Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge all include the ability to block certain requests.

https://developers.google.com/web/tools/chrome-devtools/netw...

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Tools/Network_Monit...

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/cre...

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/devtools-gui...

The web's first browser, working in line mode, could probably request the text, and only the text, of an article from nytimes.com. It has no capability to automatically follow links to ads and trackers.

https://www.w3.org/INSTALL.html