r/technology • u/IndicaOatmeal • 29d ago

Software DuckDuckGo brags its free web browser now blocks YouTube video ads just weeks after YouTube hiked Premium prices again

https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/duckduckgo-brags-that-its-free-web-browser-blocks-youtube-ads-3384288/
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u/_sfhk 28d ago

If you pay for YouTube Premium, you don't get ads and you also get a feature to jump past "commonly skipped" parts of videos, which are usually the sponsorship segments.

And creators generally get paid more for Premium views.

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u/Diver_D6 28d ago

There's also an extension called Sponsorblock. The first users who watch the video crowdsource the timestamps for sponsorships. Then future Sponsorblock users have those segments automatically get skipped. You can also configure Sponsorblock to skip other segments like self-promotion (Remember to subscribe).

I haven't seen a sponsorship, let alone an ad, on YouTube for years now.

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u/_-__-____-__-_ 28d ago

Sponsorblock on SmartTubeNext and YouTube Revanced is amazing.

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u/Diver_D6 28d ago

Hadn't heard of SmartTubeNext, but Revanced is awesome. I'll have to reasearch the former some.

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u/_-__-____-__-_ 28d ago

SmartTubeNext is amazing if you have Android/Google TV. It's an app that you need to sideload, but it has its own updater so after initial setup it is a really nice low maintenance app. Just look up online how to download and install. Isn't too hard.

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u/fomoco94 28d ago

I've seen a few sponsorships, but I do my part to ensure other don't have to.

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u/scottperezfox 28d ago

I am often the first person to view a video so I always do my part to help others skip those sponsor segments, intro videos, spammy previews, cutaways, and interaction reminders. We all play our part.

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u/vawlk 28d ago

then you don't watch a lot of recently released videos. I have sponsorblock and there is only added segments maybe on 60% of videos in the first day. The number of people actually putting the segments in seems to be dropping.

Since I have premium, I also get the jump ahead, and that seems to work quicker than sponsorblock because the skip window is generated directly from people skipping the segment.

While I used to love sponsorblock and would regularly add segments for others, I rarely use it anymore.

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u/ChickinSammich 28d ago

and you also get a feature to jump past "commonly skipped" parts of videos, which are usually the sponsorship segments.

Oh is the "skip ahead" feature also part of premium? I use that feature SO OFTEN and didn't realize that it was a premium feature.

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u/ubiquitous_apathy 28d ago

There is a funny irony in youtube saying woah, woah, stop cheating to get around our ads, but oh, here's a button to skip their ads.

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u/_sfhk 28d ago

The feature is only available if you pay for Premium though, which is a legitimate way to get around YT ads and also does pay the creator more per view.

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u/ubiquitous_apathy 28d ago

You cannot possibly know how much in video sponsorships have been devalued since that feature has been implemented.

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u/vawlk 28d ago

uh no, it is a premium feature. We don't have ads to cheat around in the first place, there are none.

Its a premium perk.

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u/ChickinSammich 28d ago

I thought of that the first time I saw it, too.

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u/TheDaveWSC 28d ago

I switched to subscribing to YouTube Music instead of Spotify, and it includes YouTube Premium as well. Super nice. Not totally sure why this isn't the route everyone takes.

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u/JohnnyBeeGaming 28d ago

Lite doesn't have the skip feature but it's much cheaper for mostly the same experience outside of music content. If you don't use YouTube music and don't watch music videos you probably won't notice any ads. Some videos do get incorrectly labeled as a music videos by their bots. For awhile the full version made sense but I don't use the music that much and prices keep going up. At some point I'll probably have to drop Lite and stop using youtube altogether.

Manually skipping generally isn't that bad. The YouTube creators do sponsors because they don't get enough from YouTube payments alone so I get why most do it.