YouTube ads have always been a nuisance, even back when the platform only served its viewers one ad once every couple of videos. Now, there are two ads before each video and sometimes one after a video too. Plus, every video can serve many ads in between, depending on what the creators choose. It can cause interruptions every few minutes. Those constant interruptions don’t make for a smooth watching experience.
According to Google, YouTube made over $15.1 billion in ad revenue in 2019. Those are a lot of ads; some would even say an unreasonable amount of them. Want all those irritating ads to go away? Here are a few different ways to deal with YouTube ads.
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Block Ads on YouTube With an Adblocker
Ad blockers have become the new normal as people try to get away from the overwhelming amount of ads on websites. Some websites go overboard with the advertisements to the point where they become interruptive. YouTube falls under this category since the ads on the platform interrupt the user experience.
Thankfully, ad blockers work for YouTube as well. So if someone has an adblocker extension installed, then those pesky 5-second ads before and during videos are a thing of the past.
The official Adblock Plus extension should be everyone’s go-to in this case. It supports most browsers and devices, and the extension is super easy to install. There are many knock-offs on the market, but they contain malware more often than not, so avoid those.
Also, keep in mind that some ads can run malicious scripts if criminals created them. On top of that, advertisers still gather a lot of personal information about people and what they watch, especially via YouTube.
That may seem harmless. But this information is valuable to hackers as well. They can use it in targeted spear-phishing attacks or to commit identity fraud. So don’t install an adblocker and call it a day. Also, consider getting a VPN like NordVPN to stop tracking and spying too.
Sign up for YouTube Premium
Sure, advertisements are irritating, but they are there to help ensure that content creators get paid. If blocking ads doesn’t seem like a great option, then the next best thing to do is to buy YouTube Premium.
Not only does it unlock extra premium content, but it also ensures that creators get paid while doing away with ads. YouTube offers a one-month free trial, so try that out first and see how it goes. At $11.99 per month, it’s not too expensive, and it’s a worthwhile spend for those who still want to support content creators.
Download Videos and Watch Them Offline
It might not be the best solution for avoiding ads since downloading YouTube videos can be a pain by itself. But it’s still worth mentioning in case someone out there prefers it. There are tools like ClipGrab that allow people to download YouTube videos. But there’s an even easier solution that skips visiting another website or installing anything else.
Open up a YouTube video and insert “ss” into the URL before the “youtube” part (for example, https://www.ssyoutube.com/). Make sure that the URL contains the video permalink after the “.com/” part. The video page will then reload onto a new page where different download options are available.
Bonus: Creators Can Turn off Ads on Videos
Creators who don’t want annoying ads to break up their videos can opt-out of monetization. Of course, it means no money from YouTube. But not everyone creates videos as a source of income.
For those who want to turn ads off on their videos, here’s how it works:
- Go to YouTube and click on the profile icon at the top of the screen. Make sure the logged-in account is the one that owns the videos.
- Open up Creator Studio and go to the channel settings by clicking on the corresponding button from the left-hand menu.
- Select “Advanced” from the menu and uncheck the box next to “Allow advertisements to be displayed alongside my videos.”
It’s as easy as that. Keep in mind that this counts for all uploaded videos on the channel, as well as any that you plan to upload in the future.
The Bottom Line
YouTube ads may be a bothersome feature of watching videos. But it isn’t a necessary one. There are easy ways to deal with those ads that don’t affect the overall experience in any way. Take a look and pick one of the methods this guide provides.
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