this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2025
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[–] rdri@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

"I've found a workaround"

Workaround (according to article): "First of all, YouTube Premium"

The actual workaround (according to article): "Two words: uBlock Origin. Yes, I know that Google has blocked it from its Chrome Extension store, but there is still a way to get uBlock Origin on Chrome"

Seems like they are being paid by Google. Actual workaround should be to drop Chrome.

[–] n3cr0@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Just stick with Firefox and uBlock Origin.

[–] CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Or even better, Librewolf.

[–] RageAgainstTheRich@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Honest question, but what makes librewolf BETTER? In firefox you can easily toggle off the studies telemetry bullshit in the settings. Librewolf is just firefox with those things ripped out right?

[–] chunes@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

This is what makes Librewolf better.

[–] lightnegative@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

I mean, Firefox + uBlock Origin + SponsorBlock makes YouTube usable without giving Google more money

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

The workaround: Switch from Adblock Plus to uBlock Origin.

ABP has had random issues that break it often for years now. It's crap.

[–] zqps@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 months ago

ABP has also been owned and run by a shady investment firm for the past decade.

[–] ohshit604@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

The workaround

Quit using YouTube directly and proxy your request through an Invidious instance.

Your requests are mixed in with everyone else’s, ad’s are blocked and most importantly only 1 machine touches YouTube directly and that’s the server hosting Invidious.

[–] nasi_goreng@lemmy.zip 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Not a solution for most people, unfortunately...

[–] ohshit604@sh.itjust.works -1 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Could you elaborate on why not?

[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Most people don't even know what Invidious is, let alone the fact that there are other video hosting sites that aren't youtube (Vimeo, for one).

Invidious is always breaking, too, and most people will stop using it when that happens.

We are talking about most people, not the absolutely tiny minority of technical users who are aware that such a thing as Invidious even exists.

[–] OmegaSunkey@ani.social 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

You see how often growing youtubers complain about more than 85% of their viewers are not subscribed to the channel, or how just some videos have more views than their main content? The issue is that Invidious doesn't have the algorithm Youtube provides to everyone, and that not a lot of people really watch their subscribed page.

[–] ohshit604@sh.itjust.works -1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

You see how often growing youtubers complain about more than 85% of their viewers are not subscribed to the channel, or how just some videos have more views than their main content?

I actually don’t watch a whole lot of YouTube anymore so I can’t really comment on this here.

The issue is that Invidious doesn't have the algorithm Youtube provides to everyone,

But isn’t this what people are trying to avoid when it comes to digital privacy? User data being used in less algorithms?

[–] projektilski@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Who uses Adblock Plus? Isn't uBlock Origin (Lite) the shit to go to?

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

ublock origin non-lite is the shit to go to

[–] projektilski@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Lite was delibaretly in brackets :)

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I see, but lite is much less effective. google has worked hard to make it lose its capabilities. it may still be effective at blocking youtube ads (though as it cannot use frequently updatable blocklists it probably has a higher delay for fixes when something breaks), but it cannot have specific rules for less popular sites, because of chrome's low limit on allowed filtering rules, and even though it can hide ads, that's not the sole function of ublock origin. ubo is a complex content blocker, with versatile tools to defuse site tracking on lots of websites. lite cannot do that anymore effectively, because both its capabilities have been reduced (e.g. it cannot edit network traffic anymore I think), and the number of filtering rules that it can load.

and even before lite, ubo could not be as effective on chrome as on firefox, because of slight differences in the extension api, with not so slight practical differences.

[–] projektilski@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 months ago

yeah, lite is worse, no arguing there

Luckily I use Maxthon which stll supports uBlock Oriigin non Lite. When it stopps, Firefox here we go :)

[–] Wappen@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Is this a sponsored article? Bc buying yt premium doesn't seem like a workaround to me.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I think you stopped scrolling too early

That said though, there is one ad blocker that still works. Two words: uBlock Origin. Yes, I know that Google has blocked it from its Chrome Extension store, but there is still a way to get uBlock Origin on Chrome that our how-to extraordinaire Kaycee has detailed.

They even link to what I assume is that process.

But...

It costs the same as Spotify

I used Google Play music and it was awesome, when it shuttered I tried Spotify and didn't like it.

YouTube premium is worth it just for music on your phone/car, getting YouTube ad free is kind of just a bonus. But there's a couple podcasts I watch on there, and I've found a couple really good channels for all the crazy science stuff that's been happening. Not to mention a lot of UK shows upload full episodes, and there's more than one account that somehow uploads full runs of shows after being upscaled to 4k.

I really don't understand why so many people are against YouTube premium. It makes sense if someone just pirates all their other media. But people pay for a music streamer and a couple TV streamers.... It seems like an arbitrary line.

Edit:

The article is from "toms guide" not "toms hardware".

The guide has every article like this where it reads like paid advertising. The "hardware" one is a good resource.

But yeah, pretty much anything from "tomsguide" is going to read like paid advertising for something. I legit don't know if they're affiliated or it's a ripoff site built to confuse people with the "hardware" site.

[–] clot27@lemmy.zip -1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

This may not get well recieved but yt premium is worth the money imho, but again I dont wanna pay those evil corpos.

[–] tinned_tomatoes@feddit.uk -1 points 3 months ago

I think it's decent value but I'm already running extensions or mods to skip the in-video ads, so I may as well just block ads for free too.

If YouTube Premium ever got an official sponsorblock, it'd become a good deal.

[–] kahnclusions@lemmy.ca -1 points 3 months ago

Stop using Adblock Plus and start using Firefox with uBlock Origin.

If you’re on iOS, swallow your pride and install Brave and just turn off the crypto features. You’ll thank me later.