Youtube blocking ad blockers

[Brian Roth]

I know most folks won't give a flying flip, but there are several guys that post (nearly) daily videos I enjoy. The History Guy, Professor of Rock, Steve Lehtos Law, Louis Rossmann and a few I don't currently recall. I use uBlock Origin to ensure I can watch the videos without popup ads and interruptions. Many folks, including me, are starting to see a popup from Youtube complaining about my ad blocker. So far, I can just click and close the popup.

First of all, the FBI recommends everyone use an ad blocker:

https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2022/PSA221221?=8324278624
Second, while watching a video, I can see the uBlock counter in my toolbar quickly counting the number of blocks. While watching today's Professor of Rock video (15 minutes-ish) it had counted to over 250 blocks.

Sigh....I already pay $70/month just for Cox internet connectivity. I don't want to pay another $676544 per month to the Alpha-Bits folks.

Bri

 

[ruffrecords]

I use the Vivaldi browser for watching you tube videos. Don't know exactly how it does it but it blocks all the ads I normally get using Firefox.

Vivaldi Browser | Powerful, Personal and Private web browser

Cheers

Ian

 

[Brian Roth]

OMG....lol...Yet Another Browser....and keeping up on the "daily" updates, etc...

 

[boji]

When setting up PC's I reflexively install ad-blocking apps for all users. I've had a few years of good results with Ad Block Plus (ABP).

In September, Youtube unfortunately started rolling out ad-block detection for 'select' users. If the unlucky person is logged into Chrome, it produces a nag screen like you've described. I thought they pulled back on it after numerous complaints, but perhaps not. If you use Chrome, one way around it is to log out, then revisit YT. Of course your preferences & channels are then no longer enqueued... It is quite the hassle.

 

[Brian Roth]

Forgot to mention...Long Time Firefox user on a PC here....

 

[cyrano]

Yep. I use Brave (Chrome based) and since yesterday, I get "adblocking not allowed" popups.

Don't care. YT isn't essential in any way. There's Vimeo that has better content anyway, even if it has far less vids.

 

[JohnRoberts]

I can block youtube with my right hand and mouse....

The few videos I still choose to watch I suffer through the ads as payment.

JR

 

[fazer]

I use a roku to watch YT. The ads come up first and if I get the play after ads message, I back out and go in again quickly with the remote to get a shorter time limit befor skipping the ad. I also like the mute button on the roku remote allows me to mute sound instantly. This is for a media player and may not be what you refer to as a pop up on a computer browser. It works for me.

 

[ruffrecords]

OMG....lol...Yet Another Browser....and keeping up on the "daily" updates, etc...

I guess you must be running Windows. I run Linux and I get a pop up every time I power on the PC that tells me if there are any updates, including ones for Vivaldi.

I am sure there is something similar for Vivaldi under Windows that would create a pop up if it needs updating when you run the browser.

The updates are not daily but maybe once or twice a week.

Of course the choice is yours.

Cheers

Ian

 

[rock soderstrom]

FYI, Smart Tube Next works perfectly on Android based streaming devices, blocks all advertising and promotion 100%.

"The SmartTubeNext APK can be defined as an open-sourced software that allows users to use YouTube on various streaming devices such as Smart TVs, FireStick, Fire TV, Android boxes, and even Roku without having Google Play services installed. This doesn’t mean that just because you don’t need Google Play, you can’t access your account content on the platform.

The SmartTubeNext APK allows you to sign in to your account and access all your subscriptions, liked videos, playlists, shared content, and history as you wish. It’s just a way of telling users they can get more control of YouTube and its options at no premium cost. Yes, that’s right, the app also comes with YouTube premium features for free."

https://smarttubenext.com/

 

[Brian Roth]

Well, I guess I'm kinda out of luck because I refuse to own/use "Dumbass".....er "Smart" phones.

FWIW....today I had a nag from Youtube when I decided to watch the History Guy's new video. I just closed the nag screen and watched the entire video.

Bri

 

[Dreams]

check this out if you are having trouble with uBlock origin:
https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uAssets/issues/19976

 

[boji]

Getting them now too... At least with this version one can close the popup and watch the vid (for now). The one I dealt with last month also blocked the vid from playing.

Update: Replacing ABP with UB (thx Roc and Dreams) has resolved issue. Hope it sticks.

 

[Brian Roth]

Well, YT has become more aggressive. Today, the nag screen is basically saying "after 3 videos, you are locked out unless you disable adblockers" ...in my case the latest version of Ublock Origin.

Too bad because I enjoy the "mini documentaries" posted daily from several content creators.

My best friend/roomie has an Android phone. Last night as we were playing Yahtzee at the dining table we were watching a cool YT video I mentioned here a week or so ago....History Guy and history of duck tape. It stopped multiple times on his phone as multiple ads popped up at random points in the video.

I'm now exaggerating... but imagine trying to watch the final 20 seconds of the Superbowl....and the live feed stops while ads stop the feed for random crapola.

I am NOT hating on the ad biz. After working decades for an ad agency, I am comfortable in my semi-retirement. NOT wealthy, but not complaining.

Bri

 

[cyrano]

Yep, got them too. Funny thing is, I opened at least five different vids in new tabs and the nag screen didn't reappear and the vids played as normal. Also, YT Shorts (what an name ) doesn't seem affected. I gave up after about twenty, but they kept coming.

So, either Brave is somehow evading YT's threat (which I don't believe as I can't see how they'd do that) or YT is threatening, but not acting.

Whatever, if I have to sit through ads to watch YT vids, I might as well do something else as these ads are so annoying my MD warns me it's not good for my blood pressure

 

[totoxraymond]

The ad-blocker-blocker disappeared for me yesterday. Maybe a' update from my adblocker got care of it. It's always been a cat and mouse thing.

I'm using AdBlock+ on firefox.

Thomas

 

[Brian Roth]

Cat and mouse indeed! Last day or two, no nag/threat screens.

I think it was Thursday when I intentionally "shut off" Ublock Origin for Youtube and TRIED to watch Professor of Rock's little mini-documentary re. Steely Dan's song Peg. Aja is a favorite album of mine.

Video was approx 19 minutes, and three times (in literally the middle of a word) pop-ups were advertising Verizon cell phone service, and other stuff.

I checked and "ad free" Youtube will cost me $15/month. As I mentioned in another post, I'm already paying Cox $70/month just for internet access. No other choice here besides AT&T selling a crappy/very slow/unreliable/expensive DSL product.

I realize ads "pay the bill" for all services, including the OTA TV I watch....like local/regional daily newscasts.

I've been thinking about this the last few days and I recalled when Napster was all the rage many years ago. I admit to literally stealing IP (songs) without really thinking about it.

The YT shows I watch often include ads inserted by the content creators, but they are gracefully integrated into the videos vs. random popups that interrupt mid-sentence..

I dunno what MY solution might be. And, I have zero idea how Youtube creators make any money from the platform.

Bri

 

[totoxraymond]

Video was approx 19 minutes, and three times (in literally the middle of a word) pop-ups were advertising Verizon cell phone service, and other stuff.

That's one of the biggest problem. At least on TV, ads are inserted in a predictable place so the crew can manage around it.

I think i will try to install a pi-hole server and see if it is better than ad-block and all.

Thomas

 

[cyrano]

YT seems to have given up, for the time being...

 

[totoxraymond]

Hi,

So google continued to wage its war against ad-blockers, and yesterday i was so pissed by the sheer number of ads i had to suffer while watching a video (more than one any 5 minutes of program) that i decided to install pi-hole this morning.

Took me something like 20 minutes to create a new instance of ubuntu on my virtualization server and install pi-hole.

I haven't tested it for long yet, but it seems the ads have gone.

Even the ads that adblockplus was not blocking are now gone.

Didn't notice any slow down for now. Will report back after a while.

If anyone is interested: Pi-hole – Network-wide Ad Blocking (no affiliation of any kind)

Cheers,

Thomas


Edit: i've loaded maybe 10 pages to test it, and it reports 222 queries blocked!