How do I block ads on YouTube?

Is there a YouTube AdBlock that actually works?

I have AdBlock and AdBlock Plus and I get no ads.

I've tried disabling javascript, cookies, cache, everything in the browser and nothing works. Is there an alternative to AdBlock?

There are lots of alternatives. One is to use Firefox's add-on, the "NoScript". It lets you control what you allow to happen on the web. If you have a problem with something, you can just choose to not allow it to happen. You can also set up scripts that are allowed, but don't run automatically. There's an old script called "Worst thing for the web" that does a very good job of blocking a lot of stuff.

I'm guessing that you are using the adsense service. If you are, then you have to be ok with them having the rights to block your ads on a site that is hosted by google. I'm sorry, I don't know how else to put it.

I use Adblock and it works fine. The only issue I have is that I have to disable it everytime I visit a site that uses adsense, since it screws up the ads. So I would guess that Adblock doesn't work for you because it messes up the ads.

I don't think so.

Why is YouTube not allowing ad blockers?

"YouTube is taking advantage of their audience by forcing them to have ads on the site.

It's called 'freemium' and it's very annoying. As if your website shouldn't cost you any money."

That's Michael "Vincent Voice" Smith, a New York-based singer-songwriter who is known for penning hit songs like "Bennie and the Jets" (one of our favorite 80s cover songs), "How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down On the Farm", "I Wonder Who" and "Why Must You Be the Cause of My Sadness". Here he has an issue with how YouTube has "taken advantage of their audience by forcing them to have ads on the site."

This is one of those videos where a) I knew there had to be a reason why this kind of thing happens in the world and b) I knew what that reason is. But I also had an idea of how I was going to convey that without using caps. I've been working on it all week. I hope you all like it.

Michael Smith has some interesting points about his issue with freemium, but ultimately, it doesn't seem like a very good case. First, let's address a common misconception. Yes, YouTube does charge for its premium service (think: access to all the live streams, the ability to upload original videos, etc). But I don't think anyone is complaining about that. The problem seems to be the fact that you have to pay for a Google product to access the service.

We think a better argument would be if YouTube was giving away its service at no cost, but for the price of a fast internet connection. A better example of the problem with the freemium model might be Netflix.99 a month. Even though it costs you nothing to access Netflix, it still costs you something because they're basically taking the service away from you and limiting your options in order to make more money.

A different, but related example is music streaming services. Spotify is free, but you have to listen to whatever you want to hear for free or pay for a subscription.

Do ad blockers work on YouTube?

We've been told by Google to disable our ad blockers.

Does it work? The reason we get to you directly and not through Google is that our customers are more comfortable with us than Google, and in this case it seems to be working. However if you have a valid reason to believe that your ad blocker is preventing the display of ads (ie someone trying to fool the system) then we'd appreciate it if you contacted us. In that case we'd happily investigate it for you. If you believe that your ad blocker is working but displaying ads you don't want (ie pop-ups, auto playing audio or video), then we'd appreciate it if you'd also contact us.

The issue is that ad revenue and ad blocker evasion are not mutually exclusive. The best example is that the ad blocker doesn't make any difference to the effectiveness of an ad.

This is true. An ad blocker doesn't stop ads from being displayed. They just don't take up as much space on screen. And if a user doesn't block them then they won't appear anyway.

There's also the matter that there are other ways of making money, even if you're on a premium YouTube subscription. For instance, you can buy and sell items using the YouTube marketplace. You can also purchase advertising space. For some people, it's enough to just see if those methods work well enough to compensate for the fact that your ad blocker will reduce the space that an ad takes up.

So when I have an ad blocker on my computer, it actually makes it more likely that I will pay for access to an online service that uses ads, because I feel that the ads are interrupting my experience. How can Google then expect me to willingly disable my ad blocker? It seems that for the moment it is working. A lot of the people I know using ad blockers are also using Google Music, so as long as they're getting the music they want, then they're happy.

What the Google Play Music team has been doing is quite simple. They've been putting advertising in free content in such a way that it is not disruptive. When you start listening to a track you like, instead of showing a full ad, they show just enough of a preview of the ad to get you to click.