Ad blocker
Also known as: content blocker, tracker blocker, uBlock Origin, tracking protection
An ad blocker is software, usually a browser extension, that stops advertising and tracking scripts from loading or from sending anything back. For a shop it matters in one specific way: a blocked tracking script cannot report a sale, so the sale still happens but the ad platform never hears about it.
What does an ad blocker actually block?
Requests to domains on a published list. The lists name the shared domains that advertising and analytics vendors serve from, because those domains appear on thousands of sites at once. It is the destination that gets refused, not the shop, and not the purchase.
Do you need an extension to be blocked?
No, and this is the part most shops miss. Firefox turns on tracking protection by default for every user, and Safari restricts tracking without asking. A large share of blocked reporting today comes from browsers behaving this way out of the box, with nothing installed.
Does server-side reporting get around ad blockers?
Largely, and for a plain reason: a blocker works inside the browser, and a report leaving the shop's server never passes through it. What it does not do is recover a shopper who refused tracking, or invent details the shop does not hold. It moves the report, not the permission.
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