DNS leak
When name lookups travel to your ISP’s resolver instead of through the tunnel, exposing every domain you visit.
Glossary
Ad-blocking DNS
What is Ad-blocking DNS?
Ad-blocking DNS is a resolver run by the VPN provider that refuses to answer lookups for known advertising and tracking domains. It works on every device on the tunnel, including ones where you cannot install a browser extension.
Why it matters
It works on every device on the tunnel, including ones where you cannot install a browser extension.
What most explanations leave out
DNS-level blocking cannot remove ads served from the same domain as the content, so it is weaker than a content blocker in the browser. It also gives the provider a categorised view of your lookups, which is a reason to care about the same provider’s logging policy.
Related terms
No-logs policy
A provider’s commitment not to record which sites you visit, when you connected, or what address you connected from.
Questions
- What is Ad-blocking DNS?
- A resolver run by the VPN provider that refuses to answer lookups for known advertising and tracking domains.
- Why does Ad-blocking DNS matter when choosing a VPN?
- It works on every device on the tunnel, including ones where you cannot install a browser extension.
- What do most explanations of Ad-blocking DNS leave out?
- DNS-level blocking cannot remove ads served from the same domain as the content, so it is weaker than a content blocker in the browser. It also gives the provider a categorised view of your lookups, which is a reason to care about the same provider’s logging policy.
Terms are defined here because they appear in our scoring rubric or in provider reviews, not to fill a glossary.