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Were taking a look at just one of these advanced features today its built-in ad blocker called MACE.
MACE stops ads, trackers, and malware in their tracks thanks to a DNS-level blocklist.
You might wonder why an ad blocker like MACE is necessary when online window-based ad blockers already exist.
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MACE is great for keeping ads off your system, but PIA offers a lot more, too.
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What is MACE?
MACE is Private Internet Accesss integrated ad, tracker, and malware blocker.
Essentially, this means that it identifies and blocks requests to known malicious URLs.
This ensures that unwanted content is blocked before it ever has a chance to reach your gadget.
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MACE is available on most PIA client apps, with the notable exception of Android devices.
How Does MACE Work?
To understand how MACE works, you should probably know some of the basics of DNS.
Collectively, these servers are the equivalent of the internets address book.
This ensures that all the requests to that domain go nowhere, essentially blocking them entirely.
This approach is great for keeping separate ad networks off your system but it comes with a few limitations.
There are also issues weve found in practice with how quickly MACE is updated.
Its not a dynamic, heuristics-based system in the same way thatNordVPNsmalware-blocking solutions are.
Put simply, MACE uses a static blocklist.
If a URL hasnt been added to it, MACE wont detect it.
This means that newly created malicious domains are more likely to slip past MACE.
Why Use MACE?
You will still have to reconnect for it to take effect.
