box in the Settings menu or simply hit a small, grayed-out "shield" icon to the right of the URL bar. The shield turns blue when ad-blocking is enabled.

After a PageFair/Adobe report found that ad blocking increased by 48 percent inside the United States during the first quarter of 2015, to about 16 percent of the U.S. online users, Ad blocking called for the immediate need of action.

Kolondra said it's time for the ad industry to stop discussing and actually come up with more effective, less pushy ads. He said, "We hope our actions can help to accelerate the change that the ad industry needs to pursue."