How to block ads and trackers

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Today's article is one of the articles we had the most fun writing and at the same time one of the most complicated ever! Yes because it is not easy to be able to classify all the ways to block ads and tracers but we have tried to make a summary of it, hopefully quite exhaustive but above all, as always, simple to understand and use.

How and why to block ei ads tracers

We'll talk about how to block ei ads tracers both on Browsers and in general on your device, be it a smartphone or a desktop. Whatever reason you do it (and we advise you to block as many unwelcome things as possible and the FBI advises you too ¹ 😅), we always remind you that for some sites and projects, advertisements are (unfortunately) the most important source of income. If you often visit a site, a YouTube channel or if you have found an app or game that you particularly like, always check if it is possible to give a small donation to the project.

A little curiosity before getting to our proposals: did you know that the extension AdBlock Plus won a case in Germany because it is not considered illegal to be able to block content on your own Browsers ²? It seems to us to be an important result also for all similar tools that allow you to put your own hands on it Browsers to manage what to upload and what not.

What are the tracers?

For tracer means an element that allows you to follow the user and which may reveal some information to the owner of the tracer. It is a generic definition and not necessarily they are all absolute evil: think for example of usage statistics or telemetry. If implemented well and if external servers are not used but everything is done "in house", there is nothing wrong with agreeing to send anonymous statistics on usage. Obviously this must be accepted and signed by the user and not inserted by default without warning. Here you will find a series of very useful information on the various types of tracers which can be found on a smartphone application.

Block ads and tracers on Android smartphones

It is of course possible to block advertising and tracers on your Android smartphone, we will divide this chapter into two sub-chapters: blocking on the internal smartphone and blocking them exclusively on the Browsers.

Just for Browsers

If you are interested in blocking elements only on the Browsers we have several options:

• Brave, This Browsers it is excellent because it has a pre-installed shield with two different settings (aggressive or normal) and which also allows you to bypass the Fingerprinting. So if you use Brave you won't have to use anything else: everything will already be locked and working perfectly by default. The more experienced can go to the address brave://AdBlock and also decide which lists to use and possibly create customized filters;
• uBlock Origin, in case you use a Browsers different from Brave such as Firefox (or some of his Fork) you can install the add-on uBlock Origin. Those who follow us already know that it is an excellent plugin that allows you to block advertising and tracers with simplicity. In the advanced settings of uBlock Origin also in this case you can choose which lists to use and possibly create custom filters;
• AdGuard AdBlocker, as above there is also this extension to block advertising and tracers on Browsers Firefox for Android. It's really great and works very well but has fewer options and less customization than uBlock Origin;
• DOH, or DNS over HTTPS. We already know the Private DNS, come on Browsers Chromium (For example Chrome but also Brave and many others) it is possible to insert DNS to be used exclusively on Browsers for navigation. These DNS can implement advertising blockers and much more such as those of NextDNS, AdGuard but also of Mullvad. This option is not currently possible on Browsers based on Firefox.

All over the smartphone

The ones we have suggested above are exclusive blocking methods for i Browsers. In addition to those you may also want to put an ad blocker and tracers across the entire device. Be careful, let's say in addition to those because it can be useful to have both a lock at the device level and one on the Browsers to actually be able to have complete control.

• DNS, as we also explained above, it is possible to use private DNS to block tracers and advertising. There's ours dedicated article, in general if you want to have more control you can use NextDNS, AdGuard or CONTROL D while if you want something "ready-made" you can try the DNS of Mullvad. To enter these DNS you have mainly two ways:
  • directly on the device, on all recent Android smartphones, simply go to settings/network and search for secure/private DNS. From here you have to put the DNS over TLS (DOT) that you want to use and will be active on your entire device and for any installed applications. Even if used Shelter!
  • via application, there are applications that allow you to use customized DNS, generally they are applications that also do much more. You can try Rethink, personalDNSfilter, AdGuard.
• Local VPN, this is one of the most used and most interesting methods. In practice, a local VPN is created which does not send data anywhere but which makes certain connections "hit a wall". Without going into technical details, this is a bit what local VPNs do. Two weak points are: they drain the battery and use the VPN slot so if you need one true VPN you must first deactivate it. Some applications that do this job: AdGuard (for a fee), TrackerControl, Rethink, personalDNSfilter, Blokada (which also acts as a normal paid VPN) e DuckDuckGo (also on F-Droid);
• Normal VPN, another method is to use a real VPN which among other things could allow you to block advertising and tracers. It is the case of ProtonVPN and its Adblocker (NetShield) and of Mullvad. We remind you that by using a VPN you are physically connecting to someone else's servers and therefore it is essential that you have trust in that company. We try only to offer you VPN Open source and which have passed security audits.

Block ads and tracers on Apple smartphones

We are not experts on Apple devices and therefore this section will be much shorter and with many fewer options. However, we still want to suggest the use, as above, of different systems:

• DNS, even on iPhones it is possible to use customized DNS. Unlike Android, in order to use them you will have to download a configuration file that will give you the chosen provider. The options are similar to Android ones i.e NextDNS, AdGuard or CONTROL D;
• VPN, also in this case you can take advantage of a real VPN like ProtonVPN and its Adblocker (NetShield) and of Mullvad. Alternatively, there is also the application AdGuard;
• just up Browsers, DuckDuckGo Private Browsers seems to be the best choice on iPhone. You can see here of all tests Browsers iOS and see what protects you best.

Block ads and tracers on computers

Even on computers it is possible to divide into different sections to decide if we want to block advertisements and tracers only during navigation or if we are interested in doing so across the entire operating system.

Just for Browsers

Let's repeat what we said about Android smartphones:

• Brave, excellent because it has a pre-installed shield with two different settings (aggressive or normal) and which also allows you to bypass the Fingerprinting. So if you use Brave you won't have to use anything else: everything will already be locked and working perfectly by default. The more experienced can go to the address brave://AdBlock and also decide which lists to use and possibly create customized filters;
• uBlock Origin, in case you use a Browsers different from Brave such as Firefox (or some of his Fork) you can install the add-on uBlock Origin. In the advanced settings you can also choose which lists to use and possibly create custom filters;
• AdGuard AdBlocker, as above there is also this extension to block advertising and tracers on your own Browsers. It's really great and works very well but has fewer options and less customization than uBlock Origin;
• DOH, or DNS over HTTPS. We already know the Private DNS, come on Browsers Chromium (For example Chrome but also Brave and many others) it is possible to insert DNS to be used exclusively on Browsers for navigation. These DNS can implement advertising blockers and much more such as those of NextDNS, AdGuard but also of Mullvad. With regard to Firefox, unlike the Android version, on desktop it is possible to use a customized DOH for navigation.

All over the computer

As with smartphones, it is also possible to use systems that block advertising on computers tracers on the entire computer and therefore on all installed programs and even those, if any, of the operating system. Yes Windows, we're looking at you ³.

• DNS, as already explained (also in ours dedicated article), in general if you want more control you can use NextDNS, AdGuard or CONTROL D while if you want something "ready-made" you can try the DNS of Mullvad. On Windows 11 it is possible to use DNS over HTTPS without installing other applications, you can follow this little guide to find out how to do it (thanks to Pascal).
  Unfortunately on Windows 10 you should be able to enable it by following this guide. If you are under a domain, however, it does not seem possible to use private DNS without third-party applications, so you can use them by activating and installing programs such as YogaDNS;
• applications, it is possible to install programs that monitor all connections and block those they consider advertising or tracers. A couple of great options are: AdGuard And Portmaster;
• VPN, as already mentioned above, some VPNs also offer protection against advertisements and tracers. ProtonVPN and its Adblocker (NetShield) And Mullvad they are available for any operating system.

How much advertising and how many tracers am I blocking?

A question you might ask yourself is: am I really blocking something? And how much? We have an article dedicated to you called your own Test yours AdBlock. Alternatively you can try the more interesting one which is developed by d3ward and you can find it at this address: https://d3ward.github.io/toolz/AdBlock.html

Attention: It's not a competition to get the highest score. There are many variables involved: connection, internet speed, Browsers, operating system, false negatives etc etc ⁴

In such a long and complex article it is certainly possible to have written some inaccuracies or forgotten something. We await your comments on Codeberg, Matrix or Telegram, Thank you!

1. Even the FBI says you should use an ad blocker[↩]
2. The Internet Wins: Adblocking (And Other Extensions) Don't Violate Copyright Law In Germany[↩]
3. How to stop Microsoft from tracking you on Windows 11/10 computer[↩]
4. d3ward message[↩]

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