Question YouTube still showing ads with uBlock Origin enabled? Here is a fix!

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vtqhtr413

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Aug 17, 2017
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If you visit YouTube right now with uBlock Origin, or other content blockers enabled, you may have noticed that Google is trying various techniques to discourage you from using it on the site: from detecting the use of ad blockers and showing the ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube notification, which in some cases users can't even bypass without either allowing ads or signing-up for YouTube Premium, to testing Unskippable Ads on YouTube TV.
1693754342609.png

Recently, it appears that Google has found another way to bypass content blockers. When you visit the site right now with a content blocker, such as uBlock Origin, you may either have advertisement loaded before, while playing, and after videos, just as if you wouldn't be running a content blocker, or not able to play videos at all, as videos appear to load endlessly. The screenshot above was captured in Firefox with uBlock Origin turned on. YouTube did display an advertisement before the video while uBlock was enabled. If you encounter the same issue, you may try the following fix to address the issue:
  1. Activate the uBlock Origin icon and select the "Open the dashboard" icon in the interface that opens.
  2. Switch to the Filter Lists tab.
  3. Click on the "purge all caches" button.
  4. Select the "update now" button afterwards.
This removes cached content from the add-on, which may include outdated instructions on dealing with YouTube's attempts to display ads even while an ad-blocker is enabled.
When you reload the page after you have followed the instructions, you should notice that the video loads normally again. No ads will play while watching it on YouTube. You may wonder why this is happening and whether it could happen again in the future. The short answer is yes, it may happen again. Content blockers such as uBlock Origin rely on specific instructions and rules. These detect ads and block them. If a site changes its code, it may happen that ads are not detected and therefore not blocked by the extension.

The filters are updated frequently and it usually does not take long before they are updated. It may take some time though before the updates land on the user's system. Purging the cache and forcing an update will speed up the process. Ai-powered content blockers may not face these issues, as they do not rely solely on filter lists, but they should be considered experimental at this stage.
 
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F

ForgottenSeer 100397

I can block ads on YouTube using either uBlock Origin or AdGuard. For uBlock Origin, I have default filters with EasyList and uO Annoyances. And, for AdGuard, I have Base, Privacy, Social, and Annoyances filters enabled along with Stealth Mode.
 

Morro

Level 19
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Jul 8, 2012
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I use uBlock Origin on both my Desktop and Android, and on my Android I do get ads on YouTube, but I get no ads on YouTube on my Desktop. And when I want to watch something on YouTube, I watch it 98% of the time on my Desktop. My eye site is not great, so I prefer a bigger screen for most of the videos.
 

brambedkar59

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Apr 16, 2017
2,116
Since yesterday I am getting the pop-up window to disable Adblocker. Tried both Ublock and Adguard same result. Don't get pop-up every time but I get it between 4-5 videos or so, sometimes while video is playing. Tried purging cache and updating filters, doesn't matter it still shows.
Edit: I am using Edge.

Edit 2: On reddit someone wrote that it might be caused by interference from addon "Enhancer for YT". Unchecked "block ads" option inside Enhancer, let's see if it works now.

Edit 3: I think last fix did it for me, haven't seen any pop-ups so far. (Unchecked "block ads" option inside Enhancer)
 
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Morro

Level 19
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Jul 8, 2012
905
Since yesterday I am getting the pop-up window to disable Adblocker. Tried both Ublock and Adguard same result. Don't get pop-up every time but I get it between 4-5 videos or so, sometimes while video is playing. Tried purging cache and updating filters, doesn't matter it still shows.
Edit: I am using Edge.

Edit 2: On reddit someone wrote that it might be caused by interference from addon "Enhancer for YT". Unchecked "block ads" option inside Enhancer, let's see if it works now.

I use that extension as well, and so far I have not a problem with it. Not saying it is not possible, but not for me at the moment?
 

brambedkar59

Level 32
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Well-known
Apr 16, 2017
2,116
I use that extension as well, and so far I have not a problem with it. Not saying it is not possible, but not for me at the moment?
YouTube does A/B testing so not everyone will see the change at the same time. I think last fix worked for me (Unchecked "block ads" option inside Enhancer), haven't seen any pop-ups so far.
 

nicolaasjan

Level 5
Verified
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May 29, 2023
212
BTW, gHacks comment system is broken for quite some time now...
Comments from older articles are appearing in new ones.

I found a user script that fixes this:
GHacks Hide Older Comments - Final Version
Hides older comments than the article is dated. Reason: Something is wonky with comments on ghacks.net currently:
Much older and not fitting comments are littered into articles. So reading comments is becoming annoying. The script compares the date of the article to the date of the comment. If the date of a comment is older than the date of the article, the comments will get removed.
 
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