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All 100 ideasPrivacy and security

#68 of 100 · Privacy and security

Ad blocking for the whole house

A maintained, paid DNS or network blocker that stops ads and trackers on every device, TVs included, plus custom blocks like Shorts.

11asks, each re-read
10separate threads
7of 19 years
3since 2024
2018first asked

Asks per year

’08’10’12’14’162’1811’20’2241’2411’26

What the askers want

  • Would pay36%
  • Want it local or private27%
  • Object to subscriptions9%
  • Want it open source or self-hosted9%
  • Want AI to do it18%

Share of the 11 asks that say so, as judged by Jev.

What exists on Show HN

Built, still asked for18 Show HN launches do this job, and 9 more do part of it. People still ask, so the launches are missed, unknown, or not what they want. Ask what they’re missing before you build.

Instead of: Pi-hole, YouTube

The idea, as matched

A network-level (DNS, router or proxy) blocker for ads, trackers and sites or features I choose, covering phones, apps and smart TVs, self-updating and hard to bypass, possibly using AI to spot ads.

Jev first matched 35 requests to this idea; a second reader kept 11 of 35.

Every ask, newest first

Each line is an AI paraphrase of what the writer wanted. The link goes to their own words on Hacker News.

Reader’s note. Many were browser or iOS blocker recommendation asks, excluded.

  1. May 2026Would pay a subscription for an AI-based blocker that removes all ads and captchas. Read it: a comment in “We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot”
  2. Mar 2025Wants easy network-wide blocking of infinite-scroll feeds like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, beyond just ads. Read it: a comment in “Block YouTube ads on AppleTV by decrypting and stripping ads from Profobuf (2022)”
  3. May 2024Wonders why nobody sells a commercial Pi-hole style product for network-wide ad blocking. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Why isn't there a commercial Pi-Hole product?”
  4. Dec 2023Wants a hosted, zero-maintenance sanitized browsing service, such as a DNS or proxy, that strips ads and tracking. Read it: a post: “Questions on ad-free/tracker-free web browsing experience”
  5. Oct 2023Would pay for hosted ad blocking where a server loads sites and an AI relays only the content. Read it: a comment in “Shadow: New browser engine made almost entirely in JavaScript”
  6. Jun 2023Wants a way to block YouTube ads on an LG webOS TV app. Read it: a comment in “Ask HN: Has Google search switched to infinite scrolling for you too now?”
  7. Jan 2023Wants a router that blocks by URL pattern, not just domain, to remove YouTube Shorts only. Read it: a comment in “Ask HN: Router that can block URL patterns”
  8. May 2020Wants an easy way to hand a Raspberry Pi ad blocker to others, as simple as uBlock Origin. Read it: a comment in “Facebook iOS SDK Remotely Crashing Spotify, TikTok, Pinterest, Winno and More”
  9. Dec 2019Wants an ISP-level service that maintains tracker blocklists so non-technical people are protected automatically. Read it: a comment in “Samsung TVs May Upload Screenshots for Automatic Content Recognition”
  10. Mar 2018Would pay a few dollars monthly for a privacy DNS blocking tracker domains, with custom blocks. Read it: a comment in “Blocklist Facebook domains”
  11. Mar 2018Would pay for software that auto-syncs a live tracker domain list into the hosts file, with auditable behavior. Read it: a comment in “Blocklist Facebook domains”

Building this?

Read ten of the asks above first, because they say what the existing launches miss. If you ship it, post it as a Show HN so the next run of this list finds it.

See all 100How the counts work

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