Outside of AV updates - I let no program auto update. None. It may prompt me to update - and I can make that choice - but nobody gets full reign to do as they want with my machine. Where did I learn this radical behavior?? Working as a Sys Admin in IT at a major defense contractor. The reasoning is simple: if an update harms or crashes a system - it's too late. Hence, any updates were applied to a 'test' system before being applied to production. That includes Microsoft, Adobe, and all the rest.
As a 1 computer guy - I don't have the luxury of multiple systems. So, I began watching whose stuff - especially internet apps - were constantly being updated. The biggest culprit? Adobe Flash. So I re-configured Flash to always prompt me for use, and I turned off auto-redirect. The payoff is that I have had absolutely zero virus infections since doing so - and my data usage has dropped by a full 30%.
I get it that sites need to make money. But! Heaving 50 Flash ads that all have to load and all have to dance around my screen is over bearing - and in some cases - a complete annoyance. Hence, by turning off Flash, I don't get all that intrusion happening. I know that cuts into a site's profits - but there has to be a better way.
FWIW - I dump all cookies - including Flash cookies - at the end of every browser session. And, I have a script that runs when I start my machine to clean out as much of Google's intrusion of privacy as possible. I own this machine. I control what is on it. And in that, I am entitled to a relative and appropriate amount of privacy.
"but rather "Block is for malvertising". They pointed me to this link."
Malvertising' Crooks Earn $25,000 A Day Attacking Yahoo And AOL Users
Incidentally - you can't get to the Forbes link with cookies turned off - because Forbes wants to autoload some 30-day "trial" of some who-ha app on your machine. Of course - at the end of 30 days you are going to get dinged again and again to buy it. And don't doubt that it won't continue to track your every move.