The built-in ad blocker: how it works and what it doesn't do
Surok VPN now has a server-side ad and tracker blocker: the EasyList, EasyPrivacy and RU AdList lists, over a hundred thousand domains, updated weekly. What it cuts, what it doesn't and how to check.
From today the burrow cuts ads by itself. Nothing to turn on: it works in all Surok apps, in third-party clients and in the browser extension.
How it works
When a site tries to load an ad or a tracker, the request goes to a separate domain: an ad network, a counter, a tracking system. Surok's server knows such domains and simply doesn't connect to them. The page loads faster, and companies that trade in profiles don't get your trail.
Where the list comes from
Three open lists used by AdBlock Plus and uBlock: EasyList, EasyPrivacy and the Russian RU AdList. From them we take the rules that block a whole domain, over a hundred thousand addresses. Plus the ad-domain database built into Xray. The lists are updated every week.
What it doesn't do
- It doesn't cut banners a site serves from its own domain and doesn't clean up layouts. That needs a blocker inside the browser; they complement each other.
- It doesn't block ads inside apps that come from the service's own domain, for example inside YouTube.
- Sites that bypass the tunnel directly, such as Russian ones in our apps, the server doesn't see and doesn't filter.
How to check
Turn Surok on and open the address googleads.g.doubleclick.net in your browser: it shouldn't open. Ordinary sites keep working as before.
If something broke
The lists have existed for years and touch only ad domains, but if some site stopped working through Surok, write to support with the address: we'll check and remove the domain from the list.