The YouTube ad blocker crackdown is well underway, with the streaming service issuing annoying pop-ups to people who continue to use the privacy-preserving tools on its website.
YouTube users are increasingly unhappy about the platform’s latest move to stop them using ad blockers, with many taking to sites such as Reddit to complain and look for workarounds.
There are alternatives to YouTube out there—and there are ad blockers that users say still work on the Google-owned site.
YouTube alternatives tend to lack the scale of the streaming platform, which has 2.7 billion active users. Even so, it’s good to know that you do have options. Here are some YouTube alternatives and options to watch ad-free videos on the Google-owned streaming service.
Dailymotion
If you are after a similar experience to YouTube but without Google ownership, Dailymotion could be the best option. It’s easy to use and there’s a good range of content, but it’s not perfect. With 300 million users, it’s not quite got the scale of YouTube and still includes ads. Plus, you have to pay to watch high-resolution videos.
Vimeo
Vimeo is another well-known and substantial YouTube competitor, with 260 million users. It doesn’t stray far from YouTube’s community-like interface—you can share videos and like and comment in the same way. The only drawback is there is no income for content creators and the amount you can upload for free is limited to 500Mb per week.
DTube
D stands for decentralized and that’s exactly what this YouTube alternative is. All DTube content is decentralized and stored on the blockchain, making it private and secure. It looks a lot like YouTube and—better still for ad-resistant users—DTube doesn’t serve ads or have a recommended algorithm. At the same time, while it supports free speech, content is monitored by the community.
How To Escape The YouTube Ad Blocker Ban
There are certainly alternatives to YouTube out there that can help you avoid the ad blocker ban. “If you’re willing to pay, Dailymotion could be the best option, with Vimeo coming second,” says independent security researcher Sean Wright.
When making your decision, Wright says it might be worth considering the business model of your chosen streaming service. “One thing to consider about paying is, that it’s less likely the operator is relying on your data as a revenue stream,” he points out.
If you still want to use YouTube, you also have a few options that could afford you some privacy. There could be a way to use DNS privacy services such as Pi-Hole or NextDNS, says Wright. “These seem to work for me, but they are quite technical to implement so it won’t be something that everyone could do,” he concedes.
Of course, you could pay for YouTube Premium—and for now, some ad blockers are still working for YouTube users. While many YouTube users uninstalled ad blockers in October, record numbers installed new ones that wouldn’t trigger Google’s pop-up warning, Wired reported. Some people even tried Microsoft’s Edge browser to avoid the ban.
Even so, it looks like YouTube’s ad blocker ban will continue—the site points out that ad blockers are against its terms of service, indicating it won’t back off from its crackdown on people using the tools on the site.
If you don’t want to pay for YouTube, it could be time to look for an alternative.
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