well it appears as though I've solved my issue, however im not sure if my solution will leave me vulnerable.
for Win 7, 64 bit:
1) control panel/system and security/windows firewall
2) Advanced settings
3) inbound rules, I added 'AvastUI' from the avast folder and told it to allow connections
3) outbound rules, I added 'AvastUI' from the same folder and told it to allow connections.
and I now appear to be able to connect to google, facebook and youtube without disabling the realtime shield.