Poll What kind of ad/tracker blocking do you use?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ForgottenSeer 116559
  • Start date Start date

What's your approach to ad/tracker blocking?

  • Local content filter (app)

    Votes: 17 21.8%
  • Browser extension

    Votes: 57 73.1%
  • Cloud DNS filter

    Votes: 34 43.6%
  • Local DNS sinkhole

    Votes: 3 3.8%
  • Other

    Votes: 6 7.7%

  • Total voters
    78
Guys, don't waste your time testing your ad blocker or your DNS on the Turtlecute website. I opened it in Chrome and I'm not using any DNS for ad blocking, let alone any ad blocking extension, and it still says it's 100%. Don't waste your time. Is your DNS blocking ads? If so, then don't worry, enjoy your browser and have fun. Oh, before I forget, what about me? If you use an ad blocker, such as uBOL, Adblock, Adblock Plus, then enjoy your browsing and don't worry about these tests, that's superstition. ;)
1755555229497.png
 
I am much more interested in blocking trackers than ads.

Every now and then (rarely) I run some tests using Firefox + Privacy Badger as a control + browser development tools.

Compared to Chromium browsers, Firefox development tools have the advantage of providing better information about who actually blocked the trackers.
They can tell you if a tracker has really been blocked by Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin, the browser's anti-tracker feature, DNS, CORS...

Chromium browser development tools can only tell you if the tracker has been blocked by the client (adblock, browser if it has an anti-tracker feature...) or by the DNS.

So I delete PB and check if a single tracker taken only by PB is also blocked by something else.
Then, of course, I report the various results and/or changes in Chrome as well.
It seems like a slow check, but it's actually quite fast.

I usually use the websites highlighted at the bottom.

WhoTracks.Me
 
I use either Adguard for desktop or uBlock Origin with Firefox, and multi-account containers in place of privacy and anti-tracking.

For the phone, I use the Adguard app with Chrome or Quetta.
Out of interest what settings do you use & which filters with AdGuard Desk? I've used it for some years but it does tend to cause more issues than uBlock on FF for example, I believe I overdo things with AG (desk) so I'm interested as to which settings others use?
 
Out of interest what settings do you use & which filters with AdGuard Desk? I've used it for some years but it does tend to cause more issues than uBlock on FF for example, I believe I overdo things with AG (desk) so I'm interested as to which settings others use?
For me even in default settings it did get a BSOD, but that was because it wasn't working well with AVG antivirus, I think it would interfere with some third party antivirus.
 
Out of interest what settings do you use & which filters with AdGuard Desk? I've used it for some years but it does tend to cause more issues than uBlock on FF for example, I believe I overdo things with AG (desk) so I'm interested as to which settings others use?

I've been using the ff.

User rules
Bypass Paywalls Clean Filter
Browse Websites Without Logging In
ClearURLs for uBO (unofficial)
AdGuard Base Filter
AdGuard Tracking Protection Filter
EasyPrivacy
Legitimate URL Shortener
Peter Lowe's Blocklist
AdGuard Social Media Filter
AdGuard Cookie Notices Filter
AdGuard Popups Filter
AdGuard Mobile App Banners Filter
AdGuard Other Annoyances Filter
AdGuard Widgets Filter
Adblock Warning Removal Filter
Fanboy's Annoyances
Online Malicious URL Blocklist
 
Today, while waiting for my daughter and husband to arrive for lunch, I did a quick test (trackers) with this website:

HAZ – Hannoversche Allgemeine

As usual, I used Privacy Badger as my only control.
In the three images below, the trackers appear to be blocked only by PB:

1.png
2.png
3.png

After disabling PB control, which is blocked by Firefox's trackers feature, uBo, DNS:

Tracking feature:

1a.png

DNS:
2a.png

Tracking feature:
3a.png

All trackers have been blocked without PB.
PB utility = 0

P.S.

In Chrome, all trackers that appear to be blocked only by PB are blocked by DNS.
 
It appears that this test has been updated recently:

Test Ad Block - Toolz

Changelog 12/21/2025​

  • Enhanced build optimization with HTML/CSS/JS minification
  • Added code splitting for vendor bundles
  • Implemented performance budgets for bundle size monitoring
  • Upgraded Babel packages to latest versions
  • Removed node-sass dependency
  • Added CSS minimization plugin
  • Updated adblock host lists
  • Improved template rendering
 
It appears that this test has been updated recently:

Test Ad Block - Toolz

Changelog 12/21/2025​

  • Enhanced build optimization with HTML/CSS/JS minification
  • Added code splitting for vendor bundles
  • Implemented performance budgets for bundle size monitoring
  • Upgraded Babel packages to latest versions
  • Removed node-sass dependency
  • Added CSS minimization plugin
  • Updated adblock host lists
  • Improved template rendering
2025-12-24_14-10-12.png