Submitted 11 months ago by Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world to mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world
For context I’m in the US. The last time I used YouTube without an ad blocker, there were 2 ads back to back, and way too frequently. I tried watching on my PlayStation tonight, and not only are they more frequent, they’ve increased in quantity by 150%. It’s also very common for the last ad to last 2 minutes to over an hour long. What the actual fuck, why would anyone watch YouTube without an ad blocker at this point? It’s literally unwatchable
An hour of YouTube ads is simply apocalyptic
IDK why the hell it’s allowed, but a lot of times people will buy adspace and just put an entire video in it, or worse, a company buys the adspace and puts the entire pilot to a TV show in there. I’ve seen both things happen more than once. Who in their right mind clicks on a YouTube video, sees the pilot to a show they’ve never heard of or a random clickbait video and thinks “Oh, I wanna watch this!”
The ad driven internet needs a severe correction
the first time i watched the lego movie it (the full film) was an ad played during the trailer for the second movie. and it (the movie) didn't have ads in it.
The worst part about those is
When the ad is actually something I want to watch, there is no way to open it as a seperate video. Once I click off it’s fucking gone forever. It’s such backwards design. The few times I have interest in an ad I can’t even properly check watch it!
the first time i watched the lego movie, it (the full feature) was an ad played during the trailer for the second movie--and it didn't have any ads in it either.
Thanks for grounding me. That make sense
‘Sir, would you like some video with your ad?’
OP, I know exactly what you’re talking about.
I was visiting relatives this Christmas and wanted to watch some of my YouTube videos on their SmartTV. I have watched YouThe with ads on occasion throughout the years…usually when watching some video on a relative’s device or school or work computer or something. They are annoying, but mostly fairly manageable. So I started up a 20 minute vid from youtuber I like.
I shit you not…within the first 5 fucking minutes of the video, there were 5 separate ad breaks. And each ad was going to play for minutes on end if I never hit the skip button.
Yep, you read that right. On ad per minute. I am NOT exaggerating. I counted them and watched the video timestamps.
I almost could not believe what I was seeing. My mind was fucking blown. Never have I ever experienced that egregious level of ads. It made the content I was trying to view literally unwatchable and I switched off the video.
To OP, I’d highly recommend getting an Android tv device like a modern Chromecast (not the old models…needs to run android). They are relatively inexpensive and make viewing content on TVs a sane experience. I think I maybe got mine for $40 or something. Install SmartTube Next and you’ll have no ads. Works fantastic. You set it up once and never worry about it again.
I really appreciate your response
I don’t even use my tv for a tv. I just hook up my laptop to play games. If I wanna watch movies, shows, or videos I got my jellyfin client and youtube is ad free with ubo and firefox
Zero adds is the norm for me.
Also, zero YouTube.
Zero ads and all the YouTubes for me so long as that isn’t possible anymore.
The same here. I know ublock Origin still works with the update but I just stopped and I am streaming my own content.
This should go in "VeryInfuriating". I agree YouTube has become unwatchable without any kind of ad-block or cheap Premium
It’s become unwatchable with ad-block, too.
For me it still works (Germany, Linux+Firefox+ublock), but page loading takes forever, and knowing that that’s intentional just makes me not want to use it anymore.
Have you tried this extension? add0n.com/useragent-switcher.html
I think YouTube is dying.
Already, I see many of my favourite channels being restricted (one Ukrainian blogger) whilst the completely moronic, yet dangerous conspiracy theory/Flat-Earthers flourish.
Meanwhile, the most common thing we see is the push to sign up and pay them - yet with all the censorship (not simply censored for non-paying customers to allow the advertisements) it is not a viable option.
Thankfully I still use a Desktop - with Firefox and decent extras the actual ads are still not affecting me at all, but YouTube’s policies really are.
They are completely above the law - they don’t need to respect their own TOS (the reasons many people are blocked is more related to some secret narrative, and it goes against their own stated terms).
There is no way to appeal outside YouTube, and good luck with any idea of taking them to court for removing your income stream, or censoring a very useful source of information whilst spamming you with algorithms that treat you like Spongebob, and expect you to watch completely moronic content.
I suggest YouTube is a conspiracy to destroy the world, starting with the world population’s ability to think.
Convince me I’m wrong ;)
the reasons many people are blocked is more related to some secret narrative
Source?
There seem to be many ‘sources’. Youtube have a policy where you can show explosions, you can show guns shooting as long as you can’t see the targets - it’s clearly written. Yet several people are demonetised for showing clips related to Ukraine for a start - and YouTube doesn’t respond to requests to explain, it’s a secretive policy that doesn’t follow the written policy.
It’s also very easy to find other videos which would more clearly break the actual rules as they are written. Basically, they do have an agenda - it applies to many similar channels - and they keep very quiet about real reasons for doing so, instead quoting some bullshit rule which isn’t true, and doesn’t apply, both at the same time.
Is that EeOneGuy? I haven’t heard about the guy leading the Russian-speaking YouTube.
iOS: Video Lite Android: Vanced Android TV: Smart Tube
Stop watching YouTube ads. Use a third party player.
And for everything it works on: just use Firefox with ublock origin!
Add SponsorBlock for in-video sponsors while you’re at it!
Congrats, you didn’t read anything I wrote!!
why would anyone watch YouTube without an ad blocker at this point
You answered your own question in the actual post I think? Or what is your question? Do you have a question? There’s a question mark in your title. Do you want tips or to just rant?
Newpipe
Newpipe on phone
SmartTube on TV
Firefox with adblock on computer
Holy trinity of YouTube delivery.
On PC you also have Invidious and Piped
I read your edit and thought “how bad could it be?”
I started reading the comments and it was way worse than I thought.
The most upvoted comments all display a great deal of “I only read 2 words of your original post” energy.
I didn’t bother with an adblocker until recently myself because I was okay with a couple of ads or mentioning sponsors.
Then, one day, the ads just multiplied on every video. It was that sudden for me. After a couple of days, I downloaded apps for my phone and TV and it’s been wonderful.
I’ll watch YT in all its horribleness on my consoles if I’m looking for something game-related and I don’t want to get up and grab my phone.,
I really appreciate your comment, and thank you for sharing your experience
Firefox mobile has ad block and sponsor block now
Revanced for now until that gets shut down
Newpipe is also an alternative
PiHole you idiot PS users.
PiHole doesn’t block YouTube ads because they’re served from the same server as the content in the video.
uBlock is the real answer.
There’s no uBlock for PlayStation as far as I know. I don’t think there is a solution other than “subscribe to premium” or “don’t watch YouTube on your console”.
This isn’t helpful if you’re doing something like visiting relatives.
Given that this post is about YouTube on PlayStation the solution there is … don’t watch YouTube on PlayStation.
Is Vanced working again? I thought it went under a few years ago.
Does PiHole work on YouTube ads? That’s just a DNS based blocker, I thought YouTube ads came from the same domain as the regular videos and they couldn’t be blocked via DNS.
I ask because I watch YouTube a lot on my AppleTV app, which I pipe through NextDNS which supports ad blacklist files. No YouTube ads are blocked there for me
I don’t typically stream videos on my gaming console.
I have a theory that they want you to get so annoyed that you suck it up and pay for premium.
Instead, I decreased my YouTube consumption, turned on my adblocker for low-quality content, or content from an unmonetized creator, or content showing something technically illegal (game OSTs or a motorcycle review involving going 2x the speed limit), and donated to some patreons and purchased a year of Nebula.
Quick PSA: they don’t currently block VPNs, so you can sign up for an account in a cheap country (I picked Nigeria) and use a foreign currency debit card (I use Revolut) to get Premium for like £1.50 a month for my entire family.
If they close that loophole then I think I’ll be done with it, the ads make it basically unusable these days.
Don’t know, i don’t see any.
ReVanced 👍. Or any other app that gets rid of them.
Dunno, I haven’t watch a single add in the past 5 years or so.
Revanced Extended.
iOS
Using Altstore + Sideloaded by uYouEnhanced = no ads on Youtube ads.
Safari + AdGuard extension works too
Android
Use Revanced or NewPipe.
Firefox with uBlock Origin should also work on android.
I’m watching YouTube on my LG TV quite often. It’s not unbearable yet. There’s never more than 2 ads. Never more than 30 seconds in total, otherwise it’s always skippable. Skippable ads now and then.
It’s not great, but not terrible. I’m based in the EU for context.
Does it sync with my other devices and YouTube itself? Watch history? Recommendations? Otherwise I’m not interested.
If you're very bothered by the ads, instead of an adblocker you can try out an Ad-blocking DNS. Personally, I use noads.libredns.gr
This will allow them to see all your data though, so I recommend using this method with a reputable VPN.
dns-based blockers do not work on youtube. google delivers ads from the same hostnames as the content.
Pihole doesn’t work on YouTube so this won’t either.
YouTube serves ads from their own domain, can’t be blocked this way.
It allows who to see what data?
Presumably they mean it allows the DNS provider to see your internet traffic, but I don't believe that's wholly accurate. I believe at most they'd be able to log timestamps of what domains you visited.
Never heard of LibreOps and checked them out; they seem legit. Thanks for the information, I will try them out!
Never heard of LibreOps and checked them out; they seem legit. Thanks for the information, I will try them out!
Nope. DNS blocking will cover about 90% of ads, not YouTube or IMDb though, probably some others too. They’re served from same domain.
Same for me on Chromecast, it’s pretty much unwatchable overnight, started probably about a week ago. I’m to lazy to set up adblocking for my full network, and I was fine watching the skippable 15s ads, and the occasional longer ones, but currently I mostly get at least a full minute of ads on my TV.
Get the SmartTube app for Chromecast and you don’t need to set up anything
Neat, thank you for the hint - only recently got a ccwgtv, and I’m still not used to the fact that you’re able to install apps like this 😂
5+ ads each being 3-5 min long.
I was in India and the ads were straight up music videos…
easy fix: don’t use the app on your phone.
instead use youtube via your browser with adblock (for instance safari + adblock pro) and create a shortcut on your homescreen. you can use youtube just like in the app, you won’t have any ads and you also can play videos with your screen turned off
This is exactly what I do also, but it’s worth admitting that it’s not the same as the app. For one, I have to take care to open videos in new tabs, otherwise when I’m done and try to go back to my list, it starts me back at the top of the page rather than where I left off.
GrayJay or NewPipe for phones.
na don’t need no app
You guys get ads?
I’m in Morocco, I keep getting actual music videos as my ads now. And they’re all from the lamest artists that always appear on the radio anyway.
Ad blocking for 20+ years (on PC and mobile). Ads are cancers. Ditched TV crap with 15-30 minute ads decades ago. Life is good.
I use revanced and ublock origin and I haven’t seen ads in an entire year, I completely forgot how bad it is
I stream through Roku (great for plex but no way to block ads on YouTube) and the ads got so bad I paid for premium.
I hate it because I’m reinforcing their shitty business choices but it was like being bullied everyday. YouTube is all I really use for entertainment aside from plex so that’s been one silver lining.
I run AdGuard on my iPhone and don’t see ads at all. No idea how it’s so effective, but it is.
Also have an old model/iOS version though. Idk if it’s no longer possible.
Worst case scenario you end up with a vacant piece of screen real estate with a failed to load asset.
redcalcium@lemmy.institute 11 months ago
Geez, so many entitled people in this thread. If Google didn’t get their yearly revenue growth, their poor execs wouldn’t be able to afford their 3rd yacht! Stop being selfish and subscribe to premium already! /s
scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 11 months ago
Yeah yeah, can’t afford rent and food, whatever. Have you tried not being poor? Give Google their money you selfish pricks
victorz@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Wasn’t that something Paris Hilton said? 😆 “Have they, like, tried not being poor?” I may have added the “like”. But it’s very plausible it was there!
echo64@lemmy.world 11 months ago
What about the content creators? I don’t care about Google, but I want the people who make the things I enjoy to get paid.
Sure, you can subscribe to patreons, but you can’t subscribe to everyone’s, and frankly, 99% of people don’t subscribe to any.
I guess we can all just say ha doesn’t matter I got mine and try to not think about it. I guess that is the plan.
redcalcium@lemmy.institute 11 months ago
The majority of people that uploaded their video on youtube never see those ads money because they don’t meet the criteria to receive ad revenue, and those that do, get so little and earn most of their income from other sources (endorsements, paid review, etc). Those minority who blocked ads don’t really affect content creator’s bottom line in a meaningful way. Subscription is another matter though because it pays higher rates, though still pretty low compared to other income stream.
Voyajer@lemmy.world 11 months ago
If you truly care about a creator you can buy their some of their merch. The profit from that will out-value watching every one of their videos with ads for the foreseeable future.