Streaming ads are an inevitability. They interrupt our Netflix binges, cut into Hulu dramas, and disrupt our Spotify playlists. They also support the content-creation economy on YouTube. With 2.5 billion monthly active users worldwide, YouTube brings in the big bucks without asking users to pay for anything. That’s great for creators and viewers—until the fourth consecutive advertisement runs, and you’re starting to forget what you’re actually watching.
For some, commercial breaks are simply the cost of doing (free) business. But for most, YouTube advertising is obtrusive and frustrating—and the platform is making it harder to get around them. So, what can you do to make watching online videos a little more tolerable in between ad breaks? Fortunately, there are still ways to escape these pesky ads.
Wait a Few Seconds
Thankfully, the majority of in-stream ads that play before or during a YouTube video are short—usually 15 seconds or less—and are easily skippable. Which, honestly, is a pretty good compromise between watching and avoiding ads. Just wait five seconds until the Skip Ads button is clickable, click it, and move on with your day. There’s just one catch: The clip no longer counts for the video maker.
If you immediately hit the Skip Ads, it’s no longer considered, as YouTube calls it, an “engaged-view conversation,” and the creator won’t receive any of the ad money that would be owed to them if you had watched the whole thing. To meet that requirement, you’ll have to watch at least 10 seconds of the ad. In order to ensure they get what’s owed to them, creators have the option of making ads unavoidable. You might also encounter longer ad breaks on smart TVs.
(Credit: PCMag / YouTube)
Report the Ad
If you’re seeing the same ad over and over and wish to be free, you can report it. During the pre-roll ad on a YouTube video, tap Tab + Enter on your keyboard to prompt the “About This Ad” box with details on why you’re seeing the ad and who’s behind it. Choose Stop seeing this ad, and you’ll see a warning that the particular advertisement shouldn’t appear again. Keep in mind, though, that this won’t stop you from seeing content in the future from the same advertiser.
Click Report this ad, and you’ll be redirected to a new page, where you can report the advertiser for violating YouTube’s policies on trademarks, counterfeit goods, or even just showing multiple ads (which is against the company’s “unfair advantage” policy). While this won’t mean the end of ads, it will limit exposure to those that aren’t tailored to you. Or, if you hate the customization aspect (because it requires too much tracking of your online actions), turn ad personalization to Off.
(Credit: PCMag/YouTube)
Pay for YouTube Premium
Cost: One-month free trial, then
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Student: $7.99 per month
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Premium Lite: $7.99 per month
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Premium: $13.99 per month / $139.99 per year
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Family (five people, plus yourself): $22.99 per month
YouTube Premium is the same as YouTube—just without ads. This is the most legal and ethical way to skip YouTube ads, as it ensures the folks making videos you watch still get paid. Bundled with YouTube Music Premium, it lets subscribers play ad-free songs and videos in the background on desktop and allows for downloading videos to watch later. That freedom from ads extends to YouTube mobile and smart TV apps. And it strips out commercials on shares you make to YouTube Kids.
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(Credit: YouTube)
There are caveats: Premium isn’t available everywhere, so if you travel to an unsupported region, you may see ads when your geographic location is identified (usually via your IP address). A VPN that spoofs your location will probably fix this. You may also see ads in embedded YouTube videos if they’re on a site where you block browser cookies. To avoid that, make sure you’re signed in with the Google account used when signing up for YouTube Premium.
If the price seems too steep, there are ways to get it for cheaper. By subscribing to the Google One Premium tier, you’ll be able to add YouTube Premium at a discount. Verizon also offers a cheaper plan with eligible mobile and home internet plans. YouTube has even launched a Premium Lite tier that includes ad-free viewing of most content for $7.99 per month. This plan doesn’t include YouTube Music, but offline downloads and background play have just been added.
(Credit: YouTube)
Block Ads (If You Still Can)
You were once free to use an ad blocker on Chrome, but after years of tests aimed to block users with an ad blocker installed, Google has declared all-out war on those who would deprive the company of its precious ad dollars. New methods of blocking users from skipping ads have rolled out, culminating in the phaseout of “Manifest V2” extensions to disable several popular ad blockers.
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(Credit: Adblock for YouTube)
For those who have been affected by Google’s efforts, all is not lost. The caveat here is that the situation is evolving, and workarounds may block ads today but not tomorrow. But here’s what to try while you can:
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Stick with an ad blocker: Many developers are updating their extensions to be compatible with Google’s new Manifest V3 API. If your ad blocker of choice has stopped working, try another one. For those mourning the loss of uBlock Origin, uBlock Origin Lite remains in the Chrome Web Store. Others, such as Privacy Badger and Ghostery, are also worth trying.
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Change browsers: Alternative browsers like Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi have built-in features that block ads—including YouTube ads—by default. By switching to one of these browsers, you may be able to circumvent the ad-block ban on YouTube. Firefox doesn’t have built-in ad blocking, but it’s the only major browser not based on Chromium, so its extensions are unaffected by Google. Ad blockers like uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, and others should all work as intended.
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Use a VPN: The latest trick making the rounds is to use a VPN and set it to a location in Albania, since YouTube doesn’t run ads in that country. This trick may also work in other small markets.
Try YouTube Clones
The above methods are best for desktop use, but it’s hard to block YouTube ads in the official mobile app. If you’re not too attached to brand names, though, there are a few programs that provide an approximation of the video-streaming interface. Many work on Android devices and streaming hubs, such as Amazon’s Fire TV devices, since they run on a variation of the Android OS—you just need to be able to sideload the apps, which is becoming increasingly difficult.
You typically won’t find them in a legitimate company store like Google’s Play Store, but the upside of using one is that they strip out the ads. If you do install programs like SmartTubeNext, NewPipe, SkyTube, or ReVanced, remember that they may not last forever. In 2022, Google legally threatened YouTube Vanced, forcing the project to shut down—a fate any of these other tools could meet.
(Credit: SmartTubeNext)
Download Your Favorites
If there are videos you return to time and again but hate being interrupted by ads, download them from YouTube to store on your machine. This does take money away from creators, but you’re probably not running completely afoul of Google’s terms of service—or the law, for that matter—if it’s for personal use. For the full how-to, read our YouTube video download tutorial. For music lovers, there’s also a way to save your favorite songs as MP3 files using a convertor.
(Credit: Shutterstock/sdx15)
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Eric Griffith
Senior Editor, Features
Experience
I’ve been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally since 1992, more than half of that time with PCMag. I arrived at the end of the print era of PC Magazine as a senior writer. I served for a time as managing editor of business coverage before settling back into the features team for the last decade and a half. I write features on all tech topics, plus I handle several special projects, including the Readers’ Choice and Business Choice surveys and yearly coverage of the Best ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs, Best Products of the Year, and Best Brands (plus the Best Brands for Tech Support, Longevity, and Reliability).
I started in tech publishing right out of college, writing and editing stories about hardware and development tools. I migrated to software and hardware coverage for families, and I spent several years exclusively writing about the then-burgeoning technology called Wi-Fi. I was on the founding staff of several magazines, including Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine. All of which are now defunct, and it’s not my fault. I have freelanced for publications as diverse as Sony Style, Playboy.com, and Flux. I got my degree at Ithaca College in, of all things, television/radio. But I minored in writing so I’d have a future.
In my long-lost free time, I wrote some novels, a couple of which are not just on my hard drive: BETA TEST (“an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale,” according to Publishers’ Weekly) and a YA book called KALI: THE GHOSTING OF SEPULCHER BAY. Go get them on Kindle.
I work from my home in Ithaca, NY, and did it long before pandemics made it cool.
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Jason Cohen
Senior Editor, Help & How To
Experience
As PCMag’s editor of how to content, I have to cover a wide variety of topics and also make our stories accessible to everyday users. Considering my history as a technical writer, copywriter, and all-around freelancer covering baseball, comics, and more at various outlets, I am used to making myself into an expert.
I believe tech corporations are bad, but you might as well know how to use technology in everyday life. Want more how to content delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the tips and tricks newsletter that I curate twice a week.
My job as how-to guru means I use just about every gadget under the sun, so I can figure out how everything works. I work from a Lenovo ThinkPad running Windows 11, but also have a very large Dell Inspiron 17 3000 and Apple silicon MacBook. I also have a Google Pixel 6a for personal use and use a Galaxy Z Flip 4 for additional Samsung-related testing. For iOS coverage, an iPhone 13 mini works like a charm, though it’s already becoming a little long in the tooth.
My desktop situation includes a dual monitor setup with a modest Acer monitor. I also use a Logitech mouse (who can use these ThinkPad trackpads) and a Havit keyboard (my first mechanical keyboard; I love it but my wife hates it!). I’m a recent convert from wired headphones; I have Anker Soundcore Liberty Air wireless earbuds for personal use and have taken to the Sennheiser HD 450BT headphones for work.
Whenever I have a second to myself, I’m probably gaming on my Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, or Xbox Series S. I also still have a bunch of classic consoles lying around as well.
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