System-wide ad-blocking (why AdGuard?)

everythingallatonce

Hi,

I am new to GrapheneOS and want to set up system-wide ad-blocking as described here: https://grapheneos.org/faq#ad-blocking

I was wondering why specifically AdGuard (a company founded in Russia and headquartered in Cyprus) is recommended? As opposed to, say, Mullvad's DNS server which can also block ads/trackers (perhaps not as efficiently?)?

Thank you.

matchboxbananasynergy

It's merely an example, not necessarily a recommendation.

Adguard is also very popular, which ties into the point in the second paragraph:

Apps and web sites can detect that ad-blocking is being used and can determine what's being blocked. This can be used as part of fingerprinting users. Using a widely used service like AdGuard with a standard block list is much less of an issue than a custom set of subscriptions / rules, but it still stands out compared to the default of not doing it.

everythingallatonce

Thank you. That makes sense. Most users seem to trust the service then?

applesbana

everythingallatonce

I like the customizability of nextdns

Volen

everythingallatonce

AdGuard has been there for ages and has a great track record. It is also recommended by Privacy Guides.

It was originally established in Russia but then moved to Cyprus and the owners are not your typical Russian oligarchs linked with the government. It complies with Cypriot (EU) privacy laws, not Russian.

It's like NextDNS - a US company, and the US is the founder of 5-eyes, but it doesn't stop NextDNS to be good and privacy friendly. The same with many other US companies, like 1Password, etc.

Both NextDNS and Adguard are good and offer more or less the same functionality so you can stick with the one you prefer the most. Both allow you to create an account and use customised adblock lists (or use their public DNS without creating an account, if you wish to).

In comparison, Mullvad only offers a public DNS with no ability for users to tweak the adlist. I would love to see this functionality in Mullvad though (allow to add/remove adlists).