I already stopped using YouTube on my tvs native interface without adblock after I saw several 1.5m ads
this post was submitted on 10 Mar 2026
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"I'm tired, boss"
-me, a warpstream user
edit for clarification: I started using warpstream through protoweb because of how unbearable YouTube has gotten, even through newpipe
what YouTube ads
I think it might be something that happens during that short pause before a video starts?
I was using uBlock but I kept getting messages that said blockers were not allowed. Then they started requiring me to wait to get rid of the warning. Is anyone else having this problem? Is there another add-on I can install to defeat this?
Every time I hit this, going into uBlock and refreshing the filterlists works
Use a VPN and be Vietnamese. They are rolling out a law against unskippable ads, IIRC.
Albania is a good endpoint as well, laws against YT ads
When I had this problem in the past it was actually other addons causing the problem. Do you have any other addons? If so, try disabling all your addons (except ublock) and checking if the problem is gone. If so then you can re-enable them one by one until you find the offender. For me it was actually an addon which shouldn't have affected YouTube or ads at all which was causing the problem.
If that doesn't work or you don't have any other addons, try going into the ublock settings (click the icon in your taskbar and then click the gears) and click restore to default settings at the bottom. If that still doesn't work then you might have to seek help elsewhere (the official support page is r/ublockorigin if you're okay with using reddit)
Wow! You're a champ! Thank you for the detailed info. Gonna give it a try.
I have not had this problem using uBlock Origin on FireFox.
I wonder what the breaking point is for those who don’t use adblockers.
Remember that some people voluntarily pay for TV and streaming with ads.
Yeah, funny people. I personally prefer my ads to be free on free streaming services. Even if it means to wait a few weeks or so before desired content will be available on these services.
Pretty much stopped using it once they decided my 20 year old account must belong to a child and demanded my ID. (Still don’t know why that happened. The account itself is over eighteen and I don’t live in the US where that policy was supposed to take effect.) This doesn’t make it any more appealing.
I remember when you just had, like, banner ads and an ad next to the video. And now you get those gross ads for AI sexbots and stuff.
And I really don’t think the latter is just because of my own search history. I’m asexual and don’t look at porn sites. I also noticed an uptick in the sex ads after YouTube decided I was a minor, so that’s pretty freaking weird.
Then I also get far right ads about how trans people are terrible, that are basically hate speech and propaganda.
I wish other platforms for long form video content existed.
Of course, the whole age verification idea is so the pedo-in-chief can target children more easily.
For your own health I recommend an ad blocker. uBlock Origin works on the YouTube website and dodgy apps like NewPipe don't show ads.
*uBO + SponsorSkip
Right? Holy weird and gross, Batman. "Do you want a cream pie? D/L this app and have the dirtiest night off your life." Literally an ad for an AI app on YouTube. What the fuck?
Who still watches YT without adblocker? It must be horrible.
People with android phones who use YouTube app.
reVanced is alive, well, good, and at this point necessary
When I see a link to a potentially interesting YT video, I just send the link to my PC.
Ublock works on Firefox on phone. Can skip the PC step if ya want
Me on (android) TV. On PC I have ad blocker. On TV ads time is between 6 seconds and 1 minute. Sometimes ads contain AI slop. 💀
SmartTube for Android TV gives you adblock and sponsorblock
This app is unavaliable on my TV
Theres also the possibility to use a VPN and log in from Albania (I think) to avoid ads altogether because they’re not legal there.
It is Albania. I will say that it's more correct to say that YouTube chooses not to send ads to Albania, rather than Albania banning it.
Albanians anti ad laws state that ads are required to be safe for children, with the platform being responsible for failure.... So Google is not spending the effort to make the ads safe.
I didn’t know it is the other way around (Albania ban vs. YouTube not playing ads)! Thanks for elaborating.
On TV I silenced them as they start and look elsewhere meanwhile... I find joy in training myself to be unable to consciously recognise at all what is ongoing till the video start
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Someone who don't want to lose their emails... In https://lemmy.cafe/comment/15974964 it was mentioned that their entire google account got banned for 10 years over adblocking youtube. I stopped watching youtube immediately... I'm not about to watch ads, but I don't want to lose access to my 22 year old personal account... So many accounts are tied to that address, that I can't manage to move to a different service.
FML what happened to "do no evil"? Now it's "make money with the baby grinding machine for all costs"
I would be scared as hell to rely on Google like that. You are one automated Ai decision away from losing access.
At least move your mail to a proper company. Jesus.
All i read is that nobody will be watching all these ads and YouTube will have to shutdown.
Youtube: "People are blocking are ads and costing us money, what should we do?!"
The People: "Police your platform and stop advertising scams, hate speech, pornography, and all the other shit."
Youtube: "I just have no idea what to do, so I guess I'll just invest millions/billions into making ads harder to block, and make the ads longer and unskippable. You know, Just make the platform almost completely unusable without adblocking"
The People: "YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO, JUST POLICE YOUR FUCKING PLATFORM ALREADY. IF YOU DID YOU WOULDNT NEED TO DO ALL THIS SHIT"
Youtube: "Oh, btw, heres another PragerU video thats 3 hours long and talks about how the black man should be grateful for the white man uplifting them via slavery, followed by a ad thats basically a woman fingering herself to advertise chinese AI girlfriends"
The People: adblocking intensifies
That's the craziest part isn't it? All of this data collection so they can build profiles of us, and then they just don't apply any of it to ads.
I don't like watching ads, but it would at least be slightly more tolerable if I got ads for things I actually wanted. On my TV I watch YT unfortunately not adblocked, and never once have I seen an ad for anything that appeal to me.
This is tinfoil hat stuff, but based on the ads I’m shown, it’s almost like they pick ones they know won’t appeal to you since they know anger drives up engagement. Google can probably guess from my search history that I’m trans and asexual, since I’ve asked questions online relating to that. And then the majority of the ads I get on YouTube are porn and anti trans things.
Anger does drive up engagement, but the point of engagement farming is supposed to be so that you keep coming back to the content (YT videos, articles, whatever) and therefore it gets more exposure so that the attached ads get more exposure.
The ads themselves designed to make you angry at them doesn't seem to make sense, at least as a default practice. There's really only hyperspecific niche scenarios where the ad itself making you angry at the ad is beneficial to the people paying for it.
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