YouTube confirms 3-strike policy for blocking ads

What's with every big tech company trying to destroy their userbase this year?

Personally, I'd rather pay for Nebula than YouTube premium. Most of the creators I actively follow are on there anyways, and the few that aren't (usually the ones with very long videos) I should probably just watch with ads anyways to support them.

Recently found this gem: https://adnauseam.io/

It's an ad blocker that only hides ads and clicks them for you in the background, which means you waste advertiser's money, support creators, can't get flagged for ad blocking as easily, and they can't build a proper profile against your ad activity since it's all noise. Haven't installed it yet, but this might be the push I needed.

Mmmm, gotta love that enshittification strategy every big tech company is working on right now.

Someone in the Fediverse (I don't know where and who) posted that you have to add the following filters into U-Block Origin. When done you shouldn't see any anti-adblock-warnings :

youtube.com##+js(set,yt.config_.openPopupConfig.supportedPopups.adBlockMessageViewModel,false)

youtube.com##+js(set,Object.prototype.adBlocksFound,O)

youtube.com##+js(set,ytplayer.config.aras.raw_player_response.adPlacements,[])

youtube.com##+js(set,Object.prototype.hasAllowedlnstreamAd,true)

I might add that I haven't experienced any anti-adblock-warnings yet, but I added these filters in advance. I might be worth a shot!

Another executive-driven decision by people who clearly don't use their own product (kinda impressive really when it's YT).

I can't help wonder if they saw an uptick in adblocking as a result of their absurd increases in ad-time recently and somehow thought this was a reasonable solution.

And what are the consequences of "strikes"? Will you delete my Google account, including my email, and also screw up my Android phone and my kids Chromebook?

It's scary to realize that Google has me by the balls here. They can screw me in so many ways, and screw my family members as well. I'd rather have my bank credentials stolen than my email credentials, at least I can get real customer service from the bank, I can even go to a physical location and speak face-to-face with someone who can help me. Google wont give me customer support, and my email account is the closest thing to an identity I have for most businesses I interact with.

It takes a lot of work to avoid Google. Yes, there are alternatives, but in D&D terms, avoiding Google is like a -2 to all stats for your entire life, and not something we can expect the general population to do.

All this shows the need for anti-trust enforcement. The same company is controlling too much. Bust 'em up!

If they want me to stop blocking ads, they will need to get rid of ads like this. I get ads like this all the time and it’s completely inappropriate.

IMG-7171.png

Did all these tech companies just get together and decide to fuck us over around the same time? Seriously, what is going on with all these companies rolling out hugely unpopular new rules/changes all on one another's heels?

I'll stop blocked ads when I stop using their service. Not a minute sooner.

So if you are on android: https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/org.polymorphicshade.newpipe (Newpipe with sponsorblock baked in)

If you are on PC: https://freetubeapp.io/ (Piped with sponsorblock baked in)

You're welcome.

Ad blocker detection is not new, and other publishers regularly ask viewers to disable ad blockers

"everyone else is treating their customers like garbage, so they don'y hold it against us".

Yes, we can.

I didn't block when you had 5 second ads. I didn't block when you had 15 second ads. I started blocking when you'd play 2+ unskippable 15 second ads back-to-back. I didn't mind sitting through an ad when I appreciate the service you offered. Now, you're just being greedy, and I will go to great lengths to damage your bottom line as notably as I can.

Time to use an adblock blocker blocker extension.

YouTube without an adblocker is such a mess. I wish alternatives like https://odysee.com had more of the content I watch and less Nazi bullshit though. YouTube really needs some strong competition since they have an effective monopoly on long-form videos on the internet. :(

What happens if you use SmartTubeNext on a TV? I'm assuming the interface wouldn't support the 3 strike YouTube popup so I guess you'd just get blocked without knowing why?

I'm guessing ReVanced will support the popup so you'd know.

So there are YouTube front ends for browser experience, but has anyone tried freetube from this guide?

https://www.privacyguides.org/en/frontends/

I've really liked the newpipe x Sponsorblock experience on my Android phone with having a subscription list, saves, playlists all locally with no YouTube account and ability to export and import the data of Playlists etc.

Freetube sounds like newpipe for desktop and has sponsorblock as an option too. Anyone use it or used it and have an thoughts on it?

Copying my comment over from fmhy instance -

If you don't mind paying ~2$ a month, you can get Family Premium using a VPN (I used India)

Current working method from HUKD: (Private/Incognito browser is best)

Create a new Google Account. Enter card details. Enter a fake billing address, any random address generator will do, as long as it’s from the correct region. Then select Try it Free. Navigate to YouTube, press YouTube Premium, and double-check that everything is in the right currency. Enter the same credit card and address information you used for creating the new Google Account. Click Buy 👍

You can then add your main Google account as a family member.👍

HUKD link

Damn, what am I going to do with my life when I stop wasting time on youtube?

that it's testing

That's not quite confirming a policy.

Twitch couldn't beat my adblocking, it just taught me how to find and use custom scripts. Shoot your shot YT, I haven't installed a script for your website yet but now Im gonna have too. Congrats the number of ads im gonna see from you is about to go down.

I´m sure the will be no false strikes at all. And even if, I´m sure they have a quick and easy appeal process in place, just like they have with copyright.

I'm actually using YouTube Premium, but only because it's in my YouTube Music subscription... But I'd love to completely drop Google

Nah, youtube content (for most part) is not worth the money or watching the ads for me.

Yup, I'm done also with this.

That is pretty much the same policy I have for forcing adds on me.

If they roll this out for everyone I hope they will finally officially introduce YouTube Premium Lite, so I can get ad-free YouTube without paying for YouTube Music.

Welp, I guess I only have 3 videos left on youtube then, it was a good run. Then it's off to invidious and when that goes, probably peertube will have enough content :)

Hot take: this sucks, but YouTube premium is legit. I wish more platforms offered a paid, ad-free way to interact. I don't feel like figuring out a way around ads but I'm not about to start watching them. So I pay a few bucks a month.

lmao fuck right off Google. there are a million open source alternatives out there that still let me watch videos, nor do I (nor will I) have an account with you clowns.

This is really quite a silly move, I wonder when they will begin coming after other front ends. Only a matter of time now.. twitch have been cracking down on Android TV third party clients.

Honestly if I got ads for things that are actually relevant I'd have less of an issue. Right now 7 out of 10 ads are for a local event where Christians come to grift other Christians. Wtf am I getting that ad constantly?

If they gave me an API key I'd be allowed use with SmartTubeNext and NewPipe, I'd gladly pay for premium.

I don't want to use your apps, Google.

I was subscribed to Youtube Premium for a good while (1-2 years), and I actually liked it for the money I paid. It was/is actually a good deal.

However, the amount of cases where creators were getting wrongly copyright striked and could do nothing against it were getting to high. The creators were often against a faceless corporate system.

I don't expect to view something on Youtube for free, however, I don't want to support a company that is as faceless as them. They need to be more accommodating, open, communicate more.

In the end I had to cancel my subscription as I could not continue supporting those practices.

Hobbist devs will just find a way to make an extension or script that blocks their "ad block detection" scripts anyway. Adblocks are like pirate websites. You kill one, two appear in its place. Youtube is unusable without adblocking, and so is 99% of the internet. They abuse their power until users block them, now they cry that they are blocked lol, cute

Copy this into uBlock Origin. Tells youtube ads are allowed and have been displayed, but no ads will show. Removes all references to shorts. Resizes video thumbnails so there's 6 wide.

`youtube.com##+js(set,yt.config_.openPopupConfig.supportedPopups.adBlockMessageViewModel,false) youtube.com##+js(set,Object.prototype.adBlocksFound,O) youtube.com##+js(set,ytplayer.config.aras.raw_player_response.adPlacements,[]) youtube.com##+js(set,Object.prototype.hasAllowedlnstreamAd,true)

! YT Homepage - Hide the Shorts section youtube.com##[is-shorts] ! YT Menu - Hide the Shorts button www.youtube.com###guide [title="Shorts"], .ytd-mini-guide-entry-renderer[title="Shorts"] ! YT Search - Hide Shorts www.youtube.com##ytd-search ytd-video-renderer [overlay-style="SHORTS"]:upward(ytd-video-renderer) ! YT Search and Channels - Hide the Shorts sections www.youtube.com##ytd-reel-shelf-renderer ! YT Channels - Hide the Shorts tab www.youtube.com##ytd-browse[page-subtype="channels"] [role="tab"]:nth-of-type(3):has-text(Shorts) ! YT Subscriptions - Hide Shorts - Grid View www.youtube.com##ytd-browse[page-subtype="subscriptions"] ytd-grid-video-renderer [overlay-style="SHORTS"]:upward(ytd-grid-video-renderer) ! YT Subscriptions - Hide Shorts - List View www.youtube.com##ytd-browse[page-subtype="subscriptions"] ytd-video-renderer [overlay-style="SHORTS"]:upward(ytd-item-section-renderer) ! YT Subscriptions - New Layout - Hide Shorts www.youtube.com##ytd-browse[page-subtype="subscriptions"] ytd-rich-item-renderer [overlay-style="SHORTS"]:upward(ytd-rich-item-renderer) ! YT Sidebar - Hide Shorts www.youtube.com###related ytd-compact-video-renderer [overlay-style="SHORTS"]:upward(ytd-compact-video-renderer)

! YT Mobile - Hide the Shorts Menu button m.youtube.com##.pivot-shorts:upward(ytm-pivot-bar-item-renderer) ! YT Mobile - Hide Shorts sections m.youtube.com##ytm-reel-shelf-renderer ! YT Mobile - Hide Shorts in search results m.youtube.com##ytm-search ytm-video-with-context-renderer [data-style="SHORTS"]

!(Font Size fix) youtube.com###video-title.ytd-rich-grid-media, #video-title.ytd-rich-grid-slim-media:style(font-size: 1.4rem !important; line-height: 2rem !important;) youtube.com###metadata-line.ytd-video-meta-block:style(font-size: 0.9rem !important; line-height: 1.8rem !important;)

! YouTube Fix & Customization v1.7! (1-2/12) YouTube 4 Videos Per Row Fix (Home and Channel Pages) youtube.com##ytd-rich-grid-renderer:style(width: 80% !important; padding-left: 50px !important; padding-right: 1px !important;) youtube.com##ytd-rich-grid-row, #contents.ytd-rich-grid-row:style(display:contents !important;) youtube.com##ytd-rich-grid-renderer:style(--ytd-rich-grid-items-per-row: 6 !important;)`

They will never win. They will only lose.

I'd love it if Youtube would make ads stick to strict standard The one I really had are the ads that are videos from content creator's channels that they put in as ads I don't want more than 30-60 seconds 20minutes, nope over an hour long ad, Fuck Right Off That shouldn't be allowed

I don’t want all the other crap that YT is offering with premium. $12/month is too much.

Looks like I'm installing Invidious tonight.

Anyone hoping there will be a mass exodus from YouTube to other--maybe fediverse YouTube alternatives, reminiscent of the Reddit exodus?

This doesn't sound great. I feel like this could possibly backfire on them. At the very least I would hope they would reduce the cost of youtube premium then. If you aren't sharing a family plan with friends it's really expensive

I look forward to the Revanced patch then.

This pretty much guarantees Chrome will push out Manifest v3 and kill ad-blocking in Chrome, though.

Big web corps are a wild ride lately

So you see YouTube, the thing is, I'm not gonna watch those stupid ads. I don't care how short or long, it's just not happening. No, not even the tip. I can use the site without watching the ads and maybe send links to my friends and they might give you some ad impressions. Or I can go do something else, get mad at Google and never spend another dollar at the play store and stuff. What do you think?

Lol. Guess it's time to add the rest of my subbed channels to YT-DL and ditch their shitty ad-filled site entirely.

And they're also trying to kill Invidious...

I think this is because YouTube pushed so much its shorts (tiktok knockoff) but they're not as profitable. My guesstimate is that at least 70% of traffic is in shorts now so longer content is rarely played along with longer ads

Eh. I used to be a YouTube junkie but honestly I’ve gone back to live TV, Hulu, Netflix, etc… I’m kinda over the whole YouTube thing.

People should develop a federated video hosting service. It will be expensive but I know the community can do it.

Let's all click on the link that says 'I feel like I'm falsely flagged' to give them some noise to work with.

The markets demand more profitability dude