A few easy YouTube fixes: How to block YouTube ads and protect online privacy

What are some ways to both enjoy YouTube with less hassle, and also ensure our, and our children’s, privacy?

The basic truth about YouTube is that, love or hate it, it enables people to have access to a wide range of information, entertainment, and really almost everything else. With YouTube videos, we can look up how to do the simplest tasks, watch (or binge) old movies and keep up with the latest music videos. Not to mention get access to just about any hobby we can have, from video games and cooking to sports highlights and how-to tutorials on hair loss.

This reality does not go unnoticed by anyone on the planet trying to make a buck, whether that’s through advertising and getting us to see certain spots, or gathering information via cookies, tracking just those interests we are entertaining. YouTube is the watering hole, and we’re all headed to it, almost daily. In the age range from 18-24, the current number of YouTube users in the population is at around 96 percent. 87 percent of US Americans use YouTube at least several times a week, and the numbers have continuously risen for years now.

But what are some ways to both enjoy YouTube with less hassle, and also ensure our, and our children’s, privacy?

The first step is knowing how to block YouTube ads. A good ad-blocker, like Adblock Plus, or any of the browsers that come with ad blocking installed, is the way to go. Opera, Aloha and Chrome are great examples of browsers with integrated blocking. The nice thing about ad blocking is that apart from curbing the interruptions (no more pre-roll or mid-roll video ads), it also stops tracking and offers protection against malvertising. And that’s not only when hanging out on YouTube, but while we browse the web in general. Also, a lot of ad blockers are also configurable, so if there is a YouTuber we love, it’s easy to whitelist specific pages in order to allow them monetization.

Another valuable step toward an optimized YouTube experience is enabling child protection options. Youtube offers us Parental Controls (they are easy and there to help us) and also Youtube Kids, which gives users a more limited variety of content, further parental controls, and also filters videos that are considered inappropriate. These options turn YouTube into a manageable place for our children and teens as well.

By downloading a good ad blocker and adjusting our settings on YouTube, we have quick and easy solutions to add a degree of peace of mind to our daily lives.

Get Adblock Plus on your favorite browsers:
Chrome
Firefox (desktop & Android)
Opera
Safari
Internet Explorer
Microsoft Edge
Yandex Browser
Samsung Internet (Android)
Safari iOS

Or, binge-watch YouTube videos in a dedicated browser for Android: Get Adblock Browser


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" » A few easy YouTube fixes: How to block YouTube ads and protect online privacy." Laura Dornheim | Sciencx [Online]. Available: https://www.scien.cx/2020/03/20/a-few-easy-youtube-fixes-how-to-block-youtube-ads-and-protect-online-privacy/. [Accessed: 2024-03-28T12:23:30+00:00]
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» A few easy YouTube fixes: How to block YouTube ads and protect online privacy | Laura Dornheim | Sciencx | https://www.scien.cx/2020/03/20/a-few-easy-youtube-fixes-how-to-block-youtube-ads-and-protect-online-privacy/ | 2024-03-28T12:23:30+00:00
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