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Linus Tech Tips uploaded a video showing how to block ads on Youtube. Which was removed by Youtube for community guidelines violations.
(sh.itjust.works)
https://files.catbox.moe/a6111d.png / https://nitter.poast.org/LinusTech/status/1825956050685800834
If you go the video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsjHMzGl-VY. You will see it's gone. So Youtube being Youtube.
Here's a Odysee mirror of the video, https://odysee.com/@jopec:7/linus-tech-tips-degoogle-your-life-part-2-adfree-youtube:0.
How to "block" ads: Refresh the video multiple times. They will show a few different ads and then give up. It even works on console YT apps which have more ads.
I guess it affects impressions? I figured they would have fixed that, but this still works so whatever.
It's a user retention thing: if a user is reloading a video repeatedly while they're trying to serve an ad, there's (probably) something wrong with the ad server, so the best business move is to send them to the content they came to see, unmonetized, so that they will continue to use the platform in the future where you can monetize their future visits.
Found this on the YT app on Roku awhile back and it makes watching without browser-style ad blockers acceptable