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!

__________

 

[Lenny_Fox]

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

??? why not attach the list to make it simple for me ??? The Adguard extensions still allows to add the list, I just removed and copied my tracking parameters

 

[HarborFront]

v7.5.3 Adguard for Windows only allows to add tracking parameter individually. Cannot add an entire list at once

 

[HarborFront]

@Lenny_Fox

Actually, the list in Neat URL extension is not much different from your list below....only a few differences. You can make a comparison by installing Neat URL extension.

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

 

[Lenny_Fox]

@HarborFront Okay had not realized gui of ag app is different from ag extension thx

Updated URL parm list for extension (GA ommited because ga.js is blocked in most blocklists), thx 2 HarborFront

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,glcid,gclsrc,s_cid,elqTrackId,elqTrack,assetType,assetId,recipientId,campaignId,siteId,mc_cid,mc_eid,nr_email_referer,vero_conv,vero_id,mbid,cmpid,cid,c_id,campaign_id,Campaign

 

[Jan Willy]

@HarborFront Okay had not realized gui of ag app is different from ag extension thx

Updated URL parm list for extension (GA ommited because ga.js is blocked in most blocklists), thx 2 HarborFront

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,glcid,gclsrc,s_cid,elqTrackId,elqTrack,assetType,assetId,recipientId,campaignId,siteId,mc_cid,mc_eid,nr_email_referer,vero_conv,vero_id,mbid,cmpid,cid,c_id,campaign_id,Campaign

What do you think of this: General URL Cleaner

 

[HarborFront]

What do you think of this: General URL Cleaner

Mentioned here

Join discussions, like, and share | AdGuard

Join our community in social media and discuss AdGuard there.

forum.adguard.com

Can use Affiliate Killer too

Join discussions, like, and share | AdGuard

Join our community in social media and discuss AdGuard there.

forum.adguard.com

Affiliate killer

No more Affiliate Link! Plz Original URL!

greasyfork.org

FI, I have the above 2 userscipts added to Adguard for Windows

Others can be found here

Join discussions, like, and share | AdGuard

Join our community in social media and discuss AdGuard there.

forum.adguard.com

 

[HarborFront]

Here's another list of URL parameters to be blocked which I took from Trace extension. Some are duplicates

 

[Lenny_Fox]

Thanks to @HarborFront the updated AdGuard extended tracking parameter cleaning set for AdGuard extension stealth mode

__hssc,__hstc,_hsenc,_hsmi,_reqid,_trkparms,ad_bucket,ad_size,ad_slot,adid,adserverid,adserveroptimizedid,adtype,adurl,AffiliateGuid,assetId,assetType,bdref,bstk,c_id,Campaign,campaign_id,campaignId,cid,clickid,client,clkurlenc,cmpid,dclid,ei,elqTrack,elqTrackId,exitPop,fb,fb_ref,fb_source,fbclid,first_visit,ga_content,ga_fc,ga_hid,ga_medium,ga_place,ga_source,ga_vid,gclsrc,glcid,gs_gbg,gs_l,gs_Lcp,gs_mss,gs_rn,gws_rd,hmb_campaign,hmb_medium,hmb_source,hsCtaTracking,ImpressionGuid,itm_campaign,itm_content,itm_medium,itm_source,itm_term,matchid,mbid,mc_cid,mc_eid,mediatadaid,minbid,mkt_tok,nr_email_referer,num_ads,origin,page_referrer,payload,piggiebackcookie,pk_campaign,pk_content,pk_kwd,pk_medium,pk_source,providerid,pubclick,pubid,recipientId,referrer,reftype,revmod,rurl,s_cid,sc_campaign,sc_channel,sc_content,sc_country,sc_geo,sc_medium,sc_outcome,sclient,sei,siteId,sourceid,spJobID,spMailingID,spReportId,spUserID,tldid,trackid,tracking,uact,uid,usegapi,utm_campaign,utm_channel,utm_cid,utm_content,utm_medium,utm_name,utm_place,utm_pubreferrer,utm_reader,utm_referrer,utm_social,utm_social-type,utm_source,utm_swu,utm_term,utm_userid,utm_viz_id,ved,vero_conv,vero_id,zoneid

I have sorted the list (which now is based on AdGuard, Neat URL and Trace), so it is more easy to look which you have (not) added to your own url parameter cleaning list. When you see incorrect parameters (typo's) please don't hesitate to post

 

[Lenny_Fox]

EDIT of above post (removed ei, because some members using Windows Desktop version report youtube not playing movies)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (url tracking parameters to block)____

__hssc,__hstc,_hsenc,_hsmi,_reqid,_trkparms,ad_bucket,ad_size,ad_slot,adid,adserverid,adserveroptimizedid,adtype,adurl,AffiliateGuid,assetId,assetType,bdref,bstk,c_id,Campaign,campaign_id,campaignId,cid,clickid,client,clkurlenc,cmpid,dclid,elqTrack,elqTrackId,exitPop,fb,fb_ref,fb_source,fbclid,first_visit,ga_content,ga_fc,ga_hid,ga_medium,ga_place,ga_source,ga_vid,gclsrc,glcid,gs_gbg,gs_l,gs_Lcp,gs_mss,gs_rn,gws_rd,hmb_campaign,hmb_medium,hmb_source,hsCtaTracking,ImpressionGuid,itm_campaign,itm_content,itm_medium,itm_source,itm_term,matchid,mbid,mc_cid,mc_eid,mediatadaid,minbid,mkt_tok,nr_email_referer,num_ads,origin,page_referrer,payload,piggiebackcookie,pk_campaign,pk_content,pk_kwd,pk_medium,pk_source,providerid,pubclick,pubid,recipientId,referrer,reftype,revmod,rurl,s_cid,sc_campaign,sc_channel,sc_content,sc_country,sc_geo,sc_medium,sc_outcome,sclient,sei,siteId,sourceid,spJobID,spMailingID,spReportId,spUserID,tldid,trackid,tracking,uact,uid,usegapi,utm_campaign,utm_channel,utm_cid,utm_content,utm_medium,utm_name,utm_place,utm_pubreferrer,utm_reader,utm_referrer,utm_social,utm_social-type,utm_source,utm_swu,utm_term,utm_userid,utm_viz_id,ved,vero_conv,vero_id,zoneid

 

[HarborFront]

One more thing you can do is to add abused TLDs blocking to "Filtering rules" in Adguard for desktop. The below list is taken from WildersSecurity forums. See below link and post #5147. Of course, you can add that to uBO but since you are using Adguard Adblocker extension you can consider adding the list. BTW, Trace extension also has this TLD blocking feature

µBlock, a lean and fast blocker

Here you are: https://www.glassdoor.com/Interview/Smarkets-Interview-Questions-E730464_P2.htm If you try to browse from Page to 2 to 3 at some point...

www.wilderssecurity.com

! The Most Abused Top Level Domains
! The Spamhaus Project - The Top 10 Most Abused TLDs
||*.rest^$all
||*.gq^$all
||*.work^$all
||*.tk^$all
||*.ml^$all
||*.viajes^$all
||*.casa^$all
||*.london^$all
||*.cf^$all
||*.fail^$all
||*.surf^$all
||*.cam^$all
||*.exposed^$all
||*.buzz^$all
||*.fit^$all
||*.asia^$all
||*.date^$all

Note : I can add the entire list at once to my Adguard for desktop

 

[Tiamati]

Talking about pishing protection, i don't see any reason to depend on adguard since you can use more reliable options, like Bitdefender Traffic Light (best defense and performance) or Emsisoft Browser Guard (for more privacy).

BTW, ty for the lists @Lenny_Fox, @HarborFront and @SecurityNightmares . I'd like to fully understand the clear url one.

 

[HarborFront]

Talking about pishing protection, i don't see any reason to depend on adguard since you can use more reliable options, like Bitdefender Traffic Light (best defense and performance) or Emsisoft Browser Guard (for more privacy).

BTW, ty for the lists @Lenny_Fox, @HarborFront and @SecurityNightmares . I'd like to fully understand the clear url one.

You can add another great extension to phishing protection and that is NetCraft Extension but it collects your user data

Short explanation

URL query strings (The bits after the question mark) and fragments (The bits after the hash) are often used to track you, the most common ones that you'll see are ones that start with utm_, these parameters are vital for most websites but some of them often contain information about you such as where you came from, the ad you clicked, or some other form of identifier. Removing these parameters makes you much harder to track.

 

[Tiamati]

One more thing you can do is to add abused TLDs blocking to User Rules. The below list is taken from WildersSecurity forums. See below link and post #5147. Of course, you can add that to uBO but since you are using Adguard Adblocker extension you can consider adding the list. BTW, Trace extension also has this TLD blocking feature

I updated this list with ones missing from NEXTDNS list.

! The Most Abused Top Level Domains
! The Spamhaus Project - The Top 10 Most Abused TLDs
||*.rest^$all
||*.gq^$all
||*.work^$all
||*.tk^$all
||*.ml^$all
||*.viajes^$all
||*.casa^$all
||*.london^$all
||*.cf^$all
||*.fail^$all
||*.surf^$all
||*.cam^$all
||*.exposed^$all
||*.buzz^$all
||*.fit^$all
||*.asia^$all
||*.date^$all
! Missing TLDs from NEXTDNS LIST
||*.email^$all
||*.recipes^$all
||*.cn^$all
||*.ga^$all

 

[HarborFront]

I updated this list with ones missing from NEXTDNS list.

! The Most Abused Top Level Domains
! The Spamhaus Project - The Top 10 Most Abused TLDs
||*.rest^$all
||*.gq^$all
||*.work^$all
||*.tk^$all
||*.ml^$all
||*.viajes^$all
||*.casa^$all
||*.london^$all
||*.cf^$all
||*.fail^$all
||*.surf^$all
||*.cam^$all
||*.exposed^$all
||*.buzz^$all
||*.fit^$all
||*.asia^$all
||*.date^$all
! Missing TLDs from NEXTDNS LIST
||*.email^$all
||*.recipes^$all
||*.cn^$all
||*.ga^$all

Updated my list as well. Thanks

 

[Tiamati]

I noticed the clear urls list has an error (fb,).

__hssc,__hstc,_hsenc,_hsmi,_reqid,_trkparms,ad_bucket,ad_size,ad_slot,adid,adserverid,adserveroptimizedid,adtype,adurl,AffiliateGuid,assetId,assetType,bdref,bstk,c_id,Campaign,campaign_id,campaignId,cid,clickid,client,clkurlenc,cmpid,dclid,elqTrack,elqTrackId,exitPop,fb,fb_ref,fb_source,fbclid,first_visit,ga_content,ga_fc,ga_hid,ga_medium,ga_place,ga_source,ga_vid,gclsrc,glcid,gs_gbg,gs_l,gs_Lcp,gs_mss,gs_rn,gws_rd,hmb_campaign,hmb_medium,hmb_source,hsCtaTracking,ImpressionGuid,itm_campaign,itm_content,itm_medium,itm_source,itm_term,matchid,mbid,mc_cid,mc_eid,mediatadaid,minbid,mkt_tok,nr_email_referer,num_ads,origin,page_referrer,payload,piggiebackcookie,pk_campaign,pk_content,pk_kwd,pk_medium,pk_source,providerid,pubclick,pubid,recipientId,referrer,reftype,revmod,rurl,s_cid,sc_campaign,sc_channel,sc_content,sc_country,sc_geo,sc_medium,sc_outcome,sclient,sei,siteId,sourceid,spJobID,spMailingID,spReportId,spUserID,tldid,trackid,tracking,uact,uid,usegapi,utm_campaign,utm_channel,utm_cid,utm_content,utm_medium,utm_name,utm_place,utm_pubreferrer,utm_reader,utm_referrer,utm_social,utm_social-type,utm_source,utm_swu,utm_term,utm_userid,utm_viz_id,ved,vero_conv,vero_id,zoneid

And its missing

fb_action_ids
fb_action_types

So I added and corrected it.

__hssc,__hstc,_hsenc,_hsmi,_reqid,_trkparms,ad_bucket,ad_size,ad_slot,adid,adserverid,adserveroptimizedid,adtype,adurl,AffiliateGuid,assetId,assetType,bdref,bstk,c_id,Campaign,campaign_id,campaignId,cid,clickid,client,clkurlenc,cmpid,dclid,elqTrack,elqTrackId,exitPop,fb_action_ids,fb_action_types,fb_ref,fb_source,fbclid,first_visit,ga_content,ga_fc,ga_hid,ga_medium,ga_place,ga_source,ga_vid,gclsrc,glcid,gs_gbg,gs_l,gs_Lcp,gs_mss,gs_rn,gws_rd,hmb_campaign,hmb_medium,hmb_source,hsCtaTracking,ImpressionGuid,itm_campaign,itm_content,itm_medium,itm_source,itm_term,matchid,mbid,mc_cid,mc_eid,mediatadaid,minbid,mkt_tok,nr_email_referer,num_ads,origin,page_referrer,payload,piggiebackcookie,pk_campaign,pk_content,pk_kwd,pk_medium,pk_source,providerid,pubclick,pubid,recipientId,referrer,reftype,revmod,rurl,s_cid,sc_campaign,sc_channel,sc_content,sc_country,sc_geo,sc_medium,sc_outcome,sclient,sei,siteId,sourceid,spJobID,spMailingID,spReportId,spUserID,tldid,trackid,tracking,uact,uid,usegapi,utm_campaign,utm_channel,utm_cid,utm_content,utm_medium,utm_name,utm_place,utm_pubreferrer,utm_reader,utm_referrer,utm_social,utm_social-type,utm_source,utm_swu,utm_term,utm_userid,utm_viz_id,ved,vero_conv,vero_id,zoneid

 

[HarborFront]

I noticed the clear urls list has an error (fb,).


And its missing

fb_action_ids
fb_action_types

So I added and corrected it.

__hssc,__hstc,_hsenc,_hsmi,_reqid,_trkparms,ad_bucket,ad_size,ad_slot,adid,adserverid,adserveroptimizedid,adtype,adurl,AffiliateGuid,assetId,assetType,bdref,bstk,c_id,Campaign,campaign_id,campaignId,cid,clickid,client,clkurlenc,cmpid,dclid,elqTrack,elqTrackId,exitPop,fb_action_ids,fb_action_types,fb_ref,fb_source,fbclid,first_visit,ga_content,ga_fc,ga_hid,ga_medium,ga_place,ga_source,ga_vid,gclsrc,glcid,gs_gbg,gs_l,gs_Lcp,gs_mss,gs_rn,gws_rd,hmb_campaign,hmb_medium,hmb_source,hsCtaTracking,ImpressionGuid,itm_campaign,itm_content,itm_medium,itm_source,itm_term,matchid,mbid,mc_cid,mc_eid,mediatadaid,minbid,mkt_tok,nr_email_referer,num_ads,origin,page_referrer,payload,piggiebackcookie,pk_campaign,pk_content,pk_kwd,pk_medium,pk_source,providerid,pubclick,pubid,recipientId,referrer,reftype,revmod,rurl,s_cid,sc_campaign,sc_channel,sc_content,sc_country,sc_geo,sc_medium,sc_outcome,sclient,sei,siteId,sourceid,spJobID,spMailingID,spReportId,spUserID,tldid,trackid,tracking,uact,uid,usegapi,utm_campaign,utm_channel,utm_cid,utm_content,utm_medium,utm_name,utm_place,utm_pubreferrer,utm_reader,utm_referrer,utm_social,utm_social-type,utm_source,utm_swu,utm_term,utm_userid,utm_viz_id,ved,vero_conv,vero_id,zoneid

According to my post #27 above fb is taken from Trace extension. You got comment on fb? Or is it a typo error in Trace extension?

 

[ForgottenSeer 85179]

Bitdefender Traffic Light

Isn't available at Edge store so you need allowing Google ones which opens another security hole.

I don't use any such browser phishing extensions as Edge with SmartScreen is strong enough and I also use NextDNS.

 

[petok]

I make it fix for ei parameter where block all places except YouTube video will work I watch 20 video and without errors
make this in notepad save how txt extension and import rules in AdGuard for Windows in user filters or add manual line by line in user filters.

! Block google tracking ei parameter
$removeparam=ei
! This is fix youtube video play with exclude ei parameter from filtering rule.
@@||youtube.com^$removeparam=ei
@@||googlevideo.com^$removeparam=ei

Now is complete tracking google parameters

 

[HarborFront]

I make it fix for ei parameter where block all places except YouTube video will work I watch 20 video and without errors
make this in notepad save how txt extension and import rules in AdGuard for Windows in user filters or add manual line by line in user filters.

! This is fix youtube video play with exclude ei parameter from filtering rule.
$removeparam=ei
@@||youtube.com^$removeparam=ei
@@||googlevideo.com^$removeparam=ei

Now is complete tracking google parameters

So, in Adguard for desktop, I add back ei in "URL tracking parameters to remove" but add

$removeparam=ei
@@||youtube.com^$removeparam=ei
@@||googlevideo.com^$removeparam=ei

to the "Filtering rules"?

How about in uBO? Should I add them in "My filters" or "My rules"?

Thanks

 

[petok]

So, in Adguard for desktop, I add back ei in "URL tracking parameters to remove" but add

$removeparam=ei
@@||youtube.com^$removeparam=ei
@@||googlevideo.com^$removeparam=ei

to the "Filtering rules"?

How about in uBO? Should I add them in "My filters" or "My rules"?

Thanks

Yes think is in My filters add.