Many of people use Skype for video conference and talk every day. With recent updates program designers started to show annoying ads and banners, without asking us if we want them or not. Since this is not acceptable, here’s a quick solution to a problem.

STEP 1 – Disable ads in settings, just in case.

In tested Skype version, 7.21.85.100 this did nothing, ads were still displayed in chat and video windows.

STEP 2 – Block access to ads hosts

Open file C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts with your usual text editor and add next lines:

127.0.0.1 apps.skype.com
127.0.0.1 api.skype.com
127.0.0.1 static.skypeassets.com
127.0.0.1 rad.msn.com
127.0.0.1 adriver.ru
127.0.0.1 rad.msn.com
127.0.0.1 live.rads.msn.com
127.0.0.1 ads1.msn.com
127.0.0.1 static.2mdn.net
127.0.0.1 g.msn.com
127.0.0.1 *.ads2.msads.net
127.0.0.1 ac3.msn.com
127.0.0.1 *.adnxs.com
127.0.0.1 *.rad.msn.com
127.0.0.1 *.msads.net
127.0.0.1 flex.msn.com

These lines will redirect all requests and traffic from actual MS ads servers to localhost, which obviously does not respond any ad information.

Enjoy ad-free Skype now.

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