Advice Request AdGuard tweaking (Yes, I confess, I did it again, changed adblocking strategy)

[Lenny_Fox]

Yes, I admit it is an addiction trying to get the most out of the combo DNS - Browser - Extensions, but to look at the bright side of life and put this in perspective, this is a decent addiction, does not cost me any money and does not offend people nor law.

I tend to switch between uBlockOrigin and Adguard extension and vica versa. I was happily using the combo NextDNS-uBlockOrigin until @oldschool and @silversurfer started to post about ClearURL and NeatURL. This triggered me to have a look at AdGuard Extension again. Benefit of Adguard is that it also has an option to check for malware (I have Smartscreen disabled because it sends full URL) PLUS AdGuard extension has a stealth mode (which is disabled by default). This stealth mode also has an URL cleaning option. The default set of URL parameters can be easily tweaked, by simply adding comma seperated parameters to the text input box.


Cleaning URL's
I added some tracking parameters of popular tracking networks in AdGuard's stealth option:

utm_source,utm_medium,utm_term,utm_campaign,utm_content,utm_name,utm_cid,utm_reader,utm_viz_id,utm_pubreferrer,utm_swu,utm_referrer,utm_social,utm_social-type,utm_place,utm_userid,utm_channel,gs_l,gs_Lcp,client,sclient,ei,sei,gws_rd,gs_gbg,gs_mss,gs_rn,ved,uact,fbclid,_hsenc,_hsmi,__hssc,__hstc,hsCtaTracking,sc_campaign,sc_channel,sc_content,sc_medium,sc_outcome,sc_geo,sc_country,elqTrackId,elqTrack,assetType,assetId,recipientId,campaignId,siteId,s_cid,itm_source,itm_medium,itm_campaign,itm_content,itm_term,spReportId,spJobID,spUserID,spMailingID,hmb_campaign,hmb_medium,hmb_source,mkt_tok,mc_cid,mc_eid,pk_campaign,pk_kwd,pk_source,pk_medium,pk_content

EDIT: it is easier to add the parameters Security123 made out of this list above in the next post!

__________

 

[ForgottenSeer 85179]

Benefit of Adguard is that it also has an option to check for malware

It just use the Adguard DNS filterlist for that.

I also switched from NextDNS to AdguardDNS (which uses the Adguard DNS blocklist)

The list can be used in NextDNS (easily) too while NextDNS provide a lot improvements which AdGuard doesn't.

Else nice post and thanks for the URL parameter!
I compare them with the default list and also remove all the empty spaces as the orignal doesn't include any too. This is the result:

gs_l,gs_Lcp,client,sclient,ei,sei,gws_rd,gs_gbg,gs_mss,gs_rn,ved,uact,fbclid,_hsenc,_hsmi,__hssc,__hstc,hsCtaTracking,sc_campaign,sc_channel,sc_content,sc_medium,sc_outcome,sc_geo,sc_country,elqTrackId,elqTrack,assetType,assetId,recipientId,campaignId,siteId,s_cid,itm_source,itm_medium,itm_campaign,itm_content,itm_term,spReportId,spJobID,spUserID,spMailingID,hmb_campaign,hmb_medium,hmb_source,mkt_tok,mc_cid,mc_eid,pk_campaign,pk_kwd,pk_source,pk_medium,pk_content

Where did you get them?

 

[Lenny_Fox]

Thx #Security123,

Where? I have a bachelor in Digital Marketing

It just use the Adguard DNS filterlist for that.

According to Adguard documentation it uses Google Lookup API for that

 

[ForgottenSeer 85179]

Where? I have a bachelor in Digital Marketing

you have mail

According to Adguard documentation it uses Google Lookup API for that

Yeah but someone here say they just use AdguardTeam/AdGuardSDNSFilter

 

[oldschool]

Yes, I admit it is an addiction trying to get the most out of the combo DNS - Browser - Extensions, but to look at the bright side of life and put this in perspective, this is a decent addiction, does not cost me any money and does not offend people nor law.

Same here as I have no interest in changing my Security configuration. Unfortunately, this addiction isn't enough to quell my political news addiction. But I digress.

Else nice post and thanks for the URL parameter!

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Phishing and malware protection | AdGuard Knowledge Base

Falling prey to phishing and malware remains a common issue. To enhance digital security, we’ve incorporated special filters in AdGuard products to shield you from malicious and phishing websites. To date, we’ve categorized over 15 million sites and built a database of 1.5 million websites known...

kb.adguard.com

Is a bit vague.
They also talk about filters, but there is no link to the filters.
The Phishing sites filter and the Malicious sites filter are not available here:

AdGuard filters | AdGuard Knowledge Base

This article is about the filters that we develop and that come pre-installed in AdGuard. To check them out, you can download the AdGuard app

kb.adguard.com

Only available for you when you use their software or extensions?

 

[ErzCrz]

I like the look of adguard just lack experience with it. For starters, what filters to select?

 

[ForgottenSeer 85179]

I like the look of adguard just lack experience with it. For starters, what filters to select?

stay with default + i recommend Kees list: Kees1958/W3C_annual_most_used_survey_blocklist

 

[Lenny_Fox]

For the convenience for other members who don't like to tweak and ONLY want to try out my enhanced STEALTH mode settings I have added the AdGuard setup of my girlfriend's laptop.

1. General

2. Filters

NB. When you live EU or North America, as suggested by @security123 you could add Kees1958 most prevalent ad & tracking networks (see post above).

3. Stealth mode

As posted earlier, you can add the additional URL-parameters used for parsing trackingg data from one website to another which I suggested in the Remove tracking parameters box (just add)

,gs_l,gs_Lcp,client,sclient,ei,sei,gws_rd,gs_gbg,gs_mss,gs_rn,ved,uact,fbclid,_hsenc,_hsmi,__hssc,__hstc,hsCtaTracking,sc_campaign,sc_channel,sc_content,sc_medium,sc_outcome,sc_geo,sc_country,elqTrackId,elqTrack,assetType,assetId,recipientId,campaignId,siteId,s_cid,itm_source,itm_medium,itm_campaign,itm_content,itm_term,spReportId,spJobID,spUserID,spMailingID,hmb_campaign,hmb_medium,hmb_source,mkt_tok,mc_cid,mc_eid,pk_campaign,pk_kwd,pk_source,pk_medium,pk_content

Since most privacy aware people (95% of this forum) have already eneabled the option in their browser to use session cookies only, I have disabled self-destruction for third-party cookies. When you read this and think "what on earth does this guy mean with session cookies", don't disable the 'Self-destruction of third-party cookies' option (which is enabled by default).

4. Miscellaneous

The 'Use optimized filters' really is a nice feature. When enabled only the often triggered rules are used. This reduces the number of stale rules polluting a filter considerable. As example with the filters Adguard base+privacy+annoyance+Dutch+Kees1958 this results in just over 52 thousand rules. This will reduce cold - first lanch of your webbrowser with (estimated) plus or take half a second on a midrange spec PC up to a second on a low spec PC (compared to uBlockOrigin with default lists).

 

[ErzCrz]

Thanks @Lenny_Fox Out of curiosity, how come you don't have Phishing and Malware selected under general?

 

[Lenny_Fox]

@ErzCrz

Because it is the setup of girlfriend. She has like most average pc users Smartscreen or SafeBrowsing enabled.

I have Smartscreen disabled and indeed (sharp observation) enabled AdGuard extension Phising & Malware protection enabled.

 

[ForgottenSeer 85179]

Thanks @Lenny_Fox Out of curiosity, how come you don't have Phishing and Malware selected under general?

NextDNS cover this already

 

[Lenny_Fox]

NextDNS cover this already

True, also has it. I am not behind my pc, so have to check which DNS, I am using at the moment. I might have switched from Adguard DNS to NextDNS with AdGuard DNS blocklist enabled.


Edit
I am watching TV with my girlfriend, Masterchef Australia. She likes to watch cooking programs, but I always cook (I worked as part time cook to finance my study). I the 8 minute commercial breaks I brows this forum).

 

[HarborFront]

@Lenny_Fox and @security123

Does Adguard accepts wildcard character in the url parameters to be blocked?

eg itm_* instead of the whole list of itm_source, itm_medium, itm_campaign, itm_content, itm_term

or tag@amazon.*, spm@*.aliexpress.com, algo_pvid@*.aliexpress.*, ga_* for that matter (see use of wild cards in below screenshot)

Thanks

FI, I got the list of URL_Parameters to be blocked from Neat URL extension. With those added to Adguard I can remove the Neat URL extension.

ClearURLs extension definitely has more, and they are inside a json file below

ClearURLs / Rules · GitLab

Rules database of the ClearURLs WebExtension.

gitlab.com

 

[Lenny_Fox]

@Lenny_Fox and @security123

Does Adguard accepts wild card character in the url parameters to be blocked?

Good question, don't know, but it is interesting to know, so maybe you can contact AdGuard?

 

[ForgottenSeer 85179]

Currently i doesn't use this AdGuard feature so yes, your best option is contact AdGuard team

 

[HarborFront]

After searching in Adguard's kb I think it does

Stealth Mode | AdGuard Knowledge Base

Many websites gather information about their visitors, such as their IP address, installed browser and operating system, screen resolution, and even the page from which a visitor was redirected. Some web pages use cookies to mark your browser and save your personal settings and preferences, or...

kb.adguard.com

as utm_* can comprise of utm_source, utm_medium,, utm_term, utm_campaign etc. Similarly for itm_* instead of the whole list of itm_source, itm_medium, itm_campaign, itm_content, itm_term etc

This helps to save a lot in typing time.

In addition, I have added the Affiliate Killer userscript to block more in Adguard's Extensions(Userscripts)

Affiliate killer

No more Affiliate Link! Plz Original URL!

greasyfork.org

アフィリエイト殺し for greasemonkey - 萌えの値段

a_killer.user.js 機能 Firefoxの拡張であるgreasemonkey用のユーザスクリプトです。 アフィリエイトリンクを指定のIDで上書きします。 Amazon.co.jp、a8、楽天に対応 デフォルトではアフィリエイト情報を削除します。(a8、楽天ではリダイレクト先に直接書き換えます) 使用法 (greasemonkeyのインストール方法は省略) リンク先からユーザースクリプトをダウンロードしてください。 ユーザースクリプトをテキストエディタで開いて、「var amazonId = ""; var a8Id ="";var rakutenId...

deraw.hatenadiary.org

There are some useful Extensions(Userscripts) mentioned here

Join discussions, like, and share | AdGuard

Join our community in social media and discuss AdGuard there.

forum.adguard.com

and read below

Userscripts | AdGuard Knowledge Base

Userscripts (we also call them "extensions") are, de facto, miniprograms written in JavaScript. They modify or extend the functionality of one or more websites. Many AdGuard users may be already familiar with such userscripts as AdGuard Assistant, Popup Blocker, and AdGuard Extra.

kb.adguard.com

 

[HarborFront]

JFI

EDIT

Want to do a bit of correction to my earlier post regarding Youtube cannot be played upon adding the whole list of tracking parameters from Neat URL

I went through the list of tracking parameters in Neat URL but there's no ei tracking parameter. It only has ei@google.* tracking parameter. Adding the latter does NOT break Youtube

The ei tracking parameter was taken from the above post #9

So far I have found that removing the ei tracking parameter I can play Youtube and adding the whole list of tracking parameters from Neat URL does NOT break Youtube

 

[Lenny_Fox]

@HarborFront

Could yo post or attach your AdGuard Remove Tracking Parameters? I did not know AdGuard supported wildcards, nice find

Thx

 

[HarborFront]

@HarborFront

Could yo post or attach your AdGuard Remove Tracking Parameters?

Thx

Mine is the few default tracking parameters in Adguard for Windows + those listed in Neat URL extension. You just install Neat URL and you click on it there you'll find the whole list.

Now you have to tediously add each tracking parameter individually into Adguard unlike previously where you can add a whole list.

My YouTube playing is still being affected. I'm still troubleshooting to see what is affecting it. Worse come to worst have to remove the added whole list of Neat URL tracking parameters