YouTube's Ad Blocker Crackdown Is Getting Harder to Dodge (gizmodo.com)
from L4s@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2023 22:00
https://lemmy.world/post/7657906

YouTube’s Ad Blocker Crackdown Is Getting Harder to Dodge::The video platform now requires users to disable their ad blockers with an immovable pop-up.

#technology

threaded - newest

autotldr@lemmings.world on 01 Nov 2023 22:00 next collapse

This is the best summary I could come up with:


After beginning to roll out a healthy nudge to turn off ad blockers or subscribe to the platform’s ad-free Premium offering, YouTube is now forcing users’ hands.

As users continue to trawl the depths of YouTube, they will now be greeted with a pop-up warning them to disable their ad blocker saying “video playback is blocked unless YouTube is allowlisted or the ad blocker is disabled.” This notification began popping up for users across the platform earlier this month, but it was as simple as shrugging it off by closing out the message.

Shortly thereafter, YouTube forced users to acknowledge the message but still allowed them to exit out of it after a brief timer elapsed.

YouTube communications manager Christopher Lawton told The Verge Tuesday that using an ad blocker is actually against the platform’s terms of service.

He also told the outlet that “ads support a diverse ecosystem of creators globally and allow billions to access their favorite content on YouTube.”

Around the same time, the company reported its third straight quarterly decline in ad revenue, according to The Wall Street Journal.


The original article contains 320 words, the summary contains 183 words. Saved 43%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

Somecall_metim@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 01 Nov 2023 22:05 next collapse

Switched to Freetube and convinced my dad too as well. No ads, no algorithms, no shit yt search that never works. We’re chilling.

BombOmOm@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2023 22:16 next collapse

Currently without issue using Firefox and uBlock Origin. No complaints from YouTube nor ads.

uwe@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2023 22:21 next collapse

It’s being rolled out in waves. Seems like you haven’t been hit yet.

SmoothIsFast@citizensgaming.com on 01 Nov 2023 22:22 next collapse

No as ublock has stated you are using other extensions that are tripping detection, ffs 😑

Telodzrum@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2023 22:54 next collapse

No, not at all correct. uBlock has stated publicly, on multiple channels, that YT is updating its detection script several times a day while they are racing to patch in a fix.

whileloop@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2023 22:58 collapse

Nope, that’s not what uBlock is saying. YouTube rolls out new adblock detection several times a day. uBlock can’t stop it instantly, it takes time for the devs to adjust their code. So for a few hours, YouTube’s detection works. If you haven’t been caught yet, then it means you’ve been lucky to get the rollout after uBlock already had a fix. Some of us aren’t that lucky. Last week, I got an early rollout several hours before uBlock had a patch. Turned off all my extensions, used default uBlock settings, all their suggestions, had no effect. A few hours later, uBlock had a fix and I didn’t see YouTube’s block anymore.

Grenfur@lemmy.one on 02 Nov 2023 03:52 next collapse

I had been using Ghostery Dawn for ages. Got the pop-ups. Couldn’t get around them. Switched to just firefox with ublock, no more ads. Can confirm it does work.

Kusimulkku@lemm.ee on 02 Nov 2023 09:41 collapse

I’ve been hearing that for a while

dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2023 22:22 next collapse

I’m certain that by “users” what they really mean is “people still using Chrome.”

Sludgehammer@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 02:50 next collapse

I’ve been having intermittent problems while using Firefox. Of course, all I need to do is clear the Ublock’s filters and re-load them.

Oddly, my brother who uses the same ad-blocker as me and Chrome hasn’t gotten a anti-AdBlock nag screen for months. No idea why.

Traister101@lemmy.today on 02 Nov 2023 10:38 next collapse

That’s the majority of people?? Looks like the most recent number is 64% of people with 20% on Safari and the remaining ~17% split among the rest with Firefox (3%) not even beating Edge (5%)

QueriesQueried@sh.itjust.works on 03 Nov 2023 03:12 collapse

Honestly the process to get ublock origin working is identical between the two of them, so being a chrome user doesn’t really make it any harder. Obviously still a better idea to switch, but for that specific problem, its the same.

JoShmoe@ani.social on 01 Nov 2023 23:04 next collapse

uBlock Origin is from chromium

brown567@sh.itjust.works on 01 Nov 2023 23:07 next collapse

Firefox also has it

RojoSanIchiban@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2023 23:11 collapse

uBlock Origin is very much available for Firefox.

JoShmoe@ani.social on 01 Nov 2023 23:35 collapse

It was first released in June 2014 as a chrome and opera extension. That’s what I meant. However I did say chromium which would be technically incorrect.

Maalus@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 11:46 collapse

Your original post is absolute nonsense and reads like someone correcting / saying it doesn’t exist in Firefox at all.

Op said “I use firefox with uBlock” and you went “ublock is from chromium” - which in the context you explained above is totally useless to the discussion - who cares where it is from?

RojoSanIchiban@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2023 23:09 next collapse

I was having issues requiring cache dump/updates daily both on a Windows 10 machine with FF/UO and on an ipad with Brave and Orion (which can use UO) including total cookie wipes. Win 11 machines never blinked.

The last couple days or so, I’ve not seen the block message anywhere. Fun stuff.

jsdz@lemmy.ml on 01 Nov 2023 23:44 next collapse

Unless you’re doing something unusual, it’s probably because you’re browsing youtube without being logged in.

tony@lemmy.hoyle.me.uk on 02 Nov 2023 15:35 next collapse

Same here, chrome and ublock origin… did nothing special at all, never seen any of these popups.

I assume it’s a slow rollout and we’ve both been lucky.

nutsack@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 16:14 next collapse

it’s a matter of time don’t worry

STUPIDVIPGUY@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 20:32 collapse

if it does happen, just use freetube

nutsack@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 02:23 collapse

it’s a matter of time for that one too

JackFrostNCola@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 11:05 collapse

I had to use element picker mode to select the popup to make it go away, but now i have two issues:

  1. I cant scroll down after a second of the page loading.
  2. Autoplay does not work on playlists
Gekoloniseerd@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2023 22:22 next collapse

I’ve just installed Yattee for IOS. It works great. There was a post for this a day ago? Also for other platforms. Fuck YouTube.

Zerlyna@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2023 22:44 collapse

Maybe I didn’t do it right. Nothing loads. Do I need to copy and paste each YT link to see something?

Gekoloniseerd@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 02:24 next collapse

r.yattee.stream/manifest-invidious-piped.json

Settings——> locations manifest and add the above link. Restart the app and you are good to go.

** apps.apple.com/us/app/yattee/id1595136629/) with this guide - (Adding Piped/Invidious website to Homescreen)

Original part of og post.

Zerlyna@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 15:24 collapse

Thanks your link worked. This is awesome!

Docus@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 09:10 collapse

Works for me if set to US location, does not work for some others i tried

netchami@sh.itjust.works on 01 Nov 2023 22:23 next collapse

Some solutions:

snipvoid@lemm.ee on 01 Nov 2023 22:44 next collapse

Vinegar on iOS is also still working perfectly

RojoSanIchiban@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2023 23:33 next collapse

Nice, this is one of the primary reasons I haven’t used Safari in my Apple noobness, relying on Brave and another browser for YT ad blocking. Going to give this a try too.

thatsthespirit@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 04:56 collapse

Can’t say that’s it’s been working perfectly both on my iPhone and on my iPad, but it’s certainly helped a lot.

wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 00:08 next collapse

Grayjay gang :D

netchami@sh.itjust.works on 02 Nov 2023 06:26 collapse

I don’t actually use it, I tried it out but I still prefer LibreTube. Just included it because it might be useful for others.

wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 10:10 collapse

I switched to it from NewPipe w SponsorBlock (fork) when it went public for testing. For a prerelease it does everything I need, except SB functionality. Hoping that is in the pipeline.

chris_hayes@lemmy.ml on 02 Nov 2023 10:18 collapse

Subscription feed works for you? When I imported my subs it said the subscription feed is disabled to due to issues with YouTube API limits. Getting nebula in my home feed is nice though. Mostly still on NP+SB in the meantime.

wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 20:15 collapse

It does, yep - I just opened it and it already had a video posted just 11 minutes ago. There have been a couple bugs I’ve found and reported but it’s all small, out-of-the-way stuff. I have around 65 yt channels I follow.

Waluigis_Talking_Buttplug@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 00:13 next collapse

ReVanced still and option for Android, though I have to recommend NewPipe and sponsor block

vladmech@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 01:06 next collapse

Going to try Yattee tonight, thank you!

noodlejetski@lemm.ee on 02 Nov 2023 11:22 collapse

when following the guide for Yattee, does it serve as a drop-in replacement for the Youtube app, i.e. does it open Youtube links from other apps and everything? I don’t use iOS, but I’d like to know how viable it would be as a recommendations for my friend who do.

netchami@sh.itjust.works on 02 Nov 2023 16:13 collapse

I don’t use iOS anymore and I don’t exactly remember how Yattee behaves. Just recommend them to try it out, they can always look for another solution if this doesn’t work.

squirrelwithnut@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2023 22:37 next collapse

I’ve already switched to Freetube on my PC, and New.piped on my phone.

NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone on 01 Nov 2023 22:40 next collapse

Looks like YouTube is the next tower to fall.

Staiden@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 02 Nov 2023 00:39 next collapse

If they really stop people from watching it will just force people to straight up pirate their content.

They won’t ever win this battle.

Gabu@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 06:16 collapse

Youtube fell a long time ago. It’s in ruins as we speak.

LittleTransPunk@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2023 22:41 next collapse

uBlock Element zapper has been working for me just fine

gregorum@lemm.ee on 01 Nov 2023 22:47 next collapse

Using AdGuard on macOS and iOS. Works fine

zkfcfbzr@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2023 22:47 next collapse

μBlock Origin works for me still (Firefox), but I had to remove my custom filter to remove Shorts from the Subscription page - seems like they can detect it if I have any YT-specific rules.

I’ve got FreeTube set up as a backup in case μBlock does ever fail - but its lack of tabs really make me not want to use it as my primary access yet. I think they could benefit a lot from creating a browser-based UI, kind of like what Plex has.

Strayce@lemmy.sdf.org on 01 Nov 2023 23:30 next collapse

I give it a year, tops, before they start serving ads in premium too.

Bongles@lemm.ee on 01 Nov 2023 23:35 next collapse

But that’s the only benefit of premium (on YouTube itself). I guess there are still YouTube originals but that kind of died as far as I can tell.

Strayce@lemmy.sdf.org on 02 Nov 2023 01:11 next collapse

Yes. And? You think they care? Premium isn’t there to benefit you, it’s there to benefit Google. As soon as the money stops coming in, they’ll look for other ways to squeeze it. We’re already seeing it with streaming providers shoehorning ads into their paid services. It’s not that much of a stretch.

hypertown@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 06:13 collapse

The only benefit now, but what if they start to serve 30 non-skippable ads without premium and ONLY 5 with premium, what a deal! Right? If you hate ads you can just buy higher tier for ONLY $5 more.

Let’s just keep fingers crossed for ublock…

jet@hackertalks.com on 02 Nov 2023 09:12 collapse

They’ll introduce premium platinum for 2x the price, and then normal premium will be changed to YouTube supporter class, with select advertisements

But they’ll do this very quietly, and everyone will get grandfathered into YouTube supporter if they don’t do anything. So in public they’ll still say YouTube premium has no advertisements, even though they’ve moved the goal posts

Strayce@lemmy.sdf.org on 02 Nov 2023 11:14 next collapse

This is scarily believable.

theterrasque@infosec.pub on 02 Nov 2023 18:36 collapse

But on the good side, they offer 3 months of “reduced” cost ( but still more than old premium cost) for those that upgrade now

Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg on 02 Nov 2023 19:04 collapse

More realistically they’ll bump up the price of premium a bit more and then have a reduced ads tier for like $6-7. But, I also have my doubts about that. The business model is significantly different than other “streaming services”.

zcd@lemmy.ca on 02 Nov 2023 00:22 next collapse

Fuck YouTube

barbecue_sprinkler@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 08:33 collapse

YouTube had a good humble beginning before monetization fucked everything up. It was a bad idea to begin with. For now, best stick with piped and all the apps that use piped as backend. NewPipe and LibreTube. Want to support a creator? Go buy merch or something. Dont give Google a second of your time.

TexMexBazooka@lemm.ee on 02 Nov 2023 11:26 next collapse

I mean it’s a fine idea it’s just been capitalismed to death

CalcProgrammer1@lemmy.ml on 02 Nov 2023 22:08 collapse

I read this as monetization being the bad idea, and that is basically the same thing as being capitalismed to death.

TexMexBazooka@lemm.ee on 02 Nov 2023 22:35 collapse

So the amount of up front investment required for something on an infrastructure level is massive. It’s the type of thing that really needs to be centralized, because it isn’t just storage. It’s massive amounts of bandwidth, a distributed content distribution network close to your end users(which is even harder on a global scale).

Don’t get me wrong I don’t think the purely profit driven nature of YouTube is healthy at all. It’s an active detriment. But it’s hard to think of another practical way that isn’t hellaciously expensive.

shortwavesurfer@monero.town on 03 Nov 2023 00:41 next collapse

Introducing… PeerTube. Bandwidth is not a problem because if a video gets popular people will be watching it and therefore sharing it to their peers Infrastructure costs don’t matter because channels would be on small instances That would not cost much to run, etc. A single company need not pay millions of dollars to host something like this when each individual who wants to be a content creator can put up a few dollars a month like maybe four or five and do it. That way the cost is distributed and not a burden on one entity.

Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg on 03 Nov 2023 19:19 collapse

The issue with PeerTube, is monetization.

You need to be able to tell anchors that draw people in and make their living from YouTube like LinusTechTips, Phillip DeFranco, and MrBeast why PeerTube is the platform for them… and losing all the money YouTube gives them is a big problem in any argument (as much as they might not like some of YouTube’s policies themselves).

Also, storage costs are going to explode if PeerTube gets popular and maintains the “anyone can upload in 4k” that YouTube allows. Linus did a video about how expensive 4k video is compared to the 1080p videos that have been dominate in the platform for most of the platform’s life, and how that increased cost has contributed to discussions of changes (at the time) which have evidently manifested as adblocking and promoting premium (speculatively, this is in part because Google feels regulars are going to hurt its advertising business badly and they need to get subscribers that could keep the platform afloat – going back to “old models” before the Google advertising money machine made the Internet “free”).

Shard@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 07:56 collapse

I totally get that they had to find some way to financially support the massive infrastructure that was necessary to do what YouTube does.

I was fine with an ad every now and then.

I was fine with an ad at the start and end of a long video.

Ads on a 30s video? Ads on an Ad? Multiple ads at the start, multiple ads in-between and at the end? Jesus h. Christ. Removing the dislike button?

That was when I switched to ReVanced.

burtek@programming.dev on 02 Nov 2023 12:08 collapse

Wasn’t YouTube unrelated to Google at first?

Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg on 03 Nov 2023 19:35 collapse

Yes, they bought it (in 2006). However, it wasn’t what it is today, and IIRC it was “in the red” (losing money). It was in the red for years after Google bought it as well. There’s not a lot of good information on this unfortunately with regard to the current state. The last update we had was in 2015 that YouTube wasn’t making money wsj.com/…/viewers-dont-add-up-to-profit-for-youtu…

That’s 9 years of operating at a loss, and probably the 9 years people think of most fondly… We were getting the service at a loss to Google.

popemichael@lemmy.sdf.org on 02 Nov 2023 05:54 next collapse

It wouldn’t shock me if they removed ublock origin from the chrome store

Gabu@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 06:14 collapse

Just use Firefox. It’s better as a browser, anyway.

V0lD@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 06:51 next collapse

I will when they finally fix dragging tabs between windows

Edit: I’m not saying the operation isn’t functional, I’m saying it lacks certain small visual feedback aspects like popping a tab out into a new window while dragging. This in and of itself isn’t breaking, but Firefox had a lot of rough edges like that every time I used it, and I’m using this specific one as a benchmark to judge if I should give the browser a shot again

Trail@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 07:09 next collapse

Huh, what is the issue? Been working fine for me for years.

Moderationslog@feddit.de on 02 Nov 2023 08:53 next collapse

Classic layer 8 problem

lemann@lemmy.one on 02 Nov 2023 10:11 collapse

PEBCAK baby!

V0lD@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 08:57 collapse

Popping out a tab doesn’t turn it into a draggable window, but just into cursor basic cursor held object. This gives no visual feedback on what is actually happening and makes the whole operation much less visually clear

It’s a small thing, but in the times I tried Firefox, I noticed a lot of these rough edges to the point that it became frustrating to use. I’m using this specific one as a benchmark for when I’m willing to give it a shot again

SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 02 Nov 2023 09:48 next collapse

It never bothered me. You can just stop dragging anywhere and it will turn into a window.

TexMexBazooka@lemm.ee on 02 Nov 2023 11:22 next collapse

Could you find a smaller potato?

V0lD@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 12:43 collapse

Is that a typo, or a saying I’m not familiar with?

TexMexBazooka@lemm.ee on 02 Nov 2023 15:21 collapse

It’s a small potatoes means that’s it’s extremely inexpensive and misses the big bag of perfectly good, if not above average potatoes

V0lD@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 16:10 collapse

Thank you

TexMexBazooka@lemm.ee on 02 Nov 2023 22:32 collapse

You’re welcome 😊

Uniquitous@lemmy.one on 02 Nov 2023 11:38 collapse

Fuck’s sake, what a stupid thing to get hung up over.

V0lD@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 12:23 collapse

You’re all getting quite hung up about someone voicing that they’re not ready to switch to your preferred browser tbh

Like, it’s not that you are negatively affected by me having UX preferences

[deleted] on 02 Nov 2023 16:37 collapse

.

jackalope@lemmy.ml on 02 Nov 2023 17:08 next collapse

You’ll get more flies with honey than vinegar.

Foss advocates showing once again how bad they are at persuading people.

[deleted] on 02 Nov 2023 17:34 collapse

.

V0lD@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 17:31 collapse

Correct. That is why I am not switching

Besides, the EU is shown time and time again that it will protect its citizens if the megacorps overstep their boundaries, so the claim that chrome holds too much power is bs

dasgoat@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 07:38 next collapse

I do that all the time with ff?

auf@lemmy.ml on 02 Nov 2023 09:07 next collapse

Privacy >>> UI

V0lD@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 09:15 collapse

To some extend, yes. But convenience and workflow trumps both.for example, I moved to DuckDuckGo a while back. Not because of privacy, but because Google kept removing customisation options, and it’s search results where getting worse and worse.

Filthmontane@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 09:47 next collapse

You seem more stubborn than smart.

V0lD@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 12:45 next collapse

It does give a weird form of comfort to see Lemmy become more like Reddit every day

Kedly@lemm.ee on 02 Nov 2023 13:10 collapse

I resemble this statement!

Kedly@lemm.ee on 02 Nov 2023 12:45 collapse

I mean, no ads on youtube is HELLA more convenient than ads on youtube

V0lD@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 12:51 collapse

I agree

I’m using chrome, sponsorblock and adblock+. Google hasn’t told me to turn it off yet.

Maybe it’s because I’m in the EU?

If it starts becoming a problem, I intend to look into writing a pull request to fix the firefox UX issues

Kedly@lemm.ee on 02 Nov 2023 13:10 collapse

Fair enough! In that case I also wouldn’t be pressured to jump ship, in fact the only reason I jumped back to firefox in the first place was because chrome couldnt handle the amount of tabs I had and they started crashing

praise_idleness@sh.itjust.works on 02 Nov 2023 10:20 next collapse

I’d rather have messy Mac and cheese than pretty pile of shit please.

systemglitch@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 15:13 collapse

Strangely nit-picky. The reason this matters to you is because you are used to it. It’s so small an aspect of the browser though that you would forget about it quickly. Imo of course. I never even noticed this when I changed and I use the function many times a day.

V0lD@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 16:14 collapse

Correct, it matters to me

So, as long as Firefox doesn’t really offer something that in my opinion outways all it’s UX issues, I am not inclined to switch

Looking at my score, appearantly that is offensive though

systemglitch@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 19:22 next collapse

Apparently lol, can’t be different!

Arthur_Leywin@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 02:55 collapse

Try Floorp?

jackalope@lemmy.ml on 02 Nov 2023 17:05 collapse

I switched back to ff in 2018 but then switched back to chrome after it deleted my bookmarks sporadically for the 5th time. I’ve logged bugs about it too.

CurlyMoustache@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 15:37 collapse

Cool story

dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de on 02 Nov 2023 06:39 next collapse

Im using Yattee on iOS with no issue. From the damn App Store, don’t think they’re cracking down very well.

adam_b@infosec.pub on 02 Nov 2023 09:35 collapse

That’s because they’re targeting Desktop users only, I think and I hate to say it, we’ll inevitably face 3 choices in the future

A. Watch YT with all it’s ads B. Quit using YT C. Pay for premium

All these awesome privacy frontends that we use will be killed, just like Libreddit & Teddit, and ads on YT will be unbearable, long, repetitive, that even non techies will start thinking of ways to avoid them…

The only effective solution I see, is that content creators have the balls to selfhost their content using Peertube, or migrate to Rumble or odysee…

Many content creators like LTT straight out refused to offer another way to view their content, there is no reason why anyone wouldn’t want to Sync their content to other platform, unless they care that much about that ad revenue, which shows they support this business model

sorry about the grammar, slept for 2 hours…

jimothy@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 02 Nov 2023 10:23 next collapse

It’s all about how many people these platforms have to convince them to stop using youtube I guess…

null@slrpnk.net on 02 Nov 2023 11:47 next collapse

Libreddit was killed? How am I still using it?

adam_b@infosec.pub on 02 Nov 2023 15:35 collapse

From their Github

⚠️Why do I get TOO MANY REQUESTS errors? ⚠️ As of July 12th, 2023, Libreddit is currently not operational as Reddit’s API changes, that were designed to kill third-party apps and content scrapers who don’t pay large fees, went into effect. Read the full announcement here. One of the project maintainers is working towards keeping this project alive to some extent: #836

Some instances might still be operational, but limited…

I deleted my Reddit accounts, once Infinity stopped working, and I open reddit links in Tor ( same with Tiktok and others ), they’re not gonna have it their way

null@slrpnk.net on 02 Nov 2023 17:02 collapse

Hmm, well my personal instance works fine and has for months, no limitations that I’ve encountered. Guess I’m just lucky

adam_b@infosec.pub on 02 Nov 2023 17:43 collapse

Yea you’re, I tried some instances they work for a while and then they give that message : too many requests

what happened to Reddit is just disgusting, they broke the law and they’re roaming free…

null@slrpnk.net on 02 Nov 2023 18:16 collapse

I wonder if it impacts public instances because it’s rate-limiting the requests, where it’s just me on my private instance so it’s not hitting the limit.

If so then it’s pretty easy to spin one up in docker and get around the issue.

Of course leaving reddit entirely is always better.

Also I’m not tuned in – what laws did they break?

adam_b@infosec.pub on 02 Nov 2023 19:34 collapse

Maybe, but I don’t wanna try anymore, you could patch Infinity with Revanced patches and keep using it too, but I dont wanna do that either…

Of course leaving reddit entirely is always better.

Yeah, I gave up…

what laws did they break?

I think it’s called CCPA ( a US data law ), Reddit violated that law, when they restored users’ content, im guessing this law guarantees the right to be erased… ( US data laws sound good on paper, but they never work in reality 😂 )

Also they can’t just go to their terms of service and change stuff based on the situation, they even tried to stretch the meaning of some clauses in their TOS just so they can cover it up, it’s all in r/announcements, just scroll back to June 2023

JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca on 02 Nov 2023 12:53 collapse

LTT is happy to let you pay for their mediocre content plus mediocre extra behind the scenes special boi crap on Floatplane

adam_b@infosec.pub on 02 Nov 2023 16:14 collapse

They charge for FP ??! So these people on the podcast are paying to comment ! I didn’t know that…

hmmm, that’s fine I’m not against content creators creating ways to monetize, I’m against supporting the ad business model and gaslighting people into believing “it’s working”…

As for the content quality, I only watch LTT to see what crazy ideas and experiments they come up with, I never learned anything tho, because they don’t show you how they did it, Linus just says we’re going to build a server, and boom, it’s already done… ( they do it off camera ), I mean like details, installing the distro, and how to navigate it… Etc ( his team does it for him )

Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de on 02 Nov 2023 17:46 collapse

You are looking for niche content. The last place to search for that would be a big YT channel since their videos are tailored for the general audience. I don’t know what you expected lol

adam_b@infosec.pub on 02 Nov 2023 20:19 collapse

Well, don’t you think skipping major steps ( mind you ) renders the entire process irreproducible, or prone to error and failure ?

I don’t know what you expected lol

a Blog post would be appreciated, say : hey we skipped this ( very technical and confusing ) step, here’s the boring blog, enjoy…

I’m just saying, their content is mostly entertaining, not educational, that’s how I find it personally.

zingo@lemmy.ca on 02 Nov 2023 12:24 next collapse

Freetube for the win. Built in sponsor block.

Kedly@lemm.ee on 02 Nov 2023 12:44 next collapse

It really isnt getting harder to dodge past the initial recent push. “Go to settings, purge cache, refresh list, refresh youtube” is just as many steps today as it was when this recent push started

JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca on 02 Nov 2023 12:51 next collapse

YouTube thinks I’m using an outdated version of Chrome running in Windows 7

tony@lemmy.hoyle.me.uk on 02 Nov 2023 15:32 next collapse

I’ve still yet to see it… not even had to do any of those things. Something about my setup I guess neutralises it.

shalafi@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 23:20 next collapse

Me neither.

  • Windows

  • PiHole (AWS Lightsail instance)

  • Edge

  • TubeBlock extension

Waiting for the hammer to drop. OTOH, I don’t watch much Tube.

jigsaw250@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 03:33 collapse

I was, but they stopped appearing once I completely cleared browsing history and cookies. I also did another purge and update for good measure.

The only pain in the ass was that I ended up changing the username of some of my accounts but forgot to update them in my account manager, so it took a bit to find and log into them. But that was completely on me and won’t happen if you’re not being an idiot like I was.

Knightfox@lemmy.one on 03 Nov 2023 00:09 next collapse

Big thing that helps is switching off of Chrome. I’ve been seeing a lot of people say that we should stop using Chrome and I just hadn’t gotten around to it. Once the YouTube adblocker started picking up Ublock Origin even after clearing the cache I hard switched to Fire Fox and installed Ublock Origin.

I have not cleared my cache once and I haven’t seen a single ad.

Bulletdust@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 07:34 collapse

Firefox + uBlock Origin + PiHole = I’m wondering what all the fuss is about. I haven’t seen a single adblocker warning on YouTube yet.

Stop using browsers based on Chromium people, it’s not that hard.

AphoticDev@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 03 Nov 2023 12:46 collapse

This. I’ve gotten this popup about four times since this happened, telling me the video player was blocked because I had an adblocker still. Each time, I purged cache and updated and it went away.

vhalragnarok@linux.community on 02 Nov 2023 17:27 next collapse

So they are cracking down on Adblockers and increasing the price of Premium as well.

I wish there was an alt platform that we could use, because even the FBI recommends using an Adblockers (and TBH what sane person would roll without one?)

Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de on 02 Nov 2023 17:37 next collapse

I recommend Invidious.

Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg on 02 Nov 2023 19:02 next collapse

The FBI does not recommend using adblockers so that you can avoid ads on YouTube. That’s just 🤦‍♂️ worthy.

Every adblocker I know of can be disabled on specific sites.

I know this is an unpopular opinion here, but Google is within their rights to show ads or make you pay. It costs more than it probably should, and they serve more ads than they should, but their platform is unique and expensive to run; most uploads do not make them money.

yoz@aussie.zone on 02 Nov 2023 22:18 next collapse

<img alt="" src="https://img.ifunny.co/images/440f50c2fbee123a9b7aea2f21d15a5c26d197a147b475a632dcf8c0e180c7af_1.jpg">

Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg on 03 Nov 2023 06:22 collapse

More like just get off my lawn. Constant bitching and moaning about completely optional services and spending a few dollars to use them is getting to me.

Yes, Lemmy is free, yes the Internet is historically free (because of ad driven content), but Christ things actually do cost money folks and services have a right to charge what people are willing to pay.

If you don’t like it… Don’t use YouTube, seek out an alternative, build an alternative, tell your creators you’ll only watch them on PeerTube (which probably won’t work because they want to make money) or floatplane or whatever.

This isn’t some crusade for Google. I’m just sick of this crap being in my feed and all these comments. This isn’t “technology”, it’s one service charging money 🙄

[deleted] on 03 Nov 2023 10:02 collapse

.

Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg on 03 Nov 2023 18:49 collapse

I don’t have anything nice to say to you, so I’m just going to leave it at that.

For everybody else, consider how venture capitalism allowed for an otherwise completely non-viable product to come into existence. This isn’t a monopoly, it’s a product that could not exist any other way because of the expense of running it the way that it’s run.

You’re totally welcome to take your business elsewhere and it’s totally possible to live without YouTube. The fact is for most people (perhaps up until this point) there hasn’t been a significant motivation to create an actual alternative and get funding for it (or enough wrong with YouTube that people will actually pay what it costs to run a “YouTube without ads”). Rumble exists because the right wing wanted a similar service where they could talk without Google’s moderation policies.

I’m not endorsing Rumble, but alternatives can be started if the funds are put in place to do so and there’s a market for it. Like Lemmy, people just have to use the alternative over the existing dominant option (in this case Reddit).

PeerTube is an option as well of course, but I don’t see it taking off due to the expense and the inability for big creators to monetize on it. Floatplane has a better chance in that respect.

vhalragnarok@linux.community on 02 Nov 2023 23:08 next collapse

That’s not how I intended the phrasing here.

No one doubts Google is not entitled to money. The level of ads is excessive, and to be fair, we are served too many ads in our daily lives as-is, constantly, billboards, radio, Cable TV (to which you pay for the priviledge of watching ads), Gas Pumps, ect. It’s everywhere and nauseating, and I’m starting to personally doubt the efficacy of them. People have become numb to them.

But they go on a crusade against Adblockers since the amount / type of ads is excessive, and then raise premium pricing : “The Solution”.

It’s almost like they have a monopoly and the moves as of recent are anti-consumer.

The FBI recommends an ad-blocker actually because of malicious… Google Search, yes that same pesky Google, not filtering out dangerous websites in their search results under the “Suggested” part of the search (these sites spoof their web addresses and hope you click on them to deliver a malware payload on your system.)

Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg on 03 Nov 2023 06:41 collapse

Gas Pumps

That one drives me especially crazy. I just want to pump my gas in peace.

It’s almost like they have a monopoly and the moves as of recent are anti-consumer.

I mean they do in a sense… But also complaining as a non-paying customer that you should have to pay is going to get you nowhere.

(Edit: I’m going to leave this part in, you were just asking for an alternative. My memory has blended other comments and a general “ugh” feeling in all these threads. So, this really isn’t aimed at you)

If you really want to make a change, stop using YouTube, create content elsewhere, try and convince the creators you watch to upload elsewhere. The thing is, most creators that are big enough for the average person to be watching are doing it because it makes them money, and Google is the best place to get that check. You could try floatplane, but my guess is it’s going to be more (not less) expensive than Google and/or might not have people you want to watch on it.

Google considered making 4k premium only because it’s so expensive. Linus tech tips did a nice video showing how 4k disrupts YouTube’s business model and imposes much higher costs. Instead of doing that, they’re raising prices and blocking ads. A more altruistic Google could reduce the ads once the adblockers are working, I kinda doubt they will, but it’s still a possibility.

The days of “free YouTube” (like so many other free Internet things) are over, it was a great deal. It’s not as great of a deal now. Maybe someone can actually afford to put up a fight now that it’s actually got to make money, maybe not. It’s still (IMO) a pretty dang good deal for all the content you get, and premium helps support the creators you’re watching (at least according to Linus) by a “significant” amount vs ad supported views.

The FBI recommends an ad-blocker actually because of malicious… Google Search, yes that same pesky Google, not filtering out dangerous websites in their search results under the “Suggested” part of the search (these sites spoof their web addresses and hope you click on them to deliver a malware payload on your system.)

Yeah you’re right on this one. I actually misremembered the reason, so I’ll take the facepalm for myself. Still, I haven’t used YouTube with ads in a while, but I remember YouTube ads being more like TV ads/a bit more reliable (and a bit too repetitive).

Shanedino@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 02:40 collapse

Fine but enforce some monopoly undercut pricing on YouTube.

Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg on 03 Nov 2023 06:25 collapse

I’m not sure what you’re advocating for here. Government regulation to cap the price?

Damaskox@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 23:34 next collapse

This made me think!

Would someone who was enjoying Internet services all the way from infancy (with no ad-blocking devices/apps), think that the amount of ads we have nowadays was the norm and that there was nothing weird or absurd about it?

vhalragnarok@linux.community on 02 Nov 2023 23:54 collapse

I think they would be disgusted with it. I personally remember the Internet from the Dual Up days, and the amount of ads now is absolutely egregious.

shortwavesurfer@monero.town on 03 Nov 2023 00:30 next collapse

Peertube, odysee

CeeBee@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 03:23 next collapse
infreq@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 06:32 collapse

YouTube do not care if you buy the products or not, they care that they can tell the customer that you have seen it.

BeautifulMind@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 17:33 next collapse

Weird. I’ve been running AdBlock and AdGuard for years and nary an issue with youtube. I just never see ads there.

FWIW it was only when I added a vpn to my mix that I started being made to submit to captchas whenever I do anything like search

Arthur_Leywin@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 02:59 next collapse

Are ads really that useful when the users subjected to them hate ads from the start?

SrTobi@feddit.de on 03 Nov 2023 06:32 collapse

Not to the advertiser, but to the one getting money for the ad.

Arthur_Leywin@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 12:25 collapse

How do they get money for an ad about a product I will never give a chance to?

nnjethro@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 13:51 next collapse

Product pays Google to show you the ad

Arthur_Leywin@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 18:58 collapse

Ah gotcha. Ty

dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 03 Nov 2023 17:03 collapse

Cost Per Impression

Veneroso@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 06:40 next collapse

Adblock detector blocker ftw!

j4k3@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 16:57 next collapse

I use a whitelist firewall. It is like a lock on my front door. I don’t use an adblocker. I manually add only websites I wish to visit. Extorting me for only visiting websites I trust and wish to visit is criminal. I am the reason Ad Blocks are a thing. They are the lazy person’s mostly effective whitelist firewall.

All ads are are serving you another website you didn’t ask to visit and with unknown bad actors that are not effectively vetted. Ads are like a house party in your home where one of your guests opens a window in your bathroom and let’s a dozen random people into your home without your knowledge. The person that let them in sneaks around the hidden guests while trying to prevent you from noticing. It is criminal behavior. This is privateering, aka pirates that have a legal charter from a criminal government.

Akinzekeel@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 21:47 collapse

Well, if you visit Youtube to watch a video, it will serve both the video and the ads from the same website. Ads are not necessarily being loaded from another website. If they were, we could just DNS-block YouTube ads, and they would be gone in your entire home network, for instance.

electric_nan@lemmy.ml on 03 Nov 2023 17:00 next collapse

Probably jinxing myself here, but I have yet to have a single problem. Linux, Firefox, ublock origin.

neutron@thelemmy.club on 03 Nov 2023 20:07 collapse

I’m using Invidious on desktop and Revanced on my android. No ads so far…

dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 03 Nov 2023 17:02 next collapse

Stop using butt adblockers. There’s a reason why UBO has the highest amount of downloads, is a recommended extension, and is the highest rated extension on both chromium and firefox.

Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca on 03 Nov 2023 23:49 next collapse

Just stop using YouTube?

If content providers notice their viewership going down they’ll surely raise a stink to YouTube once it starts to affect their income.

superfes@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2023 23:59 collapse

I don’t understand why YouTube doesn’t just put the video ads in-stream, just seems stupid for stupid’s sake at this point.

Abnorc@lemm.ee on 04 Nov 2023 14:49 collapse

Maybe this is some weird way of testing the waters. If they just solved the problem outright, users who wouldn’t put up with ads would just leave. This way they can see how many users will just tolerate the change without really committing.

superfes@lemmy.world on 04 Nov 2023 18:11 collapse

That certainly seems like a possibility >_>

Gotta bleed them pennies dry.