Evading Ad Blockers for True Visitor Numbers

In today's digital age, accurate visitor data drives key business decisions, from refining marketing strategies to optimizing user experiences. Yet, a growing challenge undermines this: ad blockers. These tools, adopted by 42% of global internet users in 2025 (see cropink.com), not only hide ads but also skew analytics by blocking tracking scripts.

For marketers but also for hobby site owners, this means incomplete insights that can lead to misguided investments and missed opportunities.

Axo addresses this head on with a simple feature: custom hostnames. This approach helps capture more accurate data ethically, making sure you get the most accurate picture to grow your online presence.

The Hidden Cost of Ad Blockers on Your Analytics

Ad blockers work by identifying and stopping requests to known tracking domains. When a visitor loads your site, the blocker scans for scripts or endpoints from popular analytics providers, like those ending in .google-analytics.com, and prevents them from executing. This isn't just about ads, it directly affects tools that collect visitor metrics, such as page views, bounce rates, and referral sources.

Google Analytics, one of the most widely used platforms, suffers significantly from this. Its domain is on many block lists, leading to underreported traffic by an average of 5-10%. In practical terms, if your site sees 10,000 monthly visitors, you might only track 9,000 or fewer, inflating perceived performance issues or hiding true engagement. For businesses where the website is central to operations, this distortion can result in flawed strategies, such as overestimating ad campaign failures or underinvesting in high performing content.

The rise in ad blocker usage is now affecting over 400 million users worldwide and exacerbates the problem. Marketers relying on precise data for ROI calculations and CEOs tracking growth metrics can't afford these gaps. Privacy laws add another layer, but the core issue remains: standard analytics setups leave valuable insights on the table.

Why a Custom Hostname Changes the Game

A custom hostname acts as a disguise for your analytics traffic. Instead of sending data to an external domain that screams "tracking," you route it through a subdomain of your own site, like ingest.your-website.com. This makes the request appear as part of your website, slipping past most ad blockers that rely on domain based lists.

The result? More complete data without compromising ethics or user privacy. Axo makes sure this process aligns with privacy standards, collecting maximum insights within legal bounds. For business professionals, this translates to trustworthy numbers that reflect real visitor behavior, essential for spotting trends, measuring campaign success, and scaling operations effectively.

Unlike complex workarounds that require coding or third party proxies, Axo's implementation keeps things straightforward. It maintains site speed with a lightweight script and leverages a fast global network, so you gain accuracy without performance trade offs.

Setting Up a Custom Hostname in Axo

Axo makes this powerful feature accessible in its pro plan, with setup taking just minutes. Here's how it works:

1. Choose Your Subdomain: In the site settings section of your Axo dashboard, enter a desired subdomain, such as ingest.your-website.com. This ties the analytics endpoint directly to your website domain.
2. Update DNS Records: Add a CNAME record in your domain registrar's DNS settings, pointing your chosen subdomain to Axo's ingest endpoint (details provided in the dashboard).
3. Activate and Test: Once the DNS propagates (usually within minutes if it's a new subdomain), Axo verifies the setup.
4. Update the Script URL: Once the setup is complete, you can use the new endpoint for your script url (details provided in the dashboard).

This seamless process bypasses common blocks, delivering clearer insights. Axo handles the heavy lifting, so you focus on what matters: using the data to grow your online presence.

Improve your Growth with Reliable Data

By evading ad blockers ethically, a custom hostname in Axo helps Marketers refine targeting with true engagement stats, while CEOs gain confidence in metrics that drive strategic decisions.

The goal is simple: maximum data within privacy guidelines, to help your venture thrive.