Ad and Tracker Domain List for DNS Filters, Routers and Apps
An ad blocking domain list removes ads and tracking from every device on a network at once: laptops, phones, smart TVs and the apps nobody can install a browser extension into.
It is also the list most likely to break something. This page covers what is in it, which tier to pick, what it cannot do and how to deploy it without a flood of complaints.
Typical trade-off by tier
Illustrative only. Real results depend on the sites your users visit.What is in the ad and tracker domain list
The list is built from the Advertising/Marketing category of the 59-category taxonomy. A domain qualifies when serving, selling or measuring advertising is its main job, not when a site merely shows ads.
Ad servers
Hosts that deliver banner, native and video ad creatives into pages and apps.
Ad exchanges
Auction and bidding endpoints that decide which ad wins each slot.
Ad networks
Networks that sell ad space across many publishers and apps.
Tracking hosts
Pixels, beacons and identity sync endpoints that follow people between sites.
Ad measurement
Viewability, attribution and audience measurement services tied to ad delivery.
In-app ad SDK hosts
Back ends that mobile and TV apps call to fetch ads and report views.
Affiliate networks
Click and conversion tracking for affiliate programmes, the part most likely to break links.
Marketing tech
Email open tracking, retargeting and campaign tracking hosts, where identifiable.
In the list, and deliberately out of it
An ad blocking list fails when it treats any business connected to advertising as an ad server. Keeping the boundary tight is what keeps the list safe to run.
In the list
- Domains that exist to serve or auction ads
- Third-party tracking and identity sync hosts
- Ad measurement and verification endpoints
- Ad fetch endpoints used by apps and smart TVs
- Pop-up and redirect ad networks
Out of the list
- Publishers and news sites that show ads, in News/Media and others
- Marketing agencies' own websites, in Business
- Online shops, even big advertisers, in Shopping
- Content delivery networks that serve many things, in CDN / Hosting / Infrastructure
- Sign-in, payment and fraud check services
See the advertising category page for the category itself, and the CDN category for why shared delivery hosts stay out.
Pick a tier: standard, broad or strict
Because each domain carries ranked categories, one dataset produces several lists. Start with the lightest tier that meets your goal and step up only where users accept the side effects.
Standard
Domains where Advertising/Marketing is the first-ranked category: the dedicated ad and tracking hosts. Little breakage.
- Good for
- Offices, schools, guest Wi-Fi, ISP privacy options
- Watch for
- A few sites that refuse to load without ad scripts
Broad
Advertising/Marketing at any rank, which adds mixed marketing hosts. The usual choice for privacy products.
- Good for
- Privacy apps, family networks, kids' devices
- Watch for
- Some analytics dashboards your own staff use
Strict
Broad plus Parked / For-Sale Domains and URL Shorteners, which are heavy on ads and redirects. Breaks the most links.
- Good for
- Privacy-first users who accept trade-offs
- Watch for
- Shortened links in chats and newsletters, deal and coupon sites
What breaks when you block ad domains
Plan for these before rollout. Each one has a known symptom, so the help desk can spot it quickly.
| Feature | Symptom | Tier that causes it | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affiliate and deal links | Clicking a product link shows a DNS error | Standard and up | Allow the affiliate host for the groups that need it |
| Email newsletter links | Links in marketing email do not open | Standard and up | Allow the click tracking host your own company sends with |
| Sponsored search results | Ad results in search fail to open | Standard and up | Usually acceptable; users click the normal result |
| Sites with ad-block detection | A page asks the user to turn off the blocker | Standard and up | Allow per site only if business needs it |
| Your own marketing tools | Your team's campaign reports show no data | Broad and up | Exempt the marketing team's group |
| Smart TV and console apps | An app shows a blank home row or will not start | Broad and up | Allow the app's specific host for the TV segment |
| Free apps | An app shows errors where ads used to be | Standard and up | Usually harmless; allow if the app will not run |
What DNS ad blocking cannot do
A domain list blocks whole hostnames. That makes it fast and universal, but some ads and trackers live where a hostname block cannot reach them.
Same-domain video ads
When a platform serves ads from the same hosts as its videos, blocking the ad blocks the content. Browser blockers handle this better.
First-party tracking
Analytics run from the site's own domain look like the site. Only in-page tools can separate them.
CNAME cloaking
A tracker hidden behind a subdomain of the site. Some resolvers follow the alias chain and apply the list to the final name.
Empty ad spaces
The ad does not load, but the page may still leave a gap. Hiding the gap needs a browser blocker.
Encrypted DNS in apps
Apps and browsers that use their own encrypted DNS skip your resolver. Force DNS through your network to keep coverage.
Server-side ads
Ads stitched into a stream on the server look like content. No domain list can remove those.
The honest summary: a DNS ad blocking list removes most ad and tracking traffic from every device, with no software to install. Pair it with a browser blocker on desktops where users want more.
How big the list is and how it stays current
Advertising and tracking is a large, busy category. New hosts appear all the time, and some are registered to avoid existing lists.
Large category
Big enough that routers should load the popular subset and resolvers the full set.
Daily deltas
About 300,000 new domains are categorized daily across all categories.
Rechecks
New domains are checked again after a week and a month, as many launch empty.
Monthly refresh
Every other domain is refreshed monthly, so retired ad hosts leave the list.
Exact counts change daily, so licence holders get current figures with each delivery. The popular subset, drawn from the 20 million most visited domains, covers the hosts real devices actually call.
Formats for an ad blocking domain list
Most ad blocking happens on small DNS boxes and in apps, so the compact formats matter most here. Every layout is shown in the blocklist formats guide.
Adblock style
Compact, supports exceptions. Ideal for home and office DNS boxes.
Hosts and plain lists
Read almost everywhere, including older routers and scripts.
DNS RPZ
For ISP and company resolvers offering an ad-free option.
CSV, Parquet, JSON
For apps and SDKs that build their own on-device lists.
How to deploy the list without complaints
Rolling out an ad and tracker list is mostly about choosing who gets which tier and keeping a quick way to undo a block.
Start in log-only mode
Run for a week and see which hosts your users hit most. That tells you where breakage will come from.
Exempt the marketing team
The people who run your campaigns need trackers to see results. Give their group no ad list, or allow their tools.
Allow your own senders
Add the click tracking host your company emails use, or customers and staff will think links are broken.
Split TVs and consoles
Put smart TVs on their own segment so app-specific allows do not open things for laptops.
Explain the block page
Ad hosts rarely show a block page, since they load inside other pages. Tell users what to expect instead.
Automate the update
Fetch the daily file and alert if it fails. Stale ad lists slowly fill with retired hosts.
For network-wide DNS setup, see DNS filtering integration or the managed DNS filter.
For app makers: shipping an ad and tracker list
Privacy browsers, VPN apps with tracker blocking and kids' apps all need a list inside the product. Licensing category data saves a team from curating one by hand.
What app makers usually need
- A compact on-device list for phones with limited memory
- Daily updates without shipping a new app version
- Tier options to expose as a simple user setting
- A way to check a single domain from support tickets
- Rights to embed the data in a product, under an OEM licence
How the licence covers it
- Popular subset exports sized for mobile
- Daily delta files your back end can push to devices
- Ranked categories, so tiers are a filter, not a new list
- The lookup API included with licences
- OEM licensing for embedded use; no resale of raw data
Building a family app? The parental control app category database guide covers the rest of the categories children's products use.
Who runs an ad and tracker list, and why
The reasons differ more than the list does. Knowing the reason helps you pick the tier and decide who gets exemptions.
| Environment | Main reason | Usual tier | Typical exemption |
|---|---|---|---|
| K-12 schools | Keep ads for adult products and scams away from students | Standard | Teachers' marketing tools for school events |
| Offices | Fewer malicious ads and less distraction | Standard | Marketing and sales teams |
| ISPs | An opt-in privacy option subscribers can switch on | Broad | None, it is the customer's choice |
| Family networks and kids' apps | Child-safe screens and less profiling of children | Broad or strict | Apps a parent approves one by one |
| Privacy browsers and VPN apps | A visible privacy feature that users can toggle | Broad | Per-site switch inside the app |
| Satellite and metered links | Less data used by background ad and tracking calls | Broad | Business-critical cloud tools |
Malicious advertising, where an ad network is abused to push scams or malware, is one reason security teams like this list. It is not a replacement for the malware and phishing domain list, which should run alongside it.
Testing an ad blocking rollout
Ad lists fail quietly. Pages still load, so problems surface as odd complaints days later. A short test plan finds them first.
Open your top sites
Take the 20 sites your users visit most from the resolver logs and open each with the list on.
Click real email links
Open a few recent newsletters and your own company emails and click through every link type.
Run the shopping path
Search for a product, click through a comparison site and reach a checkout page.
Start the TV apps
Open each streaming and TV app on the network and play something for a minute.
Check sign-in
Sign in to your main cloud tools, including single sign-on, and confirm nothing hangs.
Compare counts
Look at blocked lookups per device. A device with huge counts often has an app stuck retrying.
Handling false positives on an ad list
On an ad list, a false positive is usually a shared or dual-use host. These rules keep the list useful when that happens.
Allow list first
Check a short allow list before the block list. Keep a note with each entry saying who asked and why.
Look up before you allow
Use the domain lookup to see all categories on a host before opening it for everyone.
Allow per group
If only one team needs a tracker, open it for that group. Everyone else keeps the protection.
Report it
If a host is clearly not an ad or tracking service, report it so it goes back into review.
Prune the allow list
Review allow entries every quarter. Hosts that nobody has called in months can go, which keeps exceptions small and explainable.
Drop a tier, not the list
If a group keeps hitting breakage, move it from strict to broad or standard instead of switching ad blocking off altogether for everyone on the network.
Ad and tracker domain list FAQ
What is an ad and tracker domain list?
It is a list of domains whose main job is serving ads, running ad auctions, or tracking and measuring people across sites. A DNS filter, router or app refuses to resolve those names, so the ads and trackers never load.
Will blocking ad domains break websites?
Sometimes. Affiliate links, shopping comparison links and email click tracking can stop working, and a few sites refuse to load without their ad scripts. A tiered list and a short allow list keep breakage low.
Can DNS ad blocking stop YouTube ads?
Usually not. Video platforms often serve ads from the same domains as the videos, so blocking the ad would block the video too. In-browser blockers can do more there because they see the page itself.
What is the difference between an ad blocking domain list and a browser ad blocker?
A domain list works at network level for every device and app, including smart TVs and phones, but can only block whole hostnames. A browser blocker works inside one browser and can hide page elements and block single URLs.
Is ad blocking at network level legal?
Blocking ads on your own network or device is common practice, but rules for ISPs and app stores differ by country and platform. Check local guidance and the store policies that apply to your product.
How often does an ad and tracker list change?
New ad and tracking hosts appear constantly, including new domains registered to avoid existing lists. New domains are categorized daily and the full list refreshes monthly.
Which format works for an AdGuard Home or Pi-hole ad blocking list?
Both read hosts files and plain domain lists, and adblock-style rules such as ||example.test^ cover a domain and its subdomains in one line. Licensed customers can receive the category in these formats.
Does an ad blocking list speed up browsing?
Pages often load with fewer requests once ad and tracking hosts are refused, which can feel faster, especially on slow or metered links. The effect depends on the sites people use, so measure on your own network rather than expecting a set figure.
Can I use the list in a commercial privacy app?
Yes, under an OEM licence that covers embedding the data in a product. Resale or publication of the raw list is not allowed. Starter database tiers start from $999; enterprise and OEM licences are quoted per deployment.
An ad and tracker list you do not have to curate
License the Advertising/Marketing category with 58 others across 120 million domains, with daily deltas and exports for DNS boxes, resolvers and apps.
YouTube is a trademark of Google LLC. AdGuard is a trademark of AdGuard Software Ltd. Pi-hole is a registered trademark of Pi-hole LLC. These names are used here only to identify the products discussed. Web Filtering Database is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by these companies.