I just tried to look up a specific video of a Nick Swardson stand up bit. All I searched was “Nick Swardson loitering”. There were 5 fucking ads before an actual user posted video, then one real human posted video that barely had anything to do with Nick, then 5 more fucking ads.
I knew they were forcing ads into videos but clogging the entire search feed with ads is unfuckingbelievable.
Is this really what it’s come to? Ads are more important than what I’m actually looking for? Are people really okay with this?
Are you… raw dogging the internet without an ad blocker? You poor soul
It’s the latest fad challenge, navigating your way through cancerous web pages
I like this sentence.
Don’t tell him, if too many people get ad blockers they’re just going to keep evolving
Is that really how it works? I feel like the whole ad based economy is a sham anyway, I wouldn’t mind if it collapsed and we funded websites through micropayments or gift economy
Would it be so bad if we want back to how it was before? Just people making their own sites about things they cared about? For fun or the love of the subject matter?
9 times out of 10 the ads have zero effect on my ability to search for things.
I’m not saying searches haven’t gotten worse but until this specific thing or Google’s ai search it’s been easy to ignore if you know what you’re doing.
I remember being that guy.
It never gets better, ads only ever get worse. If you are successfully ignoring ads then they aren’t doing their job, and they will keep trying different ways to get your attention until you get sick of this shit and get an ad blocker.You have found a specific thing that would improve, save yourself the hassle and get ublock now to fix this for you as well as a dozen other little things you are “living with” that will be much better when they’re gone.
Ublock on Firefox. Remember Google just kneecapped adblockers on Chrome!
Firstly it hasn’t actually happened yet, I guess you fell for the misleading windowscentral headline. Secondly it’s not really kneecapped, but required them to rewrite, which the uBO author decided not to do (as a statement I guess). Other ad blockers however have made new MV3 compatible versions that are comparable to the MV2 ones, so it’s clearly possible. Also don’t forget there are other chromium browsers besides chrome, if you use Brave you don’t even need to install an ad blocker because it’s built in.
I’m not going to get into the technical details of manifest v2 and v3, as I think it’s beside the point.
I think we can agree that given Google has announced the end of v2, recommending uBlock Origin on Chrome right now would be pretty mad, right?
Yes but that’s not relevant to my comment nor the one I was replying to?
username checks out
Ads aren’t the only thing to worry about. You’re leaving yourself dangerously exposed to malware for literally no reason.
Better question is why are you not using an adblocker?
Because I don’t know how to do all that shit on my phone 😭
I’ve had several people try to explain but I just can’t fuckin do it. I’d need someone to sit down with me and show me while explaining every action.
Use your app store to install Firefox.
Install ublock origin Firefox extension.
Go to Youtube using Firefox.This is literally all the steps.
You can also download and install Newpipe
You can then subscribe to your favorite channels through that app without subscription and view videos without ads and even download the video or audio to your phone!
In the last few days it stopped working. Well, more like google maked it stop work.
Google breaks Newpipe regularly, and then Newpipe always fixes it very fast. Sometimes I’ve been unable to use it for about two days or so. Totally worth it to not support Google.
Check for updates within the app itself. Those are more current than the app stores.
Yeah, I know it sometimes breaks and I’ve accepted that. But holy shit google, alternative frontend’ users are like .001% of your total users, are you sure you want to spend ressources on us instead of doing other things…?
Just update it frequently, the new version works currently.
Edit: That’s Tubular, a newpipe clone. https://github.com/polymorphicshade/Tubular
Thats a much higher hurdle for a noob tho. You either need to install fdroid or get the apk for that.
Tried to import, Google doesn’t let you have the subscriptions file anymore
Yes, it does, I just did it 2 days ago
I get nothing, maybe because it’s a brand account attached to a Google account. It doesn’t even have a password and it won’t let me add one 😂😭
Revanced is nice
Grayjay is another good alternative
I hate to say this, but you’re exactly the reason why Youtube and other services feel safe and comfortable enshittifying their services.
Realistically I don’t use YouTube very often at all unless I’m searching for a video I already know the full name of.
After all this shit I’m just not gonna be using it at all.
iOS or Android?
Everyone is making suggestions assuming OP uses a certain OS but you are asking the real question here.
I mean, even or Symbian or one of those other simpler ones. Just need a place to begin right?
On Android Tubular is pretty awesome.
The best answer
1
From my experience, if you’re on iOS then Brave is the only browser I know of that includes a built-in adblocker (although I have my own issues with Brave).
If you’re on Android, should be able to just install Firefox (or a fork like Fennec), tap the three dots in the app > Extensions > uBlock Origin
If you’re otherwise using the YouTube app, I don’t have much to add in that respect as I usually use Invidious or NewPipe.
Plenty of adblocker extensions on iOS Safari.
For YouTube, I’d recommend Vinegar, although the more general adblockers will also work.
You can block YouTube ads with AdGuard in Safari as well.
Orion Browser also has a built-in ad-blocker that also gets rid of Youtube ads. It even has some support for Firefox extensions, including uBlock Origin.
FYI Brave is about to start having issues with ad blocking due to the Manifest V3 shit since it’s Chromium based
MV3 only applies to extensions. Brave’s adblocker is implemented in their content filtering engine, which is part of the browser itself. This completely bypasses the extension system.
Brave has agreements with some ad services.
Just use a good paid ad blocker. I have Adblock pro for years as a Safari extension and I never ever see an ad.
Assuming you’re on android, you can use this download link on your phone to download the .apk for NewPipe. This link is a direct download to install the app. (If you don’t trust my link, you can got to newpipe.net yourself), so if you click it, it should immediately start downlaoading and you can follow the steps to install the app. It’s pretty self explanatory.
It’s a frontend for youtube that removes all ads. You can’t comment or like, but you can subscribe to channels via NewPipe, just like you’re used to in youtube. But no ads. You do not need to login, it is not tied to your youtube account.
Youtube doesn’t like ad dodging frontends, so every once in while the app won’t work and you’ll need to go back to youtube (or a different alternative) for a day or two until the folks at NewPipe fix it again. It’s kind of an arms race like that, but with advertising.
For Android, NewPipe is great. I think I prefer FreeTube now however. Mostly because of the ability to use the Invidious api, built in SponsorBlock, settings coss-compatibility with the desktop version, and a better way to organize and export data (IMO). However, freetube android does has a few rough spots that newpipe doesn’t have, so ymmv.
I prefer ReVanced because it’s close to the native YT experience without the bs (blasphemy)
Another revanced lover here. You’re not alone. It takes away nothing and adds so much.
Get GrayJay.
That’s all. Just use grayjay. Either go to grayjay.app and get it, or get it off the Google play store. It’s “Grayjay” from “futo”
Hmm Play Store? That app is not gonna last, trust me.
Op said he doesn’t really know how to do jack shit with his phone, so I provided the easiest option l, as well as the better option.
Yes, you’re right and I agree with you. If OP decides to download it from the Play Store, however, he/she’s going to be disappointed when they remove the app and it stops getting updates, and then it breaks.
Is piped working again?
NewPipe is working again, so Piped probably too
I want to upvote you, but you’re at 69 upvotes…
Nice!
What happened is that you forgot to install an ad blocker.
edit ad blocker won’t help here
yes, but their results are trash now. shows you 5 results, then 10 or things you’ve probably already seen completely unrelated to the search, then random “trending” garbage.
There is a neat Firefox addon which makes visits to yubbtub more tolerable by getting rid of unrelated suggestions:
RYS — Remove YouTube SuggestionsIt has a lot of options to tailor it to your needs.
This is not ad-blocking related. The search results on YouTube are literal trash and there’s nothing we can do about it.
Same with Google. Their search results are a joke now.
Oh right. How amazing that one of my highest upmodded comment is the one where my comment is objectively full of shit
Make it 85% and show ads for anti-seizure medicine.
Google knows the answer to this is: “What else are you going to use, Dailymotion?”
Which is why they’re a monopoly.
I still try Vimeo, Archives, and even PeerTube and WikiCommons.
Not watching is actually an option.
Sure. Not watching your favorite show is always an option. But if it’s your favorite show, that really sucks.
Yeah. It really does suck. You get over it eventually though. And, who knows, in a couple of years maybe someone releases all episodes in a single download and you’ll be enjoying them on a whole new level.
If you really like something that is only available on a single platform, and you don’t really enjoy that platform, and you also have zero control over the platform, get out of that situation. It will always end in frustration. Try to gain back control
i tried to find a clip of that olympics break dancing thing a week or two ago.
It was fucking impossible. I literally couldn’t find shit, it was all AI generated videos.
That one is a Olympic copyright issue. Either NBC since they pay so much for the rights or the IOC flag videos immediately so all your left with is low quality videos.
It genuinely ruins trying to find Olympics content if NBC doesn’t cover that specific event
why would you ever copyright video clips of the olympics though, nobody fucking pays for cable or has time to watch streams. And we’re also only talking about like 2 minutes worth of content, I’m pretty certain that would be fair use.
The Olympics are less and less about the athletes and what the human body and mind can achieve and more an more about the sponsorship deals. These corps pay big bucks for exclusivity deals.
yeah but that’s all pre broadcast shit, it’s irrelevant to some 3 minute clip being uploaded to youtube containing that segment of footage.
If you want people to care about it, it has to be accessible, and clearly, it’s not very accessible.
here you go https://odysee.com/@deniel22:b/raygun:1
thank god for piracy, finally i know what people were fucking talking about
Thank you for this. I watched the whole thing. It’s undeniable that Raygun can do a lot of things I can’t, but her performance paled in comparison with the other competitors. Three four times I got the goosebumps when the other competitors did truly amazing moves!
This is to be expected, Google does the same thing with their search engine; delay providing the most accurate and related results in order to get users to see more ads per search.
i have adblock so they arent even getting any money
I tried that yesterday to show some dinner guests. 20 videos later, I gave up
this is why i keep a local archive, only my stupidity and inability to find shit in my horde make me look like a dumbass.
Raygun is the best, but I also failed to find it and I have YouTube Red (or whatever Google calls it now). The Olympics was on that feed like hoss on some slop.
yeah idk i thought some of what she did was pretty good, she demonstrates good control, i think she mainly needs to work on fluidity and transitions though, some of them were awful.
Youtube is useless nowadays.
We need more content in PeerTube if we want that kind of website again.
How does peertube work exactly? If I host an instance do I need massive storage on my server to host all the videos or is it distributed amongst the other instances? Do I have control of what videos I host on my instance? I’d hate to be hosting and helping spread Nazi propaganda (or any propaganda for that matter).
AFAIK if you open an instance videos are hosted in your instance, and may be replicated in other instances via Federation.
Also it supposedly can work p2p if mutiple users are watching the same video it distributed the download. In my experience nowadays it always end using http download.
Moderation an everything about ita users fall into the instance host and moderators. I don’t know if you can do an approval system, I would suppose so, but I’m not certain.
Most peertube instances are isolated from most of the other instances to avoid hosting a ton of videos. Honestly, your instance doesn’t have to federate with other peertube instances since most people leave comments from other fediverse apps
It’s called enshittification:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification
Enshittification is a re-prioritization pattern where online product and service providers experience a decline in quality over time. It is observed as platforms transition through several stages: initially offering high-quality services to attract users, then shifting to favor business customers to increase profitability, and finally focusing on maximizing profits for shareholders at the expense of both users and business customers. This process results in a significant deterioration of the user experience.
Though the concept had been recognized and labeled with similar terms,[1][2] the neologism “enshittification” was coined by writer Cory Doctorow in November 2022 to describe this phenomenon. The American Dialect Society recognized the term’s relevance and impact by selecting it as its 2023 Word of the Year. Doctorow has also referred to this concept as platform decay, emphasizing the inevitable decline in service quality due to these profit-driven changes.
To tackle and diminish enshittification, Doctorow advocates for two fundamental solutions: upholding the end-to-end principle and guaranteeing the right of exit. The end-to-end principle asserts that platforms should transmit data in response to user requests rather than algorithm-driven decisions. Ensuring the right of exit entails facilitating user departure from platforms without data loss, which necessitates interoperability. These strategies aim to uphold the standards and trustworthiness of online platforms, placing emphasis on user satisfaction and encouraging market competition.
The ad industry is truly one of the most reprehensible and insidious things humans have ever invited unto themselves. It’s beyond dystopian how much of our ability to move through the world is now contingent on us allowing our brains to be bukkaked with ads that are designed specifically to bypass our rationality and embed themselves in the very fabric of our beings like psychological rootkits.
I believe conspiracism is the root of all evil. But ads are gaining on conspiracism like they’re Usain Bolt being chased by an angry bee.
I have to hand it to those soulless fucking devils though, they might have pulled off one of the most brazen but successful mindfucks I’ve ever seen: they convinced lots of people that seeing ads about topics they were interested in was some sort of concession from the ad industry, like they were begrudgingly implementing measures to make ads “relevant” to us, and that we were somehow gaming the system because of it. It was a “win” for us to have the ads being served into our eyeballs and ears be tailor-made for us. “I’m so sick of seeing ads for products I don’t even care about! I wish there was a way to make the ads be relevant to ME” said no cunt ever. But they managed to convinced us that everyone else was saying that, and that we’d won some sort of victory against them to have their advertising have the precision of a sniper rifle, versus what it was before, like some sort of shotgun fired from 150 feet away in the dark.
An entire species of marks.
brains to be bukkaked with ads that are designed specifically to bypass our rationality and embed themselves in the very fabric of our beings like psychological rootkits.
and like 90% of people think they’re completely impervious to ads lol
HEY! YOU!!! JOIN THE NAVY!!!
Damn Superliminal advertising. It’s why I joined the Navy.
I feel your vitriol and agree with it 100%.
When politicians of both parties say shit like “Americans like their private health insurance”… I kind of die a little.
When a random podcast from somewhere else in the world has a local ad injected into it by the app I downloaded it with…same.
When the godamn fucking pitcher’s mound has a CGI ad superimposed over it…same.
We’re going to advertise and conspicuously consume ourselves into extinction. So there’s that I guess.
I have been using adblockers for decades already. And it’s been that long since I had to see ads. Occasionally some site will have some way of it getting through but even then I have the plugin scan and it sometimes can start blocking it. Essentially, my internet has been 95% ad-free and frankly I am surprised when I encounter anyone who doesn’t do the same.
Remember that time when YT started showing banner ads below the video? Yeah, that was like just after the dinosaurs were wiped out and before blockchains became a thing. I was a long time ago, ok. Anyway, that’s when I was about to quit watching YT, but then I suddenly discovered the wonderful world of ad-blocking. Turns out, YT became watchable again.
I’ve used an adblocker for ages as well, though I do wish content creators on YouTube could get some passive non-membership revenue from me without me having to disable my adblock and look directly into the Ark of the Covenant. I could get Premium, but at that point, I feel like I’ve negotiated with a terrorist.
If they have a Join in addition to subscribe that directly gives them revenue (of course not until after YouTube has taken like 80%). Also always see if they have a patreon account. I occasionally contribute to some very talented people.
For sure, that’s what I meant by membership. There’s just so many different creators I watch, I can’t afford to support them all directly. Maybe I’ll make some playlists to play on the TV with ads while I’m out of the house.
Yeah I agree there are tons and it’s not your responsibility to support them. My personal approach is if I stumble upon someone I find to be extremely talented and who is clearly working very hard at something and has been persevering for a long time, I then check to see if they’re already being helped by people. If not that’s when I consider contributing a little.
I mean I have my own family to support so it’s just a little bit here and there but it’s something. Mostly I consider it when I feel that the world is better with their work in it than without.
Most of them earn more from Patreon and merch, that’s how you support them greatly, not by watching and clicking ads.
Like, even the creators themselves tell you you can support them on Patreon or through their merch, they never tell you to get Premium, Join or click ads, as they don’t help much.
The link between conspiracies and ads is way stronger than that. The ad industry really went into high gear following WWII when the people working on pumping out propaganda to drive their own side of the war stepped up the game by applying psychology, new media, and a bigger budget.
Those people and techniques then moved to the commercial market when the war ended and applied their trade to peddle us the crap their customers wanted to sell. Make us feel bad if we don’t buy product X and go on an endless consumption treadmill to try to feel good and adequate about ourselves.
It is despicable and even worse with ads targeting children.
I like the way you English.
That and all the people who say shit like “But I have to watch the ads to support the creators”, like there wasn’t 70 years of TV advertisements preceding this generation. I know I’m talking to a kid when someone says that. No one thought they were stealing from Burt Reynolds if they didn’t buy a Chrysler or tampons. It’s absurd.
I could not agree more with your eloquently-written poignant rant, but I cannot resist being an extreme pedant—a shotgun fired at 150ft has a very small spread.
My god that was well written. We should be friends.
PREACH
Invidious was created due to this, it’s an extremely light weight, ad free YouTube front-end. Most of YouTube’s attempts at blocking it out fixed within a week. Try it now: https://invidious.io/
this worked very well, found exactly what I was looking for.
I’ve got about half a dozen plugins in Firefox specifically for YouTube to make the front page even remotely usable.
Without them YouTube isn’t even worth it.
Could you expand on those?
Yup. Now they have two dozen.
Behind the overlay
ClearURLs
Click bait Remover for YouTube
Disconnect
Return YouTube Dislike
SponsorBlock for YouTube
uBlock Origin (with WaterFox web browser - cannot stress this combo enough.)
Unhook - Remove YouTube Recommended & Shorts
YouTube High Definition
Privacy Bager (also super important)
If you get any of these, you block origin with waterfox is a very powerful combination for YouTube and general browsing on the internet. Couple all that with privacy badger and you’ll be relatively okay.
There are a lot of other stuff out there. Just browse through the Firefox extension plug-in store or whatever it is and they’ll all be there.
Aside from adblocking making youtube actually usable, there’s been such a notorious increase in enforcement of DRM.
I couldn’t watch jack anything related to Olympics because NBC got youtube to spam remove practically any footage, as if I’m going to spend cash money on their shitty streaming platform to find a 30 second clip. Same thing for any ICC highlights. Only 360p widened 2 minute videos get past the filter.
Almost no such thing as public replays, clips, montages, or highlights anymore. It all gets boxed up in some corporate ownership, never to be seen again aside from the live footage.
funnily enough I was able to watch olympic replays on one of my city’s (Hong Kong) official broadcast YouTube channels, specifically HOY TV, but all the commentary is in cantonese. But it’s also region locked (I just tested it by trying a US VPN) so you need a VPN to a Hong Kong server.
The mateys preserved a lot of it
YouTube is broke, but it was also deliberately punishing you for looking up Nick swardson I think?
Odysee just removed all ads of their platform and seems like a great YouTube alternative. I’ve been using it and uploading videos to it and I’m liking it a lot.
The comments are also much higher in quality. I’d say it’s comparable like Lemmy and Reddit. Much more positivity and people who actually add something to a video. You do ofcourse have a few Nazis hanging around, but freedom goes both ways and you don’t really come across them.
Besides that just use NewPipe on mobile or an AdBlocker.
I noped out at “blockchain-based”
NFTs and every other cryptobro have destroyed its reputation.
If you use Odysee you don’t even have to know anything about crypto or blockchains, it just works like YouTube.
