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I hear this often. My experience is totally different. I've installed ublock origin and I'm using Vivaldi as my blink engine wrapper. I've never seen a YouTube

I hear this often. My experience is totally different. I've installed ublock origin and I'm using Vivaldi as my blink engine wrapper. I've never seen a YouTube ad since years. I wonder why anyone has to fight for an ad free YouTube.

nananana9 1y ago
They often release new "features" in a A/B fashion to a small percentage of users. It's most obvious with UI changes, where a portion of users will get a disfigured version of the site for a month, but it's probably true for their ad-blocking endeavors as well.
- orthoxerox 1y ago
  I wonder if they're testing the new useless cinema mode on me because I'm running an adblocker.
  - OkayPhysicist 1y ago
    Is cinema mode new? Or did they change it somehow? Last I checked all it did was resize the video to take up most of the width of the browser. That was a pretty happy medium between "video for ants" and "take over my entire monitor in full screen mode"
discomrobertul8 1y ago
> I wonder why anyone has to fight for an ad free YouTube. 90% of my YouTube use is on my smart TV. There's not really a straightforward way to block ads there. Used to be many years ago that a PiHole or similar would work, but they clued onto that years ago.
- account42 1y ago
  If you are using an internet-connected smart TV you already decided you don't care about ads. No one is forcing you to make that choice though.
- fragmede 1y ago
  The straightforwards way is to give Google money to get rid of them.
  - animuchan 1y ago
    Paid YouTube still shows some ads, so no, it's just a way to give Google some money.
    - immibis 1y ago
      Not ones run by YouTube.
      - animuchan 1y ago
        Not sure this is correct. For example: https://vanced.to/posts/youtube-premium-shows-ads-users-concerned https://vanced.to/posts/youtube-premium-shows-ads-users-conc... There's also this email from YouTube support: https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/1gnaetv/paying_to_see_ads_great/ https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/1gnaetv/paying_to_... It reads: > While YouTube Premium provides an ad-free experience for most content, promotional ads can sometimes appear for specific partnerships or limited-time offers. These promotions are often targeted based on various factors, including your location, viewing history, and account settings.
- Spare_account 1y ago
  I have a Chromecast with Google TV, and it allows sideloading of APKs. I installed SmartTube which is a YouTube client that incorporates Adblocking and also SponsorBlock. It periodically has issues loading videos when Google change something, but the app gets updated every time within a day.
- zettabomb 1y ago
  If it's a Google TV, there's an app you can sideload called SmartTube, which doesn't play ads and has SponsorBlock built-in. I went from often using my laptop just to play videos without being interrupted constantly, to actually enjoying using the TV app.
- hdgvhicv 1y ago
  There’s a very simply way to avoid ads on YouTube tv — pay some money. I spend less in nominal terms, let alone inflation terms, for my tv entertainment now than I did 20 year ago, even with Disney, Netflix, bbc, Paramount and YouTube subscriptions.
- master-lincoln 1y ago
  SmartTube works reliably for me on the smartTV for years now
NGRhodes 1y ago
I don't even think YouTube is anywhere near the worst advert offender. My local newspaper website is stuffed full of adverts. Between a large picture, article heading and advert, you often don't see a signle line of new content above the fold on a 1080p screen. I do not regularly visit such sites. I do unblock websites that I return to often.

nananana9 1y ago

They often release new "features" in a A/B fashion to a small percentage of users. It's most obvious with UI changes, where a portion of users will get a disfigured version of the site for a month, but it's probably true for their ad-blocking endeavors as well.

orthoxerox 1y ago
I wonder if they're testing the new useless cinema mode on me because I'm running an adblocker.
- OkayPhysicist 1y ago
  Is cinema mode new? Or did they change it somehow? Last I checked all it did was resize the video to take up most of the width of the browser. That was a pretty happy medium between "video for ants" and "take over my entire monitor in full screen mode"

discomrobertul8 1y ago

> I wonder why anyone has to fight for an ad free YouTube. 90% of my YouTube use is on my smart TV. There's not really a straightforward way to block ads there. Used to be many years ago that a PiHole or similar would work, but they clued onto that years ago.

account42 1y ago
If you are using an internet-connected smart TV you already decided you don't care about ads. No one is forcing you to make that choice though.
fragmede 1y ago
The straightforwards way is to give Google money to get rid of them.
- animuchan 1y ago
  Paid YouTube still shows some ads, so no, it's just a way to give Google some money.
  - immibis 1y ago
    Not ones run by YouTube.
    - animuchan 1y ago
      Not sure this is correct. For example: https://vanced.to/posts/youtube-premium-shows-ads-users-concerned https://vanced.to/posts/youtube-premium-shows-ads-users-conc... There's also this email from YouTube support: https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/1gnaetv/paying_to_see_ads_great/ https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/1gnaetv/paying_to_... It reads: > While YouTube Premium provides an ad-free experience for most content, promotional ads can sometimes appear for specific partnerships or limited-time offers. These promotions are often targeted based on various factors, including your location, viewing history, and account settings.
Spare_account 1y ago
I have a Chromecast with Google TV, and it allows sideloading of APKs. I installed SmartTube which is a YouTube client that incorporates Adblocking and also SponsorBlock. It periodically has issues loading videos when Google change something, but the app gets updated every time within a day.
zettabomb 1y ago
If it's a Google TV, there's an app you can sideload called SmartTube, which doesn't play ads and has SponsorBlock built-in. I went from often using my laptop just to play videos without being interrupted constantly, to actually enjoying using the TV app.
hdgvhicv 1y ago
There’s a very simply way to avoid ads on YouTube tv — pay some money. I spend less in nominal terms, let alone inflation terms, for my tv entertainment now than I did 20 year ago, even with Disney, Netflix, bbc, Paramount and YouTube subscriptions.
master-lincoln 1y ago
SmartTube works reliably for me on the smartTV for years now

NGRhodes 1y ago

I don't even think YouTube is anywhere near the worst advert offender. My local newspaper website is stuffed full of adverts. Between a large picture, article heading and advert, you often don't see a signle line of new content above the fold on a 1080p screen. I do not regularly visit such sites. I do unblock websites that I return to often.