I’m sure many of you are already aware that YouTube has been rolling out anti-adblock detection for Chrome users for a few weeks now.
Today, as a long time Firefox user with the fantastic uBlock Origin extension installed, I got my first anti-adblock popup on the platform. Note that this may not happen to you personally for a while, but it is inevitably coming for everyone.
Thankfully, the fine folks at uBlock Origin have already advised a simple workaround (on Reddit, yuck!) which I will duplicate in a simplified form below for your convenience. I have tested it on Firefox and it is working fine for me (so far).
PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW ALL OF THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THIS POST.
Update uBO to the latest version (1.52.0+) . <== The extension itself, for technical improvements. You do this in your browser.
Remove your custom config / reset to defaults. <== This means removing your custom filters (or disabling My filters) and disabling ALL additional lists you’ve enabled. It might be quicker to make a backup of your config and restore to defaults instead.
Force an update of your Filter Lists. <== This is within the extension. Lists are what determine what’s blocked or not. How to update Filter lists: Click 🛡️ uBO’s icon > the ⚙ Dashboard button > the Filter lists pane > the 🕘 Purge all caches button > the 🔃 Update now button.
Disable all other extensions AND your browser’s built-in blockers. <== No need to uninstall, just disable them. They might interfere with our solutions.
Make sure you follow all 4 points above. If you’re seeing the message, it’s likely due to your custom config (either additional lists or separate filters in My filters).
Restarting your browser afterwards may help too.
Once you’ve gotten rid of the issue on default settings, you can slowly start restoring your config (if you really need it). Do it gradually, to easier find out what was causing the issue in the first place. Once you find the culprit, simply skip it in your config.
If you want to use Enhancer for YouTube*, you have to* disable its adblocking*.*
May the force uBlock Origin be with you!
Update
Just wanted to mention a few things that have been pointed out in the comments:
- There are quite a few projects that provide an alternative ad-free front end to YouTube. These include Invidious, FreeTube, LibreTube, Newpipe, Revanced, and I’m sure there are several more options I’ve missed. I don’t have any particular preference really but I routinely use NewPipe on my cellphone just because I tried it once and couldn’t be bothered trying all the others.
- In step 4 listed above, to clarify, afaik you only need to remove adblocker extensions (if you have more than one installed) that might conflict with the uBlock Origin rules and trigger the anti-adblock, not all extensions.
- If you hate non-stop ads but want to support your favorite content creators then be sure to give them some love on Patreon or whatever alternative options they provide. Creators typically make only a tiny, tiny fraction of what YouTube makes in ad revenue, assuming YouTube doesn’t just outright steal the lot, and it’s a shitty business model that’s ruining the internet. Even if you watch the ads, you’re only supporting YouTube most of the time, not the creators.
Hey Google, maybe you assholes should realize that if people are willing to jump through this many hoops to not watch ads then maybe you should realize that ads are the problem, not users. Nobody wants ads shoved down their throat so kindly go fuck yourselves. Advertising is a cancer. I’ve been trying to convince people how dangerous attention grabbing billboards are but nobody seems to care.
I get if your position is that the ads are too intrusive, but if you don’t want ads at all, you need to understand that that is not a viable solution for free services. If your position is that you feel like your use of that service should be subsidized by others, who can afford it more, I can even understand that. But they do also offer an ad free experience for a fee.
I don’t love that they’re doing this, but I do understand it.
I’m seeing this narrative more and more: that somehow ads are good because they allow us to consume content without paying, but I strongly disagree.
Firstly, consumers pay for ads. If advertising of any kind was outlawed tomorrow (not realistic, I know) then ultimately that’s an expense that companies would not need to pay, and economic competition would result in a reduction of the cost consumers pay for those products and services.
Secondly, ads or subscription is a false dichotomy. No alternatives have been developed over the last two decades because the advertising model is the most profitable for corporations building the web.
Direct-to-content-producer funding is better for consumers and producers. Yes, no good model nor platform for this exists, because it hasn’t been developed.
Sadly, haughtily state “I do understand [youtubes revenue model]” is to have swallowed the fallacious assertion that the only possible options are ads or subscription.
They didn’t say “ads are good” what a totally egregious way to misrepresent what you just read
They said ads provide a revenue model for providing content to users. I paraphrased in an appropriate vernacular. It’s not a misrepresentation at all. The comment I replied to is expounding the virtues of advertising.
But hey, richest company in the world need to eat ok?
/s
I pay for streaming services where I don’t want to see the ads - which is to say, every streaming service I use at any given moment. I hate ads.
If I can’t get media ad-free, to the high seas it is.
Website ads, though, can go to hell in my opinion. There’s no good way to let a tasteful amount through with negligible impact on pageload speed. I subscribe to a few newspapers, but for everything else there’s uBO.
I consider myself lucky to be able to pay my way out of the problem right now. Until I was in my early 30s, I never paid for a single piece of software or media, simply because I couldn’t afford it. I did FOSS where I could, but, still…
Now that I can afford to pay for the things I use (and frequently write the expense off to my business), I haven’t ventured into international waters for years. Hopefully, “voting with my wallet” and financially supporting the software and media I use can go some distance to preventing more draconian DRM from being imposed.
Although everyone needs to get paid for their work, I’ll never begrudge anyone pirating something because they can’t afford it. I’ve been there, and wouldn’t have been able to advance in my field without doing so.
There’s no fucking way I gonna watch a 20 seconds ad for a 10 seconds video.
They could not possibly care any less , sadly
Google won’t be coming on lemmy to read your rant. They just want more money.