I'm making some progress, 7-years-old or not!
This helped me figure out how to block ads on Firefox (which I'll use but I prefer Safari):
http://www.dvhardware.net/articles14.html
1. Open Firefox and click on the Tools menu.
2. Click on Extensions.
3. Then click on "Get more extensions".
4. Click on ........
5. Then click on 'Install Now' and follow the instructions.
6. Close Firefox and then reopen Firefox.
....... will now be installed - you can find it in the Tools menu.
Once installed, it's very easy to filter ads or other elements at websites. Just right-click on the item and ....... them.
....... also allows you to use filters. You can either use the wildcard character (*) or full regular expression syntax.
But I think it would be wise not to exaggerate by blocking every single ad that you encounter. Hosting a website is expensive and if everyone would block advertising then many websites wouldn't be able to subsist. Wouldn't it be a pity that our favorite sites would have to close because their webmasters can't afford it anymore?
So, once installed, you can right-click on the ads and add them to ......., deleting most of the URL and inserting an asterisk at the appropriate place so all future ads from that source disappear with no added input on your part.
Hope that helps.