YouTube's anti-adblock rollout has finally arrived for Firefox users
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 π‘οΈ uBO's icon > the β Dashboard button > the Filter lists pane > the π Purge all caches button > the π 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.
I was worried we'd be seeing waves of this kind of anti-user aggression from large websites. My hypothesis is that twitter is running an active experiment to see just how user-unfriendly you can make something with an established userbase / what level of profitability corresponds with what level of fuckiness.
YouTube n' friends have been watching from the sidelines and picking their own jaw up off the floor after seeing just how much the average user will bend over and take.
...which all makes me absolutely LOVE to see communities like this. Yo ho, motherfuckers!
I've just noticed that this is in c/piracy. I suppose there's lots of interest in the story here and everywhere else, but I'd just like to remind you all that ad-blocking is not piracy.
Like when OG AdBlock was created and there was an all-out race between individual websites and AdBlock?
Then OG AdBlock sold out and allowed "approved" ads to still show.
We are seeing history repeat. The only reason ads survived was due to increasing number of users who weren't using adblock.
Now, with market saturation, Google is starting to fight back.
I would absolutely love to see a revitalization on proxy software specifically designed to eliminate ads and tracking. I haven't looked into this in quite some time but I think we're crossing into this territory now.
The pessimist in me says to look out for a bill authored by Google to make adblocking illegal.
But the optimist in me says "the Internet sees censorship as damage and routes around it."
So annoyed at how all these services keep degrading for users. I was happy to pay for premium light. I don't need download/music/etc I just wanted no ads. Simple as that. The price was fairly reasonable and I would have kept paying it. Now they got rid of the premium light and I have to pay at least 50% more for additional things I don't and will not use.
Alright then, well you lost a customer and I'll just use AdBlock. And if you somehow figure out how to disable that, I'm just going to find content somewhere else. I'm fucking sick of ads. I'll pay a reasonable amount to remove them. But I will not be continually wrung out for more and more money. Just leave me alone.
Emphasis on #4 here - the anti-adblock will trigger if it detects any subpar adblocker, including e.g. Brave Browser's "Shields" thing (even if you also use uBlock Origin). Helped a friend figure this out lately and found out they were running 3 adblockers and Brave Browser. Some people are truly special.
I just replace youtube.com with piped.video all the time
Nobody should ever share data with american corpos - there is no example where corporations harvested data and anyone but the shareholders benefited. So for me it feels like a win whenever they fail.
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.
Maybe it is time that we start to write our favourite youtubers to start developing alternative means of distributing their videos. Patreon and so on.
I feel there will be a lot less people watching YouTube in the future and as a whole many youtubers will see their revenue drop significantly.
Watching YouTube as a whole will become less and less bearable. I watch videos without ads on my pc, but on mobile i use the app and endure the videos (for now) as the app is just nicer to use compared to the browser.
But if I have to see ads all the time (also these unskippable 20s ads) I think I'll simply stop using YouTube all together.
about 90% ofy YouTube use isn't neccessary at all. I'll just watch it, because I'm too lazy to do anything else.
I could be should read a book instead. Maybe others will do that too in the future?
PSA: skirting their attempts to block ad blockers if you have a Google account you would rather keep may be unwise.
Google has been known for banning people for stupid crap, and this checks all the boxes.
While they were silent on this topic there was a gentlemen's agreement that you could block ads. But now that they have voiced their opinion the jig is up.
I'd recommend people to use an alternative account if they are going to block anyway and they want to keep their gmail.
I wouldn't even mind giving some money to youtube if it was asking for donations or keep the the prices low and accessible, like $4 max per month to support the up keep)
YouTube could be one of the wonders of the world of we are looking at it at a content perspective.
It should be almost protected by UNESCO, if you ask me.. yes even the stupid stuff as it is a record of mankind.
But google instead of recognising the value, they got greedy.
humankin created a massive information library which google at some point decided to monetize.
We all know what happened to unity right, just as a recent example ? it doesn't take much to turn the users away, and I truly believe, even youtube can fail
That's way too much hassle. I guess, when the anti-adblock kicks in on my devices, I'll just stop watching YouTube. I have tons of better stuff to do anyway.
you excluded an important piece - YT has been updating their script (idk terminology) several times a day. so the instructions may not work. see the below -
I followed the 4 steps, but I'm still experiencing issues
The latest fix for anti-adblock was made on Oct 12, 2023 and currently corresponds to ID cc87ee3e *.
The ID mentioned above refers to YouTube's latest anti-adblock script. You can monitor it via this link: https://pastefy.app/G1Txv5su/raw (top to bottom = oldest to newest). This means that the current fix is matched with the script with corresponding ID.
If the latest ID (the last line) does NOT match the current one written above, it means YT has updated it recently and you may encounter anti-adblock again. PLEASE DO NOT REPORT IN THIS CASE.
If the ID does match and you still get anti-adblock, kindly repeat the 4 steps above. Thank you.
Uninstalling + reinstalling uBO, then force updating all your filter lists like in step #3 may also help.
I wonder what made youTube decide to fix this loophole? These days the vast majority of people use phone apps or smart TVs to watch. The number of people using Firefox plus ad blockers must be quite small and it'll be a constant effort to keep updating their anti ad block algorithms.
I started using freetube for linux a month or so ago. This is so much better than native youtube. The entire interface is smoother, I get less "loading" moments (none really) and it does not try and constantly reduce my resolution by "auto adjusting". No ads, no BS. Just better all around.
Maybe not right now. Maybe not next year. But they've decided to make everybody miserable, for a "business" that still won't cause enough misery to turn a profit.
Meanwhile creators are censored worse than broadcast TV. Nevermind the effective ban on swearing - they can't even reference concepts without a surveillance program declaring that their latest video doesn't count, even though they'll still slap ads all over that bitch.
Those people have things they want to share with an audience that wants to see. Any middleman can either help, or become irrelevant. Bandwidth is cheap. Some creators are just in it for the money... but the money is bad, on Youtube, and it's getting worse. Patreon is more direct and far less stupid. As with all these lumbering ruins of 2010s internet media, the network effect of being the default will keep them relevant for a while, no matter what they do. Twitter's on fire and it's still not dead. But its prospects sure aren't getting better... and not because people changed.
People are sadly predictable. These idiot robots exploit that masterfully, to a point, and then act bewildered when more pressure stops making more money. Like they forgot we can just leave.
If YouTube stops my adblockers working the only thing, and I mean the ONLY thing it will mean, is Iβll never watch another YouTube video as long as I live
For those using Safari, a simple custom browser stylesheet with a few styles is all you need, and is undetectable, as anti-adblock works with javascript, so no pesky βWhy you blocking the ads? Mimimimimiβ¦β
So far, I've seen nothing on Firefox -- but I am getting some minor hiccups on ReVanced which seem to be consistent with the influence of the AdBlock detection. Stuff like playback stopping after 3 videos until I unpause it, probably coming from the pop-up appearing.
Thank the good god for the incredible folks maintaining uBlock origin.
Edit: and ReVanced, and SmartTube, and Newpipe, and everything... But especially uBlock origin. That thing is a security necessity.
Disable all other extensions AND your browserβs built-in blockers. <== No need to uninstall, just disable them. They might interfere with our solutions.
Is this just privacy-adjacent extensions, like privacybadger and disconnect, youtube-altering like sponsorblock and clickbait remover, all extensions, or some combination of the possibilities? All extensions seems a little extreme.
edit: May have answered my own question. Skipped step 4 and restarted my browser and no popup after loading a couple videos.
Edit The Second [Sadness Remix]: Got the popup again :( Guess it's on a timer for how often it comes up. I'll disable my youtube addons and report back. Already removed all privacy addons that aren't uBlock at recommendation of others.
I was thinking of experimenting with a Firefox extension that upon hitting a YouTube page, it just launches yt-dlp [url] && mpv [downloaded file]. Is there any interest here in that sort of thing?
@Flatworm7591 Many people will refuse to pay the high price of YouTube Premium or suffer through multiple pre and midroll adverts. It could lead to many abandoning the platform entirely.
I think the way forward is self or federated hosting. The time of YouTube may finally be coming to a close. @neil
youtube seems to be making changes as fast as the ublock people are so if it doesn't seem to work you might have to wait for the ublock volunteers to catch up again.
I've been using ad block for years now and today I started seeing the message. I added an overlay blocker extension as per another user here and so far that's working. Didn't have to uninstall anything.
This is interesting:
The Blocker works on Windows-x86-Firefox but NOT on my Linux-x86-Firefox or any ARM-Device. It seems Google holds back very carefully not to overblock. Can someone try if the Browser-Identifier does influence this behaviour?
I got a notice that was closable with an upper-left corner βοΈ after which I couldn't reproduce the pop-up and watched videos unimpeded.
I'll continue to report developments.
0039 PST 2023-10-13 ETA So the last two days, I'd get the YouTube warning, close it, and do the purge-update dance on uBlock Origin, and wouldn't get the pop-up until hours later. Is that because I didn't do it right, but the pop-up is only set to appear every few hours? Or is it because YouTube keeps fighting, and uBlock Origin keeps updating? I don't know.
The pop-up warning is not appearing on any of my youtube devices, for which I've done no updates (and watch videos from Firefox for Android with uBlock. Note that I've turned off other adblockers, but not NoScript. Dunno if that makes a difference.
It's said no one said users could move to other platforms like dailymotion - I know it's irrilevant nowadays compared to youtube, but from time to time I find good videos there
I'm on AdNauseum and not uBO because I like the idea of actively resisting advertising culture and protesting through obfuscation, etc. So might not work for me
i use ublock globally on youtube but also use youtube channel whitelist for channels i subscribe too or particular care for along with sponsorblock and it works out well
I wonder if people would consider purchasing YouTube Premium with Turkish Liras ethical. For example - alt account buys YouTube Premium (around 59.99 TRY - 2.16 USD) and can add 4 more people to the family, so each person pays only about 54 cents per month.
Invidious works for me (https://invidious.io/). It blocks ads by default but I can imagine youtube starting to integrate the ads in the videos like streaming services that you just can't skip
If i have adblockers enabled and pay for premium(yeah, i only do it because creators get a decent slice and i can't be arsed to chip into everyone's Patreon or whatever) will i still see the anti-adblock message?
Just got my first pop-up on Linux.
Interestingly on Firefox with uBlock it still plays, no ads. However, on LibreWolf with uBlock it keeps endlessly loading the video ad for Grammarly but it wont play.
I know they exist and I always forget which the good ones are, but what are the good YouTube alternatives? I know some people I watch upload to both YouTube and another platform.
I've been fine for a while, then as soon as I read this post, I start getting the warning. Time to move to an alternative. Might try and revitalize my old newsboat/yt-dl set up again
I've started encountering the ad-blocker blocker myself over the past few days, but fortunately it proves to be terrible at its job in my experience, as a small X allows it to be dismissed after 3 or 5 seconds, which is outright better than waiting for the 5 seconds plus load time of a skippable ad, or the many more seconds of an unskippable ad or two. This might be useful for me if they ever decide to remove the ability to dismiss the ad-blocker blocker, though.
Thanks, it is turning into endless battle like DMR vs hacker groups back in the day . Well at least YouTube alternatives will get more users and creators.
I was getting the banner and eventually it just stopped me watching. Clearing the filter cache and then updating them again worked for me. It took a browser restart though.
I think I'm going to go ahead and do a let's play for peer tube in order to help promote YouTube alternatives. So I look forward to a let's play of Phoenix Wright I guess
I've noticed when I browse YT on Firefox with uBlock origin (usually for non-YPP channels or game OST videos I don't really want anyone profiting off of), everything grays out after a second. Currently I can click f to go full screen and remove that, but I don't think this workaround will work for long.
I mean, I saw the warnings, but still could close them and keep watching them. Still, I ended up getting Premium to support YT streamers I watch without ads. It's either that or that YouTube dies with a domino effect on the industry of small time streamers. I watch it far more than Netflix or Disney Plus, and have payed zero cents for the convenience of adblock. I'll still keep it installed to use with other Google accounts, but I have no problem paying.
I can understand the people that are angry because a service that has been free for so long begins charging, but don't be disingenuous and begin saying that the service doesn't cost anything to maintain, or worse, that the whole business model is nonviable when it's asking about the same for premium as other streaming services that have been having no problem existing, specially when the money coming out of those services should be in recent memory considering it was one of the major points regarding the writer's strike (getting a cut from streaming).
People really don't like video creators getting paid huh...
And this is coming from a pirate that's fine screwing over huge corporations. I really enjoy the work of a lot of YouTubers and love supporting them instead of standard cable.
This is gonna be a very bitter pill for everyone to swallow, and I realise that I'm posting this on a pro-piracy community and am about to get eviscerated for this take.
Stop being cheapskates.
Video hosting costs a lot of money and this is a core reason why there's so little competition in the video sharing and livestreaming market. YouTube is probably a gigantic loss-leader for Alphabet.
Tonnes of competitors have come and gone in this space. Blip TV, Dailymotion, VidMe, Own3D, Azubu, Hitbox, SmashCast, etc. Even in terms of current competitors, the only live streaming platforms now available are either bankrolled by shady crypto gambling sites (Kick), hardline pro free speech right wingers (Rumble), or are the main two (Twitch and YouTube.)
Don't get me wrong, Google have been incredibly aggressive with pushing ads on every single video to the point where the platform is borderline unusable with ads. But this doesn't give you the God-given right to freeload off of Google's servers.
Either pay for Premium ($13.99/month isn't even that pricey) or stop using the site.
Y'all are part of the reason why so many YouTubers have to resort to shilling crappy mobile games and shady services in every single one of their vids.
Guys, we fucking get it. You hate mainstream apps like reddit but the solutions aren't on Lemmy until someone finds them elsewhere like reddit.
Do we really need to emphasize our hate for something every damn time we make a post. Thanks for the solution but why couldn't you have just posted the solution.
God I hate Lemmy, they want a bigger user base to stay away from content controlled by big corps and to move to federated content but will shove their ideals on the community every time and that is what keeps pushing people wanting to stay here away. We don't need to hear about FOSS and Linux every time. And we get it. We hate reddit that is why the user base moved here.