Used to be to catch ads in places outside of browsers like apps, smart TVs etc, or when mobile browsers didn't let you have ad block plugins, plus catching outb

Used to be to catch ads in places outside of browsers like apps, smart TVs etc, or when mobile browsers didn't let you have ad block plugins, plus catching outbound connections like devices trying to phone home. Less effective now, unfortunately, but I find it still catches a lot of ads in mobile apps even if more and more apps are working hard to circumvent DNS blocking. Also have set up PiHole* to block ads for non technical family members who don't know how/can't be bothered to use a browser plugin. Another perk is it gives you some high level overview about what devices across your whole network are up to, though there are other (and often better) ways to achieve this. * I haven't actually used PiHole itself that much, mostly AdGuard and PfBlocker. Same basic idea, though. The cost for me to run PfBlocker on my router is basically zero, it's pretty much set-and-forget.