# YouTube "forbidding" ad blockers. Concerns, if any? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493 "2023-10-13T04:54:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/321 "2024-01-09T01:40:30Z")
I had to watch youtube on my Roku for the first time in probably 2 years (instead of a PC). I was figuring it was going to be ad hell. Not bad at all. 2 minutes in an hour. And the last one was for edibles. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/322 "2024-01-09T07:04:04Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > I feel like Google/YT has given up the fight. I think it more likely that they did very little in the last couple weeks was because it was the Christmas/New Years holiday season. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/323 "2024-01-09T09:12:36Z")
Or they are just cycling who’s in the crosshairs. I haven’t had any intrusions since the initial hoo-ha blew over. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/324 "2024-01-12T14:22:46Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > I feel like Google/YT has given up the fight. I don’t think so. More likely they converted some, a win, some paid a BIG win!, and many the rest were leaving the google platform, beefing up ad blocker defenses- a loss. So they took a pause for now to count their money and bide their time till the next version of browser standards are implemented which will castrate many of the ad-blocking methods, as they prepare for the second round. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/325 "2024-01-12T14:49:53Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > I feel like Google/YT has given up the fight. I just got the warning again this morning on my Chromebook. You’d think they’d leave Chromebook users alone, since we’re already so invested in their universe. I turned off uBlock and reported it as an issue and it seems to be working again, with uBlock turned on. I tried installing Brave as an Android app and got very weird results – blank screens after the video started, hangups. Then, I tried installing Brave in the built-in Linux environment on the Chromebook. It seemed to install fine, but there’s no sound. So, I tried Firefox in that environment and also no sound. There’s something weird with sound on Chromeos Linux that I haven’t been able to solve yet. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/326 "2024-01-12T15:51:53Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > bide their time till the next version of browser standards are implemented which will castrate many of the ad-blocking methods I haven’t heard of this, but it sounds like BS. You have any details on this? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/327 "2024-01-12T15:59:04Z")
> **[Google Chrome will limit ad blockers starting June 2024](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/11/google-chrome-will-limit-ad-blockers-starting-june-2024/)** > > The "Manifest V3" rollout is back after letting tensions cool for a year. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/328 "2024-01-12T16:05:08Z")
Yep, bullshit. Firefox will gain a lot of users mid year. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/329 "2024-01-12T16:10:06Z")
Brave is claiming they will also be able to continue to block ads using their internal blocker, but they are less specific about third-party extensions. I really have to get sound working in Linux on my Chromebook. If ad blockers stop working in Chrome, I’m done with it. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/330 "2024-01-13T19:53:42Z")
This is new (to me). I am using Firefox with uBlock Origin. It has worked great at blocking YouTube ads. But, today, while the ads are still blocked, YouTube keeps pausing over and over and over and over again. If I click somewhere on the timeline of the video it plays instantly but, a few seconds later, goes into the pause/buffering mode. So, maybe my internet is glitchy. Nope. YouTube plays with no problem if I embed the URL into something like Slack. No ads there, plays with no problem. I need to test more but this has me worried. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/331 "2024-01-13T23:01:08Z")
Just now I discovered that Chrome seems to have removed my uBlock. anyone else seeing that? I’m trying to figure out just where it went, but youtube sure has ads in my face right now ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/332 "2024-01-13T23:16:40Z")
OK, I had to reinstall uBlock and now youtube is behaving itself without demanding I shut down my adblocker or giving ads. For now. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2024, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/333 "2024-01-14T17:34:14Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > YouTube keeps pausing over and over and over and over again. > **[YouTube begins new wave of slowdowns for users with ad blockers enabled](https://9to5google.com/2024/01/13/youtube-new-wave-slow-downs-ad-blocker/)** > > YouTube recently started slowing down its entire site whenever ad blockers are used. A new wave of slowdowns is hitting... ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2024, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/334 "2024-01-14T20:09:57Z")
If they’d done that instead of the popups, they might have gained more ground. Just spreading a story to the effect ‘Due to technical limitations, user experience of playback quality and performance may be improved by disabling your ad blocker’ would, I think, have caused less of a sensation than popups telling people off for using ad blockers. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/335 "2024-01-15T03:16:25Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > I had the joy of getting to watch the ad for some snake oil to activate my amygdala! I can’t believe how scamy some of the ads are. An electric heater that can heat a room from 55 to 75 in 2 minutes using “hardly any electricity”. Really YouTube… This is your new money making scheme? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/336 "2024-01-15T16:45:29Z")
And here it is again (12 minutes). No solution, just recognizing it is happening. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/SkRlfB_iz3E/maxresdefault.jpg "Ad Blockers Beware: YouTube's Latest Move to Slow Down Your Videos") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkRlfB_iz3E) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/337 "2024-01-15T16:51:33Z")
At my work, the ads play but immediately jump to the end. Anyone know how they are able to do that? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/338 "2024-01-15T16:52:48Z")
> [@dougrb](#): > > An electric heater that can heat a room from 55 to 75 in 2 minutes using “hardly any electricity”. Really YouTube That one really grinds my gears. Electric heaters pretty much can’t be less than 100% efficient, just because every other electric machine, when it’s being _inefficient_, is being a heater. Heat is where the loss happens. If you _set out_ to create heat, there is no loss. I mean, also, because _amateur engineer secretly upturned the whole industry_ is such a meme at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/339 "2024-01-15T16:56:07Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > At my work, the ads play but immediately jump to the end. Anyone know how they are able to do that? Sponsor Block. Works really well, but relies on people to tell it where the beginning and end of the ads/promos are. So, it works as long as those tags are in place, but really new (or not as popular) videos won’t always be tagged yet. What I’ve wanted to see with something like this is for it to skip the ads (as it already does), but play them in a muted pop under window. That way I don’t have to watch them, but the youtuber still gets the credited for it. > **[SponsorBlock - Skip Sponsorships on YouTube – Get this Extension for 🦊...](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sponsorblock/)** > > Download SponsorBlock - Skip Sponsorships on YouTube for Firefox. Easily skip YouTube video sponsors. When you visit a YouTube video, the extension will check the database for reported sponsors and automatically skip known sponsors. You can also... ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493/340 "2024-01-15T17:12:47Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I mean, also, because _amateur engineer secretly upturned the whole industry_ is such a meme at this point. The heater nonsense is just a symptom of the massive failure of education in basic science. It’s become quite acceptable to say “oh, I don’t need to understand that science and math stuff”. > **[Carl Sagan Quote](https://www.azquotes.com/quote/256793)** > > We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-forbidding-ad-blockers-concerns-if-any/991493.md?page=18)