google.com

[adguard-bot]

Issue URL (Annoyance)

https://www.google.com/chrome/next-steps.html?standalone=1&system=true&statcb=0&installdataindex=empty&defaultbrowser=0 Username: @TUO1500

Screenshots

Screenshot 1


System configuration

Information	Value
AdGuard product:	AdGuard for Windows v7.16.0 (4542)
Browser:	Edge
License type:	paid
AdGuard driver:	WFP
Stealth mode options:	Block WebRTC, Block Push API, Block Location API, Block Flash, Strip URLs from tracking parameters, Hide your search queries, Send Do-Not-Track header, Hide your Referrer from third-parties, Hide your User-Agent (Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/92.0.4515.131 Safari/537.36 Edg/92.0.902.67), Hide your IP address (4.193.104.184), Remove X-Client-Data header from HTTP requests, Protect against DPI, Self-destructing third-party cookies (1440), Disable cache for third-party requests, Block third-party Authorization header, Block trackers, Disable WAP Push Message Routing Service, Disable Windows Defender automatic samples submission, Disable Windows Telemetry, Turn off Advertising ID
DNS filtering:	server: https://xxxxxxx.d.adguard-dns.com/dns-query filters: https://filters.adtidy.org/windows/filters/15.txt, https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Cats-Team/AdRules/main/dns.txt, https://badmojr.gitlab.io/1hosts/Lite/adblock.txt, https://anti-ad.net/adguard.txt
Filters:	Ad Blocking: AdGuard Base Privacy: AdGuard URL Tracking, AdGuard Tracking Protection, EasyPrivacy, Peter Lowe's Blocklist, Fanboy's Enhanced Tracking List, Legitimate URL Shortener Social Widgets: AdGuard Social Media Annoyances: AdGuard Annoyances, Fanboy's Annoyances, Adblock Warning Removal List, I don't care about cookies Security: Online Malicious URL Blocklist, NoCoin Filter List Language-specific: AdGuard Chinese, CJX's Annoyances List, xinggsf
Userscripts:	https://userscripts.adtidy.org/release/assistant/4.3/assistant.user.js

[adguard-bot]

Issue URL (Annoyance)

https://www.google.com/search?q=%E3%82%AC%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88

Comment

https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardFilters/issues/174252#issuecomment-1991746154

"Alex-302

Location services are already disabled in both Chrome and Android settings, and these annoyances still appear. If you don't plan to block them (for those who want to use location services), then please tell me blocking rules here. I'll add them to my user rules.

Screenshots

Screenshot 1


System configuration

Information	Value
AdGuard product:	AdGuard for Android v4.3.1
System version:	Android 13
Browser:	Chrome
License type:	paid
AdGuard mode:	VPN
HTTPS filtering:	enabled
Stealth mode options:	Block WebRTC, Block Push API, Block Location API, Hide your search queries, Send Do-Not-Track header, Hide your Referrer from third-parties, Hide your User-Agent, Remove X-Client-Data header from HTTP requests, Protect against DPI, Self-destructing third-party cookies (0), Self-destructing first-party cookies (4320), Disable cache for third-party requests, Block third-party Authorization header
DNS filtering:	server: [ filters: https://filters.adtidy.org/android/filters/15_optimized.txt
Filters:	Ad Blocking: AdGuard Base, AdGuard Mobile Ads Privacy: AdGuard URL Tracking, AdGuard Tracking Protection Social Widgets: AdGuard Social Media Annoyances: AdGuard Annoyances Language-specific: AdGuard Japanese
Userscripts:	https://userscripts.adtidy.org/release/disable-amp/1.0/disable-amp.meta.js https://userscripts.adtidy.org/release/adguard-extra/1.0/adguard-extra.meta.js

[Alex-302]

@TUO1500 It is Edge's browser element, not an element of the site's DOM.

[Alex-302]

Location services are already disabled in both Chrome and Android settings, and these annoyances still appear. If you don't plan to block them (for those who want to use location services), then please tell me blocking rules here. I'll add them to my user rules.

I can't it reproduce it anymore. Probably browser remembers user's choice.

[adguard-bot]

Issue URL (Annoyance)

https://www.google.com/search?q=rooibos&client=ms-google-coop&sca_esv=0408ae9ee65735d4&cx=cb6387b3b45fc9cb1&ei=JI31ZYv2BuyHxc8PubCH-A4&udm=&ved=0ahUKEwiLmJGH4fiEAxXsQ_EDHTnYAe8Q4dUDCBA&oq=rooibos&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiB3Jvb2lib3MyCBAuGLEDGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMhcQLhixAxiABBiXBRjcBBjeBBjfBNgBAUivoQFQ-idYtmZwAngBkAEAmAGiAaABgQOqAQMxLjK4AQzIAQD4AQL4AQGYAgWgAroDwgIKEAAYRxjWBBiwA8ICChAhGAoYoAEYwwTCAgcQIRgKGKABmAMAiAYBkAYFugYGCAEQARgUkgcDMi4zoAfsEg&sclient=gws-wiz-serp

Screenshots

Screenshot 1


System configuration

Information	Value
AdGuard product:	AdGuard for Windows v7.16.0 (4542)
Browser:	Firefox
License type:	paid
AdGuard driver:	TDI
Stealth mode:	disabled
DNS filtering:	server: System filters: https://filters.adtidy.org/windows/filters/15.txt, User rules
Filters:	Ad Blocking: AdGuard Base
Userscripts:	https://userscripts.adtidy.org/release/adguard-extra/1.0/adguard-extra.user.js https://userscripts.adtidy.org/release/popup-blocker/2.5/popupblocker.user.js
Referrer:	https://www.google.com/

[adguard-bot]

Issue URL (Annoyance)

https://www.google.com/search?q=us+news+google+data+broker

Comment

Google tracking links appear as if they are being removed from most search results, but they’re not. The screenshot shows an exception to this which occurs only with the first search result on this page. When you hover your mouse over the other links below this one, it correctly shows only the destination URL w/out Google’s tracking link preceding it. But if you copy/paste the link, it will paste Google’s full tracking version. It will also use this Google tracking link if you click the article title, rather than going directly to the destination link. This also occurs on AdGuard for Safari.

Note that I had Stealth Mode: “Block trackers” turned on, but the issue report form did not detect that this setting was enabled on Step 4/6: “Share your settings”, so I had to check it manually. Username: @shape55

Screenshots

Screenshot 1


System configuration

Information	Value
AdGuard product:	AdGuard Browser Extension v4.3.13
System version:	Mac OS 10.15
Browser:	Firefox
Stealth mode options:	Strip URLs from tracking parameters, Hide your search queries, Send Do-Not-Track header, Block trackers
Filters:	Ad Blocking: AdGuard Base, AdGuard Mobile Ads Privacy: AdGuard Tracking Protection, AdGuard URL Tracking, EasyPrivacy, Legitimate URL Shortener Social Widgets: AdGuard Social Media Annoyances: AdGuard Annoyances, AdGuard Cookie Notices, AdGuard Popups, AdGuard Mobile App Banners, AdGuard Other Annoyances, Adblock Warning Removal List Security: Online Malicious URL Blocklist, NoCoin Filter List Other: Filter unblocking search ads and self-promotion Language-specific: AdGuard Russian, AdGuard German, AdGuard Japanese, AdGuard Dutch, AdGuard Spanish/Portuguese, AdGuard Turkish, AdGuard French, Official Polish filters for AdBlock, uBlock Origin & AdGuard, AdGuard Chinese, EasyList Czech and Slovak, EasyList Italy, Liste AR, List-KR, Persian Blocker, Polish Anti Adblock Filters, Dandelion Sprout's Nordic Filters

[Alex-302]

https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardFilters/issues/174742#issuecomment-2001974452

Not reproduced. @BlazDT Please take a look.

[Alex-302]

@shape55 Hi. I can't reproduce it - I see only direct links in HTML and in HTTP debugger. Is it relater to region?

[BlazDT]

https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardFilters/issues/174742#issuecomment-2001974452

Not reproduced. Please try to enable Annoyances filter.

According to Google Lens it is telling the user to login due to age 18+ could not be verified.

[shape55]

Firstly, the screenshot was when I hovered the pointer over the first "TechTarget" link (the "Show Mouse Pointer" setting doesn't work on Catalina). After trying it again, here is how I can reproduce it with every search result link: Control+click on a link to bring up the contextual menu, and the link changes from the original direct link to a Google tracking link, then remains that way. If I then copy the link, here is what pastes:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiImfHx_4CFAxUBD1kFHeuDBcMQFnoECAYQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.techtarget.com%2Fsearchcio%2Fnews%2F366574012%2FUS-TikTok-ban-data-broker-bills-target-data-practices&usg=AOvVaw1m3rET6QzwVvTAsANPHxdo&opi=89978449

instead of this: https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/news/366574012/US-TikTok-ban-data-broker-bills-target-data-practices

I already have 5 Annoyance filters enabled though. These are the only ones not enabled: AdGuard Widgets filter, Fanboy's Annoyances, EasyList Cookie List, Dandelion Sprout's Annoyances List. And I'm in the US, if that's what you mean by region.

[Alex-302]

Still cannot reproduce, with New York IP with these settings https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardFilters/issues/174742#issuecomment-2002045427

Does it happen always, or in private tabs?

[shape55]

It's actually been happening for ages, nothing recent, probably over a year, every time I use Google on either Safari or Firefox, and never in private tabs (as that would disable all extensions in Firefox). I figured, and was hoping that AG would fix it since it's obvious and critical. It is not occurring w/ AG on my iPhone though, which I tested now for the first time.

It's probably one of the filters or settings then. Any suggestions on which ones to disable?

[Alex-302]

@shape55 As I remember, ad blockers doesn't affect the appearance of tracking links. But I see them only in search ads, not in the results. That's the problem with links like this, right? Nothing broken?

We can remove some query parameters, but you will see redirection consent

For user rules:

||googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?$removeparam=gclid
||googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?$removeparam=cid
||googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?$removeparam=sig
||googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?$removeparam=ved

[shape55]

Well, if you copy/paste or click the link, it gives you the same result. To make sure we're on the same page, let's stick with a top search result link first.

On the iPhone in Safari using the latest AdGuard, it pastes the direct link only without Google's tracking, which I thought is expected behavior. It should remove the tracking, otherwise it's not blocking anything, correct? Shouldn't "Block trackers" and/or "Remove tracking parameters" perform this function?

I added those user rules to AG, but they don't change anything on my end when I copy/paste any of the search results. I still get this: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiImfHx_4CFAxUBD1kFHeuDBcMQFnoECAYQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.techtarget.com%2Fsearchcio%2Fnews%2F366574012%2FUS-TikTok-ban-data-broker-bills-target-data-practices&usg=AOvVaw1m3rET6QzwVvTAsANPHxdo&opi=89978449

rather than this : https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/news/366574012/US-TikTok-ban-data-broker-bills-target-data-practices

The first link is what I get on my Mac browsers, and the 2nd link is what I get on my iPhone browser (all using the latest AG version). It's not consistent. It should be the 2nd link for both platforms.

[Alex-302]

There are no direct link in HTML code of a result with tracking redirection.

On the iPhone in Safari using the latest AdGuard

They don't work in AdGuard for Safari/iOS.

[shape55]

I'm not clear on what you mean with either statement.

[Alex-302]

I mean the page is loaded with that links. Filtering rules don't change them. But you can open feature request for replacing links by direct in https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardBrowserExtension/issues

[Alex-302]

@shape55 Please test this rule with non-ad links google.com#%#//scriptlet('remove-attr', 'data-rw', 'a[data-rw][href][data-pcu]')

[shape55]

Well, yes every Google search result has a tracking link. Whether I click a link, or copy/paste using that rule in Firefox, I still get the full Google link. I see no change. FYI, Firefox's built-in "Copy Link Without Site Tracking" in the drop-down contextual menu doesn't work either for Google links, and it's not just me. See this post on the Firefox Reddit group. uBlock Origin includes this feature, btw.

Why is AG able to block these links on the iOS version though, and not on Mac browsers? If this filtering already works on one platform, it shouldn't require a feature request.

And what are the "Block trackers" and "Remove tracking parameters" settings supposed to do, if not strip these links?

Also, the Google search link I provided above in my initial report pulls up no ads for me. This is the same one I've been testing all along.

[Alex-302]

Please try it https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/428243-don-t-track-me-google

uBlock Origin includes this feature, btw.

How to check? I see tracking only in ads.

[shape55]

Yes, this script works great in Firefox – thank you!

Do you know of any script managers for Safari other than Userscripts, Stay, Tampermonkey, and MeddleMonkey? The first 2 aren't compatible w/ macOS Catalina (10.15), and the 3rd has a very low star rating, a lot of issues in Safari, negative reviews, and requires purchasing to install w/ no trial, and the 4th is very buggy and wouldn't allow me to install the script (using 2 different methods). But I finally was able to install it by copy/pasting the script code into a new script as a workaround, and now it also works in Safari to strip the Google tracking URLs. Though I'd be nice to find a better functioning script manager.

But why doesn’t AG’s tracking blockers ("Block trackers" and "Remove tracking parameters”) do this, as it's essential?

I haven't personally tried it w/ uBlock, but a user reported that it worked for this purpose in the Reddit post I linked.

I'm not sure what you mean by seeing tracking only in ads. The search link I provided doesn't pull up any ads for me, and every Google search result has a Google tracking link (which this Greasy Fork script removes on Firefox). Copy/paste them like I did, and you'll see. I thought you already confirmed this though, so I'm confused.

[Alex-302]

@shape55

I'm not sure what you mean by seeing tracking only in ads.

Not-direct links in the search results.

Do you know of any script managers for Safari other than Userscripts, Stay, Tampermonkey, and MeddleMonkey?

I don't know. I personally avoid using this browser unnecessarily)

[Alex-302]

You can try this https://github.com/quoid/userscripts

[shape55]

Not-direct links in the search results.

Yes, that I understand, but you said "How to check? I see tracking only in ads.” All of the search results have Google tracking links though, not just the ads.

I don't know. I personally avoid using this browser unnecessarily)

Ok, I hear you, b/c functionally it's a terrible browser, which is why I always keep Firefox open simultaneously. I mainly use Safari for the layout/design/organization, much better autofill & password recall, and some other very specific features.

Thanks for the link, but that was the first script manager I mentioned. It looks like the best one of all of them, but it requires macOS 12 or higher.

Can you also let me know on these questions from above? Do I really have to open a feature request, considering this filtering should already be included in AG? These link trackers log every site you visit if they are not removed before clicking.

• But why doesn’t AG’s tracking blockers ("Block trackers" and "Remove tracking parameters”) do this, as it's essential?
• And what are the "Block trackers" and "Remove tracking parameters" settings supposed to do, if not strip these links?

[shape55]

On a related note, for a while I've noticed a different problem happening when clicking certain ad links. It happens w/ only some of them.

For ex, try this search link, then click on the Wine.com ad. All ads I've tried for Wine.com (on both Safari & Firefox), as well as some other retail sites, give me a server error for ad.doubleclick.net, which AdGuard must be blocking. Firefox handles this issue differently though: it just hangs on the redirect page, and doesn't give you the destination link. The googleadservices rules you gave me didn't work for this either.

Also, AdGuard is blocking this site from loading: https://www.quintadelarosa.com

[Alex-302]

server error for ad.doubleclick.net

Maybe it is blocked by your custom DNS filters.

[shape55]

Well, I am using these AdGuard DNS servers in my Network preference pane, but how do I unblock these ad sites?

94.140.14.14 94.140.15.15

And shouldn't this site be unblocked? https://www.quintadelarosa.com/. It loads fine if I turn off AG, or whitelist it, but no content loads w/ AG enabled.

Please let me know on this too from my previous comment above:

Can you also let me know on these questions from above? Do I really have to open a feature request, considering this filtering should already be included in AG? These link trackers log every site you visit if they are not removed before clicking.

• But why doesn’t AG’s tracking blockers ("Block trackers" and "Remove tracking parameters”) do this, as it's essential?
• And what are the "Block trackers" and "Remove tracking parameters" settings supposed to do, if not strip these links?

[Alex-302]

@shape55 DNS cannot filter URLs. We can block ad domain, used in links, but some results will be non accessible (no only ads).

Also, AdGuard is blocking this site from loading: https://www.quintadelarosa.com

We don't block this site.

[shape55]

Hi, so what do you suggest then in order to be able to access certain web domains like ad.doubleclick.net? Any Google ad that uses this site/service is blocked, and thus prevents being able to access the link. I don't want to remove AdGuard DNS servers just to be able to occasionally load this one domain. I'm not sure why you'd want to block it though, considering that so many Google ads rely on this to load their product links.

Ok, I assume it must be a 3rd party AG filter then that is blocking https://www.quintadelarosa.com/? It loads fine if I disable AdGuard.

Thanks

[Alex-302]

@shape55 I mean, we have that opportunity. But it's not purposefully blocked.

Please show dig or nslookup output for www.quintadelarosa.com

[shape55]

I see. But what do you suggest then in order to be able to access certain web domains like ad.doubleclick.net, so that product links from ads are not blocked? Is there a way to do this without removing AG's DNS servers from my Network preference pane?

Sure, but where do I find the dig or nslookup output for a site?

[Alex-302]

Run nslookup quintadelarosa.com or dig quintadelarosa.com

[shape55]

nslookup: Server: 94.140.14.14 Address: 94.140.14.14#53

Non-authoritative answer: Name: quintadelarosa.com Address: 75.2.70.75 Name: quintadelarosa.com Address: 99.83.190.102

And this?

I see. But what do you suggest then in order to be able to access certain web domains like ad.doubleclick.net, so that product links from ads are not blocked? Is there a way to do this without removing AG's DNS servers from my Network preference pane?

[BlazDT]

No way unless you host DNS yourself and whitelist that domain (modify hosts file maybe - do not know if Mac OS has something like that). That is without an AdGuard app to enable DNS protection.

[shape55]

Ok, that's not an option, but thanks for the info. Are you, or are you not intentionally blocking ad.doubleclick.net though? I'm not clear on what's happening, b/c Alex said "we have that opportunity. But it's not purposefully blocked." If not, then how and why is it being blocked? And is there no way for AG to unblock it then?

As I said above, I don't want to remove AdGuard DNS servers just to be able to occasionally load this one domain. I'm not sure why you'd want to block it though, considering that so many Google ads rely on this to load their product links.

[Alex-302]

@shape55

Are you, or are you not intentionally blocking ad.doubleclick.net though?

My mistake - we do not block googleadservices.com domain to avoid breakage links with tracking in the search results. It is not used to load ads. ad.doubleclick.net is blocked (used for loading ad/tracking resources).

[Alex-302]

As I said above, _I don't want to remove AdGuard DNS servers just to be able to occasionally load this one domain.

On https://adguard-dns.io/ you may create 5 servers with separate settings.

[shape55]

Ok, thanks for clarifying. I assume you can’t block the tracking resources without also blocking the destination link, or you would have already done it? I mean going from A (Google ad) to C (Wine.com, or other product site), and skipping B (tracking resources)? The destination link from the ad can’t be extracted from Google or doubleclick.net without loading the tracking resources?

Thanks for the tip on adguard-dns.io, but this would end up being much more time-consuming for me than it's worth. And I have no experience w/ servers, administration, code, etc.

Any word on the nslookup results provided above?

And for these questions on Google search result tracking links, is there an article on AG's site that you could direct me to that explains them?

• But why doesn’t AG’s tracking blockers ("Block trackers" and "Remove tracking parameters”) do this, as it's essential?
• And what are the "Block trackers" and "Remove tracking parameters" settings supposed to do, if not strip these links?

[Alex-302]

And I have no experience w/ servers, administration, code, etc.

The dashboard works at a high level and does not require deep technical knowledge. The interface is similar to the ad blocker)

you can’t block the tracking resources without also blocking the destination link, or you would have already done it?

When possible, we block tracking params. But the links in this case are obfuscated.

Any word on the nslookup results provided above?

I see same IP on my end - the domain is not blocked by AdGuard. Maybe a problem is more complicated and related to DNS configuration of the site.

[shape55]

Hi, thanks for the additional info before. Glad to hear that the DNS dashboard UI is similar to the browser extension.

Over the past week I've run into a major nuisance w/ AdGuard DNS, where it now prevents me from unsubbing from marketing email lists (none of which were spam). The last 5 I tried were blocked, and they all direct to this same site in order to process the request: https://trk.klclick.com/. It appears that the majority of legitimate small businesses use this site for mailing list management. And this never happened to me before until this week.

Did you just update something with this site? There’s no way to unblock the ability to unsubscribe? I mean who doesn’t want to be able to remove their address from these unsolicited promo lists? It's such a universal need.

[Alex-302]

@shape55 Hi. This domain is not blocked by AdGuard DNS filter. You can find a triggered rule/filter in the query log. Also you can block/unblock requests there.

[shape55]

Hi, can you please explain what's happening then? If I click the link I just provided above (https://trk.klclick.com), I get taken to the AdGuard DNS page, which shows this error:

Access blocked by AdGuard DNS: Ad or tracking domain AdGuard DNS blocked access to trk.klclick.com because it’s marked as an advertising or tracking domain

If I remove the DNS servers (94.140.14.14, 94.140.15.15) from my macOS Network->Advanced->DNS preference pane, it loads normally without this error.

[Alex-302]

@shape55 Please execute nslookup trk.klclick.com or dig trk.klclick.com in a terminal and show the output.

[shape55]

nslookup results:

Server: 94.140.14.14 Address: 94.140.14.14#53

Non-authoritative answer: Name: trk.klclick.com Address: 108.139.47.99 Name: trk.klclick.com Address: 108.139.47.58 Name: trk.klclick.com Address: 108.139.47.75 Name: trk.klclick.com Address: 108.139.47.61

[Alex-302]

Maybe DNS cache? On my end it resolved with their correct IPs.

[shape55]

Actually, the site no longer gives me the AdGuard "Access blocked" DNS error, and I'm still using the same 2 DNS servers. Did you change something since my comment last week?

[Alex-302]

Yes, it was excluded from DNS filter 3 days ago.

[shape55]

Ah, no wonder. Then the nsloookup wasn't needed, as this was done after you had already excluded it. This site is loading normally now, and the unsubscribe (and other) links directing to this site from mailing list emails are also working again.

Thanks!