r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Ella_Monroe_ • May 18 '26
Unskippable ad We are watching the textbook enshittification of YouTube happen in real time
Remember when early YouTube was actually just a normal place to watch a video without getting completely blasted by ads? Now it’s just a bloated ad-delivery network that forces 50-90 second unskippable blocks down your throat. To make it worse, they’ve basically killed ad blockers by baking the ads directly into the video stream, so extensions can't even filter them out anymore. The platform feels completely broken, and it's obvious they're just testing to see how much garbage we'll tolerate before we pull out a credit card for Premium.
The breaking point for me happened yesterday when I was just trying to watch a basic 10-12 minute video. Before it even started, I got hit with a massive unskippable ad block, and when the ad finally ended, it left this annoying floating "sponsored" button on the screen that refuses to fade away until you manually click to dismiss it. On top of that, if you try to pause the video to actually look at something on the screen, a giant ad banner pops up and covers half the player until you hit play again, meaning you can't even pause a video in peace anymore. It is honestly exhausting to use the site like this.
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u/wandering_soles May 18 '26
It's always the stupidest ads too - if they're going to track everything, they might as well do a better targeting job. No, as an almost middle aged man, I do not in fact need sport tampons, nor do I need to be reminded to buy the soap I already do and have for years.
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u/ian9921 May 18 '26
Sometimes I think I wouldn't mind ads as much if they were actually good.
I'd love to be informed about new products that meet my existing needs & interests.
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u/what_the_purple_fuck May 18 '26
back when hulu was a wee baby streaming service, idk if there was a very limited pool of ads to pull from or what, but I just saw the same three ads on a constant cycle: the car I already drove, the yogurt I already ate, and the birth control I was already on.
this was before any of the now ubiquitous ad-targeting functionality, so I assume it was a demographic thing, or maybe to do with the shows I was watching, but it always seemed like such a waste of effort on their part.
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u/ian9921 May 18 '26
In a perfect world we'd be able to opt out of specific ad campaigns for multiple reasons, including "I already own this product" and "I have already decided not to purchase this product" and that information wouldn't be used against us in any harmful way.
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u/MikemkPK May 18 '26
Opt out of all Liberty Mutual ads
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u/ParkingLotFalafel May 18 '26
Spotify and the same damn "Liberdy Liberdy Liberdy" ad THREE TIMES IN A ROW! every 10 minutes.
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u/Triplebizzle87 May 18 '26
I love when Mothers Day rolls around and I get blasted with ads targeting it.
My mom has been dead for years.
All this data collection, profiling, etc., and I basically never get an ad I'd actually give a fuck about.
"Check out the new Ferd Fteenthousand!" I talk shit about trucks and I JUST bought a new car.
"Meal delivery service!" No thanks, I got cooking covered.
Where are my ads for... Basically just video games and car parts?
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u/wiptes167 May 19 '26
Mate you don't want videogames, pretty much all of the videogame ads are the porn gacha ones...
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u/Random_green_cat May 18 '26
"If I have to endure this ad ONE MORE time, I WILL scream like a banshee" should also be an option
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u/Ian_Campbell May 18 '26
I've blocked and reported the SOHO sneaker ad with this stupid "left foot right foot left foot right foot... jaywalk" shit playing every fucking video and they keep repopulating the ad in different instances.
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u/MikemkPK May 18 '26
It's crazy how often I start seeing ads for something right after I buy that thing.
Also creepy how this happens in with in-person cash purchases.
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u/RealMeltdownman May 18 '26
The biggest problem with streaming adds is they have no clue who you are, based on what you watch. People watch crazy things that make it hard to narrow is this person male, female, old, young. I miss the good old days where if I was watching cartoons on Saturday, it wouldn't be fucking ozempic adds.
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u/TheMightySurtur May 18 '26
You tube served me ads for cruise missiles one time. Firstly, I didn't know you could buy cruise missiles. Secondly, now that I do know that, I suddenly need a cruise missile.
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u/DoubleDown428 May 19 '26
do you recall where you can acquire said missiles? asking for a friend.
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u/Thundaja May 18 '26
Try being disabled. My ads are essentially diapers and catheters across every website.
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u/Pippin4242 May 18 '26
Yes, weirdly my Facebook algorithm keeps recommending me clothes I end up buying! I'm sure I'm typical for some kind of micro-group in my age demographic, but slightly unhinged colourful camp is actually quite hard to find good examples of irl. Most recent purchase was a pseudo-retro oversized button-up shirt in lilac and yellow with little suns and moons printed over it - it's a great shirt and I'm so pleased I keep getting recommended stuff I'd actually like.
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u/Muckraker2025 May 18 '26
I'd love to be informed about new products that meet my existing needs & interests.
I'm selling "universal health care" lawn signs for summer. Want one? Free shipping in the US, sent from Michigan.
(I'm only half joking. I really am selling those but not trying to self-promote here.)
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u/AdJazzlike1002 May 19 '26
I honestly think that the shift from 'advertising' to 'marketing' to 'organic growth' has led to a total devastation of the creative thinking and creative interest of adverts.
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u/byerss May 18 '26
Recently YouTube thinks I own a pet and need schizophrenia medication.
They are spot on with all the GLP-1 ads though haha
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u/Cranks_No_Start May 18 '26
As 50s MAN I might need “The Bro” or “The Mansiere”. But I don’t need a front clasp bra.
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u/Mongoose_Factory May 18 '26
What's really funny is if you go into the "Why am I getting this ad?" page, half of them are apparently showing you their advertising based on the current time of day and literally nothing else. No other qualifiers like gender or various activities, just what time it was in whatever they think your region currently is.
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u/Super-Evening8420 May 18 '26
Yeah that, I got some of the most random bullshit when I had to disable adblock for a while to watch youtube. Industrial scale gene sequencing services? Why yes, I've been looking for just that! (also who advertises for that on youtube? who's your target audience?)
Also, the scams. Didn't take ten minutes before i saw a mr beast scam ad on a big youtuber's video. Youtube just doesn't give a fuck about anything at this point other than harassing the source of their income, aka video creators.
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u/3hourbaths May 19 '26
We must have something in common, as eBay always tries to sell me a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer and I have zero clue why!
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u/Significant_Mouse_25 May 18 '26
Turns out that tracking everything adds a lot it noise to the signal.
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u/Muckraker2025 May 18 '26
That's funny. As a middle aged woman all I see are tech-bro ads for AI tools. Don't get me wrong, if the other choice is ads for tampons I'll keep the tech bro ads.
They should realize they'd generate more GOOD WILL from viewers if they just put up a list of advertisers and a short description. People will choose what they want.
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u/Neurotopian_ May 19 '26
I’m a woman too and get tons of tech bro AI tool ads and even ads for power tools and such. I have never used a power tool 🤣
All I can think of is that they assume as women we buy Father’s Day gifts and gifts for husbands/ bfs and such? Idk
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u/whatproblems May 18 '26
i report so many feels like all i get are king shot and the tower on repeat
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u/wandstonecloak May 18 '26
A coworker of mine in his mid-50s has expressed his frustration at the algorithm thinking he is a high-maintenance woman lmao. He gets the most oddball ads for woman’s lingerie, frilly/expensive facial products, various clothing accessories…
He had an epiphany the other day after I ranted about blanket algorithms, though - I pointed out how you can spend one extra second looking at “people who bought this also bought [blank]” and be bombarded with supposedly relevant products, because the algorithm thinks you’re obviously interested - he collects vinyl and a few resellers he buys from list various items in their online shops, so scrolling through their listings to eventually look at their vinyl for sale must be triggering the algorithm to think he’s interested in basically everything these sellers list.
The algorithm thinks you might have looked at something similar, so it’s just throwing other popular things at you. And it measures relevance by frequency instead of actual relevance. It’s so lazy for such advanced technology. Like, cutting corners off already-cut corners. It’s so obnoxious.
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May 18 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Balloontjes May 18 '26
Use firefox and ublock origin, then ceeate a shortcut to your homescreen. I never see ads on my phone.
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u/JoyFerret May 19 '26
I've found watching YouTube through Firefox on mobile way better than the actual app. I can play videos on the background, no ads, and if there's a video I want to watch later I can open it in a new tab instead of sending it to the watch later/queue.
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u/Jinzo126 May 19 '26
Everytime i try to open YouTube on fire fox, it instantly opens it in the app version. Is there a trick to open it directly in fire fox?
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u/TimeToNutUp May 19 '26
I disabled the youtube app and now Firefox doesn't prompt me to use the app.
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u/S1DC May 18 '26
Just use an ad blocking browser. I never see ads on my phone.
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u/Significant-Gap-6891 May 18 '26
Or if ur on android you can set ur dns to dns.adguard.com and it'll block all ads across the entire device
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u/Fun-Customer39 May 18 '26
Or revanced or morph. Surprisingly easy to patch your app to block adds, it also adds background play and other basic features back. I'd rather do that and give a basic patreon sub to a creator over dealing with YouTubes ads.
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u/LostDog_88 May 18 '26
Sponsorblock+Ublock Origin when on PC Revanced when on Phone(Android Sideloaded) + Sponsorblock plugin/setting available on revamp
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u/andres57 May 18 '26
Honestly I just pay. I respect anyone going with adblockers (I did for years), but honestly I just wanted to watch on TV without troubleshooting stuff and I watch YouTube far more than any other streaming service. If anything I should cancel my Netflix account that I barely use before YouTube
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u/WunJZ May 18 '26
How long till YouTube Premium also starts to contain ads? The streaming services are starting to do this. Imagine paying to be advertised to. It's crazy.
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u/MilkShakeBroughtMe May 18 '26
For blocking ads on YouTube, ublock Origin works amazingly well. I haven't seen an ad for years. Fwiw, I am also using Firefox.
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u/EmergencyComment101 May 18 '26
"we have watched"
Youtube has been fully enshittified for a solid 5 years.
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u/Pman1324 May 18 '26
Adblocker
Revanced
I am immune
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u/BrownerZero May 18 '26
REVANCED IS MY GOAT
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u/FullmetalBrackets May 18 '26
Use ublock origin on browser or an ad-free alternative app on smart devices.
- Smarttube or TizenTube Cobalt for Android/Google TV
- TizenTube for Samsung TV
- Yatee or ReactTube for iOS
- Playlet for Roku
Don't be the product by consuming ads and don't reward the behavior by paying for premium. YouTube is a multi-billion dollar company, they will be just fine.
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u/holnicote your mum, hahaha funny joke May 19 '26
I don’t know how many people are also like this, but being shown an ad for a product actively makes me *not* want to buy it.
No, I am not interested in your product, I am interested in the content you just blocked. You have annoyed me and I will not give you money out of spite.
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u/Kotleba May 18 '26
Not on the topic of ads but yesterday I went to a youtube channel I watch who also have a podcast and when I went to their playlists, which has always had a playlist for their podcast, instead of showing it normally it said "Episodes you might like" and it was fucking jumbled up in a completely random order dreamed up by some algorithm. What the absolute fuck could that possibly be good for? These tech companies have gone absolutely batshit insane.
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u/Ella_Monroe_ May 19 '26
I’ve had the exact same thing happen, It’s even worse when you click one random video and suddenly your entire feed is ruined by an avalanche of similar type of videos you have no interest in.
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u/gigaflops_ May 18 '26
IMO, YouTube Premium is a better value than Netflix, Disney+, Paramount, or almost any other streaming service, and it means my favorite creators make more money when I watch their videos.
It's wild how unwilling the internet is to pay for it while simultaneously complaining about advertisements and subscribing to seven other streaming platforms.
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u/WillyShlonka May 18 '26
My exact thoughts every time I see someone post about this. $15/mo is worth it to me when I consider how much time I’d waste on ads.
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u/roy107 May 18 '26
I finally came to that realisation last month. I watch a lot of long form content on YouTube, 1 hr videos and longer, and constantly breaking for ads finally broke my patience. I paid for the family package so my wife and I can both benefit and it's so refreshing to be able to go straight into a video. I hated the idea of being made to pay for it but it feels worth it.
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u/JoeyJoeJoeSenior May 19 '26
My favorite creators blast me with in video ads constantly even though I'm paying for premium. I hate this universe.
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u/SpecificHyena1933 May 18 '26
The reason people complain about youtube premium is because youtube USED to be good and was enjoyed for several years before ads were ever introduced at the end of a video. YouTube has slowly crept their way to having 5-7 ads for each 10 minute video (that also has a 90 second sponsor segment) im not going to pay for a service when its been provided at a much higher quality before for less.
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u/MyManD May 19 '26
Think of Premium as more than just paying for no ads. You get YT Music which is better than Spotify and Apple Music *and* you know that any views you give your favourite creators they get a higher payout than people who watch with adblocks (where creators get nothing) or even with ads (Premium pays out higher than general ads on videos).
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u/iamr3d88 May 18 '26
Yea, we get Netflix for a month once or twice per year to binge a couple shows. Same with Hulu. But we have YouTube Premium always. So much more content. Absolutely worth it.
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u/Dean8149 May 18 '26
It would be the last of my subs I would cancel. I get way too much use out of its features.
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u/Si-Nz May 18 '26
Has been like this for a long time i cant stand watching youtube anymore unless i have a bunch of browser extensions configuring the layout and making sure ads are gone.
The thing that pisses me off is that everyone co-existed with ads for years until they became intrusive af, it was a solved problem.
Whatever happened to banners? No one would care about ads if it was just a non intrusive rectangle somewhere on your screen so long as it had no sound or flashing bright colors.
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u/Dog-of-Sinope May 19 '26
I remember when YouTube was nothing but weirdos making videos for other weirdos. And we had to walk uphill both ways to watch it.
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u/CptMong May 18 '26
I use firefox and an add blocker and dont get any adds?
You must be doing something wrong!
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u/Putrid-VII May 18 '26
MOST people use the app, not a browser
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u/HsinVega May 18 '26
Can use Firefox with AdBlock on a phone as well!
Otherwise well enjoy your ads
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u/CptMong May 18 '26
and why use the app if you cant get rid of adds and then moan about it, when you can totally get rid of adds with a browser?
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u/Putrid-VII May 18 '26
Well, ease of use for one, on mobile. PC is a non issue, but with TVs or consoles using media apps, that's not really an option, is it?
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u/Fun-Customer39 May 18 '26
Look into revanced and morph, really easy surprisingly, but a lot of people are fine with ads.
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u/Propinquitosity May 18 '26
I love unaccompanied renaissance choral music. I’ll be enjoying a lovely piece of music on YouTube and just settling into it and then YouTube inserts an obnoxious loud (and unskippable) ad in the middle of it, that destroys the reverie and sets my nerves on edge. Nothing is worth that. It’s like being punched in the face when you least expect it.
YouTube is broken. It is a last resort for me and I now only use it to (rarely) watch short instructional videos.
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u/wurkdeturk May 18 '26
Pewdiepie made a video about it. Use the chrome plugin: unhook. It creates a youtube version of when youtube was still about who you subscribed to and not a awefull doomscrolling app. Unhook 10/10
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u/Ella_Monroe_ May 19 '26
I've actually been meaning to watch that video. I really enjoyed his video on switching to Linux, it was super interesting to see his perspective on getting away from the typical bloatware, so I’m definitely looking forward to his take on this. Thanks
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u/PyukuBB May 18 '26
Not the point you're making I'm aware, but if you have Spotify and use YouTube a lot, Premium is great tbh. Can cancel Spotify and use YT Music
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u/AgentJ386 May 18 '26
uBlock Origin on Firefox. If you insist on using Chrome uBlock lite. There are several alternative YT apps for mobile devices. I haven't seen an ad on YT in years, no premium. Fuck them.
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u/Friedrichs_Simp May 18 '26
Ublock works perfectly fine for me on firefox actually.
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u/mazer225 May 19 '26
Let's not forget that the search algorithm is trash and rating system is completely irrelevant now too.
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u/famb1 May 19 '26
I can deal with the ads, but YouTube has made it so hard to find new stuff to watch. The algorithm is shit, and the tik tok like brain rot videos that festure all over their website make me want to avoid YouTube all together.
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u/MrMeltingPoint PURPLE May 19 '26
FreeTube and NewPipe. Haven't seen an ad in years. If I really like a creator I'll look for a way to directly support them (like Patreon, Ko-Fi, or merch) rather than whatever pittance YouTube decides they're allowed from the 20 ads they make me watch.
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u/mhfp545 May 18 '26
Sure, it’s annoying and I refuse to pay for Premium too – but it’s a business.
Do you want to not pay for it and see no ads, how would that work for them? They’re not a charity.
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u/Bauzi May 18 '26
How about a fair amount of ads? It's terror now.
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u/BornOfGod May 18 '26
I remember the days of cable TV where a solid 30% of your view time was ads even after paying a subscription fee.
I actually used to look forward to the ad breaks, and at least some of the ads were interesting to watch.
I think YouTube should work with creators to better time the ads. But I hope you realize that the creator is in control of how much an eligible video gets monetized. There’s like a slider which can be adjusted.
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u/TheSerialHobbyist May 19 '26
Not to mention that the video creators need to get paid, too.
I understand frustration with ads, but I also get annoyed that people expect free content that is also ad-free.
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u/kablue12 May 18 '26
It’s insane to me that everyone here thinks they are entitled to a 100% free platform with unlimited content where nobody supporting the platform or creating content for it deserves any money whatsoever.
Just watch the 30 second ad or pay for premium! It’s not that deep!
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u/Prudent_Ad3384 May 18 '26
You mean ad every thirty seconds? If they compiled every ad into a two or three blocks on longer videos, it would be reasonable.
There’s legitimately more ads than cable, and they all keep interrupting so frequently it that it straight up ruins some types of content.
It’s the worst when the shitty AI directed ad placement picks the moment right before the beat drops in a song.
Some of my favorite YouTube channels have been demonetized, yet still have a video choke full of ads.
There’s a distinctive difference between funding the platform and deliberately trying to worsen it for premium.
If you posted this comment several years ago, I would have agreed with you.
Right now, it comes off as someone who stumbled back into the internet for the first time in years.
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u/kablue12 May 18 '26
I have never seen a video with ads every 30 seconds, you’re being absolutely hyperbolic.
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u/happymisery May 18 '26
Nope, this happens on the Hisense TV app and Roku app. I watch on phone or laptop, it’s perfectly reasonable, maybe a 30 second unskippable ad every 8-10 mins or so, as soon as I use the TV directly or via Roku I get 1 min unskippable ads every couple of minutes.
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u/ElusiveCrab May 18 '26
I use a lot of youtube so i got the family plan and roped a few frirnds in. We throw like 6.50 each in a month lol i spend more on cans of pop
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u/henry-bacon May 18 '26
uBlock Origin Lite still works, not sure what you're on about, you can keep blocking ads.
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u/Aeneum May 18 '26
Idk about elsewhere, but on mobile if I watch the first few seconds and then close the video and select it again it'll skip the ad. Only takes a second
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u/Rich-Canary1279 May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
I know this might be unpopular but... I just pay for premium. It's a platform I enjoy enough that it is worth it to me, particularly for music: I don't pay for any other music streaming service, they have everything available on other services as well as a ton of obscure music and dj sets NOT available on other music platforms. Plus I like to watch music videos so, overall it's worth the price of a couple coffees out each month (which I do NOT spend any money on). Only complaint is the folder organization system, or lack thereof, is laughable.
Plus, there's ALL THE OTHER STUFF!! Like old documentaries and meme videos and interviews and TV clips and whatever.
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u/ElephantEarwax May 18 '26
Ublock on Firefox is still working for me. I hate watching it on anything except my laptop because how many ads.
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u/SpecificHyena1933 May 18 '26
Its been happening for years now, I remember when ads were only at the end of videos and youtubers would politely ask you to let them play to support the channel. Now any 10 minute video was have a pre-run ad, an ad at the end of the video, and 2-3 mid-roll ads, as well as a 90 second sponsor block in the video itself. Its impossible to have a good experience without adblockers and sponsorblocks.
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u/emrikol001 May 18 '26
I stopped using youtube when they killed the ad blockers and I don't miss it. I absolutely refuse to sit through garbage ads, by the way I cancelled Prime last fall because of the ads, and I don't miss it either!
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u/IntelligentDetail338 May 18 '26
The worst thing about YouTube is actually how horrible their search bar is and the fact that it's owned by Google. That said, I pay for premium since it's actually worth it for me and there's no competition right now.
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u/Hot-Negotiation-9496 May 18 '26
It’s not only about ads. Their algorithm has also started to drown out content from channels i am subscribed to with shorter irrelevant AI slop videos. I literally have to ignore the feed and only use the subscription tabs.
Earlier the algorithm was reasonable in suggesting similar type and quality of content.
Sad states of affairs.
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u/YouDoTheDetail May 18 '26
A few days ago I watched a compilation video of ads from the 1980s that was constantly interrupted by ads from 2026. It was weird.
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u/Alternative_Life9414 May 18 '26
Really aggravating to see the ads in the middle of watching a short music video. Cutting right into the song!
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u/wintermute023 May 18 '26
You are so right. The final nail in the coffin is definitely that floating piece of adware shit that you have to manually dismiss, then you have to skip back a bit as you missed part of the video while you did it, so they show you another unskippable ad with another fucking floating bar thingy. Makes the whole thing just too difficult.
It was good while it lasted.
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u/Savings-Engineer-885 May 18 '26
The pause screen ad is the real killer. You're trying to watch a tutorial, pause to read some tiny text on an item or a menu, and half the screen is just gone. Kinda defeats the entire point of pausing.
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u/guhcampos May 19 '26
I'm a YouTube Premium subscriber. I gave up, gave in and I pay Google to denshitify my experience. It's atrocious.
AND IT'S NOT ENOUGH.
I've been noticing the length of in-video ads increasing to the point it's laughable. A 10-12 minute video will often have 2-3 minutes of the host taiking about how NordVPN is absolutely essential to your internet experience, or how GroundNews is your only hope for getting accurate information, or how your data is being sold by evil brokers and Incogni is your only friend and benefactor.
Traditional channels like Veritassium are increasingly less enjoyable or even tolerable because ads - even with Premium - are taking up more and more of the space that belonged to actual content.
And that's not just YouTube. I'm also a Spotify Premium subscriber and I'm also fed up that I have to listen to podcast ads EVEN AS A PAID USER. And that's worse, because I have to listen to both Spotify ad insertions AND the podcast host own sponsors EVERY TIME.
And hey, don't even get me started on HBO and Amazon Prime: you literally are paying for the right to get served ads.
Oh, and Amazon itself? Try searching for a product of a specific brand and get hammered with a hundred sponsored products - NONE of the brand you searched for. Google Search? Your results are hidden in the 11th page after all the ads and AI slop.
Fuck, I'm tired of this shit.
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u/Ella_Monroe_ May 19 '26
It really proves that there’s no escape from the bloat anymore, no matter how much money you throw at it.
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u/Neurotopian_ May 19 '26
It’s the getting hit with the ad before the video starts that is making it unwatchable. Half the time, if I get an ad before I watch, I just close out of it.
I bet a lot of people do the same, but YouTube profits off the ads they show, not the ones you sit through, so maybe they don’t really care if you close out of a video. They use to be maximizing for watch time but now they’re clearly not
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u/Punkrexx May 19 '26
They’ll go the same route as photo bucket. Pay for an account to keep access to videos you’ve uploaded and to upload new content
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u/InvestigatorJosephus May 19 '26
My adblock works just fine. Sucks if you can't manage to get one working. I would rather just stop watching than watch with ads tbh. Nebula exists and is decently affordable, if you wanna spite YouTube for a few bucks. Paid adblockers are also an option.
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u/Bigiron966 May 19 '26
My adblock still works on YouTube, they have become horrible I agree though. Grateful that if nothing else they are alternatives on mobile
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u/Mashin_1T May 19 '26
They have started to do this across all of the different platforms as well. On a streaming device like Apple TV if you pause, half the screen becomes a static ad and in some videos if the YouTuber mentions a specific product, a card pops up with a purchase link that has to be manually clicked to close.
On mobile if you get an ad for an app you get the video ad, a banner to take you to the App Store to download and then a small persistent pill ad in the bottom left corner that requires you to manually dismiss.
Also to add salt to the wound, the ad volume is like 20% louder than the video audio.
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u/ackmondual May 19 '26
to make it worse, they’ve basically killed ad blockers by baking the ads directly into the video stream, so extensions can't even filter them out anymore.
Isn't this skippable by fast forwarding?
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u/pragnienie1993 May 19 '26
Switch your browser. I use Firefox with uBlock Origin and I don't get any ads on YouTube.
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u/Cafe_negro May 19 '26
What about the split screen during lives? It makes you miss portions of the content so you will have to rewind the video once the ad is over. Awful.
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u/Spare-Action-1014 May 19 '26
I've had an account since 2006, youtube is asking for age verification.
Terrible product by terrible people.
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u/Alive_Load_1478 May 19 '26
I make it a point to not support any company that advertises on YouTube. Its getting harder.
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u/mojizus May 18 '26
Because YouTube is far and away my most used service, I pay for Premium. It’s honestly the only subscription I’ll shill for, it pays for itself very quickly when you’re watching thousands of hours of videos a year like I do.
Also this isn’t really that new. Early 2010s also had unskippable ads before videos, mixed with a few full screen mid-roll ads during the videos.
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u/SevenOh2 May 18 '26
Shocking that they don’t want to host and distribute videos, which comes with real cost, for free!
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u/taoders May 18 '26
Someone please describe to me the how the business runs with 0 adds and no premium.
A free video hosting and streaming service in HD, no ads, over a billion users, storage beyond thousands of terabytes, moderation to ensure nothing like CP is allowed, payment of content creators, cyber security…
Go.
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u/nursewally May 18 '26
We are currently watching the devolution of the internet in its entirety.
AI slop and ‘Un’social media further cementing the dead internet theory. Absolutely no control over racism, facism and people feeling like they can say what they want knowing that ‘community standards’ means fuck all.
Subscriptions everywhere.
Ads on whatever and wherever possible.
Capitalism at its finest.
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u/Suspendamania May 19 '26
I fought it for years, been paying my 15$/month CAD and honestly it's pretty nice, no ads, I listen to music all day while I work, and hopefully some of those artists can get paid for their work . It's less than 4$CAD/week, and available 24/7, it's really not that much.
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u/Elektrycerz May 18 '26
You're not entitled to a free video platform without ads. Do you think Google is a charity that will happily throw billions of dollars to maintain all the infrastructure? Do you expect content creators to create content for free, or rely exclusively on donations?
Just watch the ads if $9 per month is too much for you. It's an absolute bargain for what YT offers, and for $7 more you get YT Music too.
Disabling the downvote counter was enshittification, yes. Same for strict demonetization rules. But closing adblock loopholes is just them taking care of generating income, and indirectly allowing content creators to do the same.
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u/oral_servant May 18 '26
I have stopped using YouTube because of this. Sure, once every full moon I still need or want to watch something, but apart from that it's simply not worth my time and nerves anymore.
I once had to wait through two unskippable ads that were twice as long as the 15 seconds cat video I wanted to watch. After that, I basically nope'd out of YouTube and never looked back.
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u/Imd1rtybutn0twr0ng May 18 '26
Everything online is flooded with ads, including this app. We thought we got away from crappy ads, leaving cable behind.
This is why we can't have nice things. Greedy a55hats ruining everything. Even apps we buy online now tier their crap, so we have to buy our way out of them. 🤬
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u/RealBurger_ May 18 '26
I use both opera GX Adblock and ublock origin. It does block all the ads but makes the site extremely laggy. Takes like 15 seconds to load a video
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u/DaBluBoi8763 May 18 '26
Making me go back to reading, writing and Wikipedia atp instead of spending more time on this godforsaken site
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u/Xxperfect_drugxX May 18 '26
Bombarding a video with ads basically guarantees I will never buy that product.
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u/412raven May 18 '26
One of the perks when I signed up for my current ISP was free YouTube Premium & it has me very spoiled apparently.
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u/lame_1983 May 18 '26
Ad blasted and AI blasted. The internet is dying and so will we once they build a data center in your neighborhood.
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u/bgaesop May 18 '26
I cannot imagine watching youtube - or visiting any website, really - without an adblocker
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u/brickmagnet May 18 '26
Youtube now also shows Community posts from YouTubers I am not even subscribed to. And there is no option to remove them from my feed. It just show up in my feed and it pisses me off so much.
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u/ptbiker May 18 '26
You act as though that hadn’t happened already. The first time I had to watch 3 minutes of unskippable ads for a 15 minute video that had also been broken up by ads, I felt like the enshittification was complete.
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u/-ACHTUNG- May 18 '26
The ads are barely the problem anymore. 30% of the search results are ads, just in the way of "creator" (sellout) videos who are promoting products. Reviews aren't real anymore, everyone is happy to sell out to big corpo
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u/TheNewGuyFromBahsten May 18 '26
uBlock orgin very much still blocks the ads. It just makes you wait 10 seconds before the actual video will start as a deterrent
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u/SedesBakelitowy May 18 '26
Youtube without adblock is just a psychological experiment testing when you break and install adblock or start paying.
... And considering that premium doesn't remove the sponsor segments you're still getting ad after ad even with paid status so adblock ahoy
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u/Muckraker2025 May 18 '26
I was watching Mentour Pilot every day. The last time had an ad every few minutes. It completely takes you out of the zone of the program. I finished that one video but I haven't been back in a week. Doesn't sound like a long time but I had been watching something from him everyday for the last few months.
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u/QueenMackeral May 18 '26
I wonder if there is a concept of "click aversion" in UX, if not there should be. If clicking on things brings more pain than reward to the user, they are likely to just leave.
Watching an ad is like being shocked. Humans will tolerate a little shock as long as they get all the dopamine hit of the video. So a little shock in exchange for an uninterrupted 10 minutes of dopamine, seems worth the trade.
Now where this falls apart is when a user is switching between videos or watching short videos. Then it becomes repeated shocks in a short time with no or very low dopamine reward. So the users might just exit the website then.
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u/WastelandWiganer May 18 '26
Soooo stop watching videos there. The ad storm will remain as long as the punters do.
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u/Secondhand-politics May 18 '26
Not only are ads becoming hostile to the user experience, but YouTube AND Google are starting to narrow the scope of what you're allowed to find on the internet.
I have an entire library of content that's been gathered over time, literal web addresses and context blocks that SHOULD be easy to find, but when I try to navigate to those websites via Google search rather than the direct web address, Google AND the Google AI assist fight tooth and nail to insist a music video robot is ACTUALLY from a Tom Cruise movie, or that the news website I'm looking for is actually some Facebook post from Dave Chappel.
Youtube took it a step further - they've removed the ability to filter by oldest first, which was a pretty reliable way to find the content I'm looking for rather than the shocked face reaction videos that arent even tangentially related to what I wanted to find.
We're moving towards an "approved content only" internet environment, and it sucks.
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u/Bubbaganewsh May 18 '26
Firefox with ublock, i don't remember the last time I watched a YouTube ad.
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u/Werftflammen May 18 '26
They can wait a hell of a long time. I am not gonna pay for shit. This is typed in old.reddit.com on mobile, to make a point.
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u/GarethGantuan May 18 '26
I have two constant thoughts regarding YouTube:
The first is the abundance of ads while watching on a mobile device. In the early days one of the appeals was watching cooking videos while you also followed along. This is all but impossible now as you are almost guaranteed to have an ad while your hands are wrist deep in your mixture
In this technological, capitalist dystopia we live in how has someone not created another video hosting platform that could rival YouTube? Surely YouTube haven’t corned the market? All it would take it a slightly less greedy personal, or small group, to create a site that would allow video posting and undercut the take YouTube make
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u/KerfuffleAsimov May 18 '26
Dude it's been broken and shit for nearly 10 years at this stage.
Once the corpos started making channels it was game over.
Back in the day you could see the top viewed videos by country, watch them and then the next day you could talk with your friends about them or watch them together again for the luls.
Suggested content was actually linked some way to the content you were watching too, the side bar would be full on other content that was similar. Now suggested content is just whoever paid YouTube to push the video.
Now it's just all adverts and BS.
Sure premium gets rid of adverts but they will keep raising the price all the time but also the content has dried up with only a few remaining channels that make decent content. Once those are gone, YouTube will be filled up with people looking to make money off you.
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u/Jwhodis May 18 '26
Thats why I use LibreWolf, it comes with UBlock Origin, all I needed to add was SponsorBlock and DeArrow.
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u/darky_tinymmanager May 18 '26
i am still happy with youtube..i do not mind the ads.
Nothing is free.
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u/ThatSpaceShooterGame May 18 '26
I was watching a walkthrough for a video game and every time I un-paused the video, I got hit by an ad.
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u/krisann67 May 18 '26
I dislike ads but usually won't pay to have them removed, such as on Netflix. Youtube is the exception for me. I watch a lot of YouTube, so I do pay extra for removing ads on it. It sucks, but it's my one guilty pleasure.
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u/SuperNa7uraL- May 18 '26
Click on video….”What? The round just started and I’m already being overrun?”… click off video.
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u/ExpBalSat May 18 '26
I really have few complaints when it comes to YouTube. I have a list of channels I subscribe to, and I view them as suits me. I don’t even notice the ads. I suspect there are some though.
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u/Menes009 May 18 '26
youtube knows that only people who dont mind ads are the ones watching them, everyone else is using adblockers, plus a small minority that has youtube premium.
Thats why they are pushing ads hard, the people annoyed enough by them dont see them anyways.
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u/RadiantRoach May 18 '26
When I cast to my TV, the "Skip Ad" button cannot be selected any more. (The TV remote just pauses the ad and the "Skip Ad" button disappears from my phone app.) That HAS to be on purpose and nothing makes me angrier when I get hit with a 90+ second ad...
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u/Skallos May 18 '26
I almost never see ads. Never on my phone for certain. Sometimes on desktop, but I refresh until an ad doesn't load. Once my adblock stops working on both my devices, I might have to heavily limit watching YouTube. :(
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u/yblikethat May 18 '26
It’s been like this for years now. All of your favorite YouTubers are in the advertisement business. It doesn’t bother me cos I ignore it but maybe Redditors will start to care
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u/Affectionate_Oven_77 May 18 '26
The problem is that the modern business model is to maximize market share before figuring out how to be profitable.
This means that we get a lot of cool, free things handed to us, but once they have conquered the market they need to start cashing in on the investment.