The workaround: Switch from Adblock Plus to uBlock Origin.
YouTube just quietly blocked Adblock Plus — the internet hasn't noticed yet, but I've found a workaround
Submitted 1 month ago by moe90@feddit.nl to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
Kolanaki@pawb.social 5 weeks ago
madcaesar@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Wasn’t adblock plus bought by some ad agency? I thought they were long gone…
FauxLiving@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I don’t know about that but they do have a program where advertisers can pay them in exchange for their ads being allowed past the block.
zqps@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
ABP has also been owned and run by a shady investment firm for the past decade.
ohshit604@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
The workaround
Quit using YouTube directly and proxy your request through an Invidious instance.
Your requests are mixed in with everyone else’s, only 1 machine touches YouTube directly and that’s the server hosting Invidious.
nasi_goreng@lemmy.zip 5 weeks ago
Not a solution for most people, unfortunately…
Wispy2891@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Unless the instance owner is a network god, they blacklist the IP address almost immediately (they see thousands of videos watched at the same time from the same IP address, trivial to detect)
W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 5 weeks ago
No uBlock on my phone. :(
Blackmist@feddit.uk 5 weeks ago
Firefox on Android has it.
But if you’re on iOS you’d better speak to Tim Apple about it, assuming he’s finished noshing off Trump.
JackbyDev@programming.dev 5 weeks ago
kahnclusions@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
As much as I hate to say it, if on iOS use Brave. You can disable the crypto shit, but it’s got the best adblocking on iOS, and paywall bypass built in.
Wappen@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Is this a sponsored article? Bc buying yt premium doesn’t seem like a workaround to me.
givesomefucks@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I think you stopped scrolling too early
That said though, there is one ad blocker that still works. Two words: uBlock Origin. Yes, I know that Google has blocked it from its Chrome Extension store, but there is still a way to get uBlock Origin on Chrome that our how-to extraordinaire Kaycee has detailed.
They even link to what I assume is that process.
But…
It costs the same as Spotify
I used Google Play music and it was awesome, when it shuttered I tried Spotify and didn’t like it.
YouTube premium is worth it just for music on your phone/car, getting YouTube ad free is kind of just a bonus. But there’s a couple podcasts I watch on there, and I’ve found a couple really good channels for all the crazy science stuff that’s been happening. Not to mention a lot of UK shows upload full episodes, and there’s more than one account that somehow uploads full runs of shows after being upscaled to 4k.
I really don’t understand why so many people are against YouTube premium. It makes sense if someone just pirates all their other media. But people pay for a music streamer and a couple TV streamers… It seems like an arbitrary line
Nelots@piefed.zip 1 month ago
Three out of four of the paragraphs in the article's solution were spent convincing people of the benefits to buying premium. Still feels like an ad despite the tiny mention of uBlock Origin at the very bottom.
I do agree that Youtube, premium isn't bad value. But I refuse to support google or youtube directly with my money. If I ever want to support a creator, I can throw them a couple dollars on patreon and help them far more than buying premium ever would have.
Lfrith@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
People on Lemmy might be more likely to be trying to do things like de-google in general, or try to cutdown on account based usage for big corporations.
So not really want to give Google their payment information for YouTube and sign in to use YouTube.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
My reasons:
- I don’t want a YouTube account, that just makes it easier for Google to track me
- premium costs too much relative to how much I use it (Nebula is more reasonable, which I do pay for)
- I can support my favorite creators in other ways (merch, patreon, etc)
I don’t pirate my other media. I buy movies and TV shows and rip them to my media server, I buy lots of video games both physical and digital, and I buy books if my library doesnt have it or I want to keep it on my shelf. I’m not against paying for things, I’m against my privacy being violated.
I watch a few hours of content a week, and I’d be happy cutting down a bit. I don’t follow any of the big names, rarely listen to music, and really only watch videos from a handful of channels, most of which are a waste of time anyway. If Google blocked my ad blocker, I’d be fine just not watching YouTube anymore.
$14 is too much, I think $5 is about as much as I’d be willing to pay, or $1/channel. Give me that and I’ll consider signing up, despite my misgivings about Google.
Wappen@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I read that. But the way the article is written suggests that the workaround they’re implying is to buy YouTube premium. I am not per se against YT premium, after all its normal business to take money and serve a product, but what my biggest cons are
- The price
- I already use all of the mentioned premium features and more but for free
For example: YT music -> ReVanced (background play, no ads) YT App -> ReVanced (no ads, Sponsorblock, no shorts) YT on browser -> Extensions (uBlock, Sponsorblock, block yt shorts)
If I were to pay for premium and use the regular app, I would lose that functionality and 130€ per year. This money would support a company whose business model involves extensive collection of personal data, which is then sold to third parties, effectively contributing to the global surveillance infrastructure.
I would rather not use YouTube than pay for it.
Bogasse@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
About YouTube premium :
- I don’t like the idea of spending money for Google. I don’t find it very ethic to use their services in the way I do but no replacement has come up for years. I try to mitigate by donating to some content creators and I would love to pay a subscription to something like Nebula if there were at least 3 people I follow in there.
- I would use an adblocker even if I paid. On my phone Tubular is just a much better experience : multi platforms, aggregates my subscription, no addictive low quality suggestions and lightweight while still featurefull (and it integrates sponsorblock 🤫)
Also on my previous phone the YouTube app was super slow and would regularly crash because of RAM shortages. This was 6 years ago though.
camelbeard@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
The thing about it costs about the same as Spotify is not really true. I have been using Spotify family for a long long time (maybe 10 years). I use it with 5 other “family” members and we split the costs.
clot27@lemmy.zip 5 weeks ago
This may not get well recieved but yt premium is worth the money imho, but again I dont wanna pay those evil corpos.
tinned_tomatoes@feddit.uk 5 weeks ago
I think it’s decent value but I’m already running extensions or mods to skip the in-video ads, so I may as well just block ads for free too.
If YouTube Premium ever got an official sponsorblock, it’d become a good deal.
TORFdot0@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Tom’s Hardware, Ad Block Plus, paying for YouTube Premium as a “work around”?
Guys this content was by boomers for boomers
hietsu@sopuli.xyz 5 weeks ago
Indeed. Tom’s Hardware for me has for long been one of the most useless tech news sites, mostly just dumb clickbaity ad articles in disguise.
If they would know anything about anything or done some actual research they would point to Firefox with a few relevant extensions that keep YouTube’s fuckery in check. Or the alternative mobile apps. Or stuff like Invidious. But guess they are too mainstream and thus afraid to upset Google in any way.
SpaceCadet@feddit.nl 5 weeks ago
Guys this content was by boomers for boomers
Tom’s Hardware sold out looong ago, sold in 2007 to some faceless consortium. The original “Tom”, Thomas Pabst, who is GenX and not a boomer btw, has had nothing to do with the site since.
The editor of this article looks to be a millennial btw.
FauxLiving@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
To gen z, a boomer is anybody older than them
RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com 5 weeks ago
boomer is a state of mind
pHr34kY@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I hate when they say paying the premium is a “solution”. It’s worse. That’s why nobody is doing it.
Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
I actually have a Premium subscription, but it’s kinda half assed journalism to suggest that as a solution.
LettyWhiterock@lemmy.world 1 month ago
No, author of this article, paying for premium is not a workaround.
fin@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
more like walking in
misteloct@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 weeks ago
It has some real “Ukraine should just stop fighting a losing war” vibes.
kahnclusions@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
Stop using Adblock Plus and start using Firefox with uBlock Origin.
If you’re on iOS, swallow your pride and install Brave and just turn off the crypto features. You’ll thank me later.
ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 weeks ago
Stop using youtube and start using peertube. WE DONT FUCKING NEED GOOGLE!
cley_faye@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
WE DONT FUCKING NEED GOOGLE!
Unless you make extremely popular video with hundred thousands views in the first day, in which case, yeah, good luck with peertube.
Zubby@lemmus.org 5 weeks ago
Many iOS workarounds. I’m using Vinegar extension and also the newly released uBlock Origin for iOS. Chefs kiss
Nindelofocho@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Where do you get ublock for ios? Its not mentioned on github or on the site
altphoto@lemmy.today 5 weeks ago
You could just use plain vinegar.
Chip_Rat@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
So my parents use chrome even though I constantly install Firefox and hide chrome. Problem there is they end up with Edge so I stopped doing that. (Didn’t windows get in trouble for this kind of market control in the 90’s?)
So I had Ublock origin on chrome for them but it’s “not supported” anymore and my usual method of ignoring what it says and turning it back on are now failing.
Any help?
lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 weeks ago
If they are technically inept, reduce their accounts to limited and lock down the admin account. That will prevent them from installing Chrome, and if the admin sets a shortcut on their desktop/s, they won’t be able to remove it. Install the necessary extensions, then change the desktop icon and text to “Chrome”.
Problem solved.
Octagon9561@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
Fyi uBlock Origin Lite was recently released on iOS
muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
AdGuard and SponsorBlock work fine on Safari on iOS.
ordnance_qf_17_pounder@reddthat.com 1 month ago
“If your adblock doesn’t work, a workaround is to pay for YouTube Premium”
AW NO I HADN’T FUCKING THOUGHT OF THAT
Soup@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Honestly, I just did that. YouTube has costs, storing and sharing all that data at high resolution and speed, so expecting that service for absolutely nothing is a little weird. We can find reasons that they’re bad, that’s fine, but good or bad they do have to pay for things.
I also pay for the Patreon of one of my favourite mandolin players because I want him to keep making content and I wanted access to backing tracks and the Discord server. He can’t do it at that level for free, and that’s ok.
ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world 1 month ago
That said though, there is one ad blocker that still works. Two words: uBlock Origin. Yes, I know that Google has blocked it from its Chrome Extension store, but there is still a way to get uBlock Origin on Chrome that our how-to extraordinaire Kaycee has detailed.
Or… You could just ditch Chrome altogether!
I don’t know why people are so fixated on using Chrome. It’s a crippled browser made by an evil company that is actively looking to screw the user at every turn.
I switched to Firefox when Google essentially killed uBlock Origin on their browser. At first I ran into some problems with some sites not rendering correctly. But it seems like that’s become much less of an issue with later updates. And the best thing is that there are some phenomenal extensions for blocking ads - like a fully-fledged uBlock Origin to name just one. I don’t even see sponsor promotions in YT videos now.
And if you don’t want to deal with Mozilla directly you can use Waterfox instead.
All this dancing around and jumping through hoops to get uBlock Origin working on Chrome is kind of absurd. Just ditch Chrome (and all Blink-based browsers) altogether where you can (I get that corporate environments are often off the table for this).
Collectively we should be sending a message to Google whenever we can that we are done with their browser bullshit.
lepinkainen@lemmy.world 1 month ago
People keep forgetting that Google is quite literally the largest ad company in the world. That’s the vast majority of their revenue.
They’re never going to do something that fucks with ad income.
RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
(I get that corporate environments are often off the table for this).
FYI in case anyone needs to hear this, but Firefox can be installed as a user in windows if you just decline the admin prompt when installing.
beejjorgensen@lemmy.sdf.org 1 month ago
Additionally, I’m not paying that evil company a dime. All the people I follow on YT get way more money from me on Patreon.
person420@lemmynsfw.com 1 month ago
To be fair all the “dancing around and jumping through hoops” is enabling developer mode (which is just a switch in the extension settings) and turning back on manifest 2 in chrome://flags then just reloading the extension.
brucethemoose@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Or at least use a Chrome fork, if you must use it for compatibility or something.
TBH I think it’s just an accessibility issue. It’s easier to install an extension than switch browsers for most people.
asudox@lemmy.asudox.dev 1 month ago
The workaround is using uBO
samus12345@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
And Firefox.
callouscomic@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
The internet hasn’t noticed yet
Says article on the internet shared with others on the internet and linked to from many internet places.
Article titles are fucking garbage. At least it didn’t pul the “Here’s why” bullshit.
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Based on the other comments, the article itself is as garbage as the title.
rdri@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
“I’ve found a workaround”
Workaround (according to article): “First of all, YouTube Premium”
The actual workaround (according to article): “Two words: uBlock Origin. Yes, I know that Google has blocked it from its Chrome Extension store, but there is still a way to get uBlock Origin on Chrome”
Seems like they are being paid by Google. Actual workaround should be to drop Chrome.
viking@infosec.pub 5 weeks ago
My thoughts exactly, what a heap of crap. Tom’s Guide used to be one of the good ones out there, real shame.
What I was wondering though is if they detect browser plugins through some public ID - how difficult is it to change those? In Firefox it’s absolutely trivial, you can simply download the extension, open it as a zip file, and then edit the files inside with a text editor and change the ID.
Haven’t used chrome for years, but extensions used to be javascript files just as well, so I doubt they are that hard to edit. Unless they found a way to block installations from local files and enforce their shop, no idea if that’s a thing.
NoodlePoint@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Damn sure was clickbaity.
I stopped using ABP years ago and switched to uBlock Origin. That and some *Monkey scripts.
Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
Bah, This is just an add for a YouTube premium subscription
harsh3466@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
The workaround is pay for YouTube premium.
ArsonButCute@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 weeks ago
FreeTube with an ipv6 rotator and Invidious will make sure you never have to deal with this.
FuyuhikoDate@feddit.org 1 month ago
“Adblock Plus” Me: WHAT YEAR IS THIS?
cley_faye@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Imagine using Adblock/Adblock plus in 2025.
swizzlestick@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
ABP hasn’t been relevant for years, because they started on “acceptable ads” back in 2011.
Anyone with sense has long since moved on.
lightnegative@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I mean, Firefox + uBlock Origin + SponsorBlock makes YouTube usable without giving Google more money
projektilski@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 weeks ago
Who uses Adblock Plus? Isn’t uBlock Origin (Lite) the shit to go to?
basiclemmon98@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
What if people just learned to use Firefox or NewPipe?
Psythik@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Ublock Origin and NextDNS FTW.
84615_on_resu@lemmy.world 1 month ago
If someone is fixated on using chrome, so far there is still a workaround:
neowin.net/…/you-can-still-enable-ublock-origin-i…
Other than that, just switch to Firefox.
finitebanjo@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
whaleross@lemmy.world 1 month ago
The YouTube app on my old tablet has been breaking on ads recently. First it stopped playing and then it wouldn’t even resume. Their own app. On playing ads. No ad blockers. Fuck you I’m not paying premium.
frozenpopsicle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 weeks ago
Article wasted my time. I want it back moe90.
zerofk@lemmy.zip 5 weeks ago
there is one ad blocker that still works. Two words: uBlock Origin.
Vivaldi without any plugins also works. No ads. And I’m sure there are many more possible configurations. This article reads like the author thinks there’s only two browsers and two ad blockers.
Pamasich@kbin.earth 5 weeks ago
YouTube just quietly blocked Adblock Plus
They've been A/B testing anti-adblock attempts for months or even years now, idk exactly with my sense of time. Sometimes adblocker A doesn't work, sometimes adblocker B doesn't work. Sometimes switching browser makes the same adblocker work, sometimes clearing cookies helps, sometimes its dependent on your account. Different users at the same time report different experiences with different adblockers. Sometimes watching a single non-blocked ad restores adblocker functionality magically for a few days.
What I'm trying to say is, this didn't "just" happen, and it's specifically the author's current experience. I myself use Adblock Plus on Edge and Youtube works perfectly fine currently. This has been happening for a long time, and I'm sure there's uBlock Origin users currently who have the same experience while Adblock Plus works for them. Since that's how it's been the last times I've seen people talk about this, everyone talking about different experiences.
n3cr0@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Just stick with Firefox and uBlock Origin.
fartsparkles@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Especially since Adblock Plus take payment to whitelist adverts.
CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Or even better, Librewolf.
RageAgainstTheRich@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Honest question, but what makes librewolf BETTER? In firefox you can easily toggle off the studies telemetry bullshit in the settings. Librewolf is just firefox with those things ripped out right?
ekZepp@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Sadly i have to stop using it. Librewolf has start getting some graphic bug, i also can’t upload pictures to some website (it show just lines). Now i’m trying Floorp.
sefra1@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
As much as I like Librewolf as concept and ideology, I can’t keep thinking that if there’s a Firefox 0day, Firefox gets patched first, Librewolf later, and I’m potentially exposed for longer. That’s why I prefer to stick with upstream.
tarknassus@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Have you noticed uBlock Origin being a bit hit and miss on YouTube lately? I’ve had it happen a few times lately where the video won’t play, or an ad comes up but doesn’t play. I’ve had to keep refreshing until it gets to normal where it just plays the damn video.
n3cr0@lemmy.world 1 month ago
No. It works across all my systems. I never see ads on YT. However…
Videos not loading or playing delayed: That’s a YT feature which they implemented for Firefox users, to annoy them. And to promote Chrome as “the fastest” webbrowser.
I also have dns issues at home… I should fix them already. Sometimes, a page doesn’t load on the first try.
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 1 month ago
I think youtube might have implemented something that prevents the server from delivering the video files until the expected duration of the ad has passed. This idea is completely unfounded, but this is what it feels like to me.
floofloof@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
I sometimes get a popup warning from YouTube that my account will be blocked from viewing videos if I keep running an ad blocker. But the warning goes away after a while and YouTube still works. I don’t see ads except on mobile.
Grimy@lemmy.world 1 month ago
If on mobile, try setting it to desktop mode. Also, getting the chameleon extension and pretending you are using chrome can also help.
protist@mander.xyz 1 month ago
I haven’t had any issues like that, it’s been working fine for me
CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
I use different shared PCs at work and this happens every time on the Windows 11 machines. Some ad plays before the video, but disappears when I refresh the page. This doesn’t happen on the Win 10 machines we still have left. In forced to use Chrome there but everything has UBlock Lite enabled.
Gnugit@aussie.zone 1 month ago
Yes
kepix@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
dont give them solutions, they want to be angry
givesomefucks@lemmy.world 1 month ago
The article even links to a guide to get it on chrome