# Ad and Tracker Blocking

Source: https://metadock.app/docs/adblock

# Ad & Tracker Blocking Beta

A full ad and tracker blocker built directly into the browser. No extension to install, no service to sign up for. Open a browser, load a page, and the ads, popups, and trackers are already gone.

Beta

Ad and tracker blocking is in beta. It is effective on the vast majority of sites, but you may occasionally hit a page that misbehaves with it on. When that happens, the per-browser controls below let you turn it off for just that site or that browser. [What “Beta” means](https://metadock.app/docs#beta).

## What it blocks

Every request a page tries to make is checked against a large library of community-maintained block rules. Anything matching a known ad network, tracker, fingerprinting script, malware host, or popup nag never makes it onto the page:

-   •Display ads — banner, sidebar, sticky video, and in-feed sponsored slots
-   •Popups & overlays — newsletter walls, cookie upsells, nag-and-dim paywalls
-   •Trackers — analytics pixels, session-replay scripts, attribution beacons, and the third-party SDKs most sites quietly load
-   •Malware & phishing domains — blocked outright, before any of their code runs
-   •Fingerprinting scripts — dropped before they execute

You feel the side effects right away: pages load faster, scrolling is smoother, and your battery and bandwidth go further.

## Built on a proven engine

The blocker is built on the same open-source engine that powers the Brave browser, used by roughly 70 million people and tested against millions of real websites every day. It speaks every major filter-list standard: if a list works in uBlock Origin or AdGuard, it works here. Nothing proprietary, nothing locked in.

## Filter lists

A filter list is a community-maintained file of patterns to block and elements to hide. Out of the box, MetaDock enables a curated default set:

-   •EasyList — the standard global ad-block list
-   •EasyPrivacy — analytics and tracker blocking
-   •uBlock Origin filters — the uBO baseline plus its companion badware, privacy, and unbreak lists
-   •Peter Lowe's list — a long-standing host-level ad and tracking blocklist
-   •AdGuard Mobile Ads & Tracking Protection — OEM telemetry and broader analytics coverage the other lists miss

Manage the whole set in Settings. Each list has a toggle, a last-updated time, and a rule count. You can:

-   •Toggle lists individually — turn any default list on or off
-   •Add regional lists — French, German, Polish, Japanese, Brazilian, and more, for ad networks the global lists ignore
-   •Add specialty lists — annoyances, social-widget blockers, anti-cookie-banner lists
-   •Add your own URL — point at any filter list on the internet

Note

Lists auto-update every 24 hours by default, so the rules stay current without you thinking about it. You can also force an update from Settings.

## Per-browser control

Sometimes you want the blocker off: to support a creator, or because a payment flow is misbehaving. Each browser panel has an ad-block override with three states:

-   •Use global setting — inherit the app-wide setting; the control shows what it currently resolves to, e.g. "Use global setting (ON)"
-   •Adblocker on — force blocking on for this browser even when the global setting is off
-   •Adblocker off — turn blocking off for everything in this panel while the rest of MetaDock stays protected

The quickest way in is the **shield button** in the browser toolbar, next to the extensions button. It opens a small panel where you can switch the override, toggle **Disable on this site** for the current page, and see how many requests were blocked. The override travels with that browser and is remembered in the workspace.

Tip

If a site genuinely breaks with the blocker on (a checkout that won't submit, a video that won't start), open the shield panel, flip that browser to “Adblocker off” or “Disable on this site,” and reload.

## Good to know

-   •It's local — filtering happens entirely on your machine; no URL you visit is ever sent to a server for a "should I block this?" check
-   •It pairs with anti-fingerprint — they're independent layers protecting against different threats; run both
-   •Default lists include unbreak rules — designed to keep checkout, banking, and authentication working
-   •Cosmetic filtering cleans up leftovers — the empty boxes and placeholder strips where blocked ads used to sit are hidden too, so pages look like the ads were never there