[The_little_didgee]

I'm done with YouTube.

YouTube is getting aggressive with ad blockers. Since my last Firefox update, watching YouTube videos has become unpleasant. I'm getting constant notifications about my ad blocker. At first they could be closed immediately. Now they have a timer. YouTube is obviously trying to force me to disable my ad blocker or subscribe. I refuse to do both. Why?

1. I never paid to watch YouTube videos. Why should I now?

2. Watching ads on a video wrecks the entire experience, so I decided to get an ad blocker to clean up the experience.

3. Excessive censorship. If anyone disagrees with the narrative, they are automatically censored and assumed to be "ultra right wing", even though they are not. -- They are like Justin Trudeau!

This is the right time to leave.

Here are my alternatives:

I signed up for a streaming service, since I mainly used YouTube to listen to music and pod casts. I have no problem paying for it, because the service is superior and cheaper than YouTube's monthly subscription rate.

For news I can go to specific websites, which I already do.

Anything else like short and entertaining viral videos can be watched on other websites.

Anyone else giving up YouTube?

[eskielover]

Not yet....I mostly watch ones that don't have ads.....go figure. Maybe demonitized? Or they don't choose to be monitized by YT (?).

The same kind of thing happened to me recently. I've been on it that way for about five to six years, and after all that time, they just got to me. Why so long? There are articles about this and a lot of people commenting are very upset. So am I. I loved YouTube for what it had to offer but not now.

[The_little_didgee]

Originally Posted by eskielover

Not yet....I mostly watch ones that don't have ads.....go figure. Maybe demonitized? Or they don't choose to be monitized by YT (?).

How do you find videos that don't contain ads?

[The_little_didgee]

Originally Posted by will19

The same kind of thing happened to me recently. I've been on it that way for about five to six years, and after all that time, they just got to me. Why so long? There are articles about this and a lot of people commenting are very upset. So am I. I loved YouTube for what it had to offer but not now.

I read YouTube put up with ad blockers until recently. Now, they are trying to force people to subscribe by torturing them with ads, some of which can be longer than the videos.

They are so aggressive with ads. If they change their approach, I will return. I don't mind watching one 30 second ad per video.

I refuse to pay for a service that I never paid for before. How much more profit does Google need to make?

It took them 10 years to go after me and my ad blocker.

One way to work around the notifications is to watch YouTube videos posted on other websites. For example funny animal videos
can be watched on websites dedicated to that genre. Obviously choice is limited but it is better than sitting through ads that are twice as long as a video.

[eskielover]

Originally Posted by The_little_didgee

How do you find videos that don't contain ads?

Probably the kind I watch....they only demonitize certain kinds. I don't watch movies often. No TV so use my phone & watching movies on my phone isn't the greatest. Also I live in the country & slow internet where I live so buffering is worse than ads

[felineangel]

I only really use youtube now as a way of listening to music i loved as a kid/teenager, as the alternative is getting CDs with the music on, then having to get a CD player

[MuddyBoots]

I really only go on YouTube for yoga videos or some music (like if I want to listen to a specific song because I only have free Spotify where you can't choose songs, or live streams that go forever without ads) so I have no reason to give it up.