Disclosed is a method and apparatus for filtering data network content using categorized filtering parameters. Filtering parameters (e.g., regular expressions) are categorized and stored in a database accessible by a plurality of users. A user may receive one or more categories of filtering parameters from the database, and then use the categorized filtering parameters to filter content received from a data network. A user may also contribute developed categorized filtering parameters to the database. In one advantageous embodiment, the filtering parameters are designed to filter out advertising content. In such an embodiment, the received content comprises advertising and is filtered using the categorized filtering parameters. A webpage is then rendered using the filtered content such that at least a portion of the advertising is not displayed in the webpage. The categorized filtering parameters stored in the database may be further divided into sub-categories such that the filtering parameters are stored in a hierarchical manner such that a category includes one or more sub-categories.