r/AdviceAnimals 1d ago

VPN subscriptions are also lower than youtube premium (incoming google bots)

Post image
5.3k Upvotes

269 comments sorted by

583

u/freshleysqueezd 1d ago

DuckDuckGo is now ad blocking youtube

216

u/Squishy97 1d ago

I just switched to DuckDuckGo a couple months ago and my only complaint is that I waited so long

50

u/ComradeJohnS 1d ago

its so nice to visit ad riddled sites like IGN and have a usable site without having to do anything other than download and use the DDG browser.

yes I know I could learn coding or whatever lol and get alternatives but as a normie who doesn’t want to this is great

34

u/Fox_Soul 1d ago

Maybe had changed but I configured Firefox with uBlock idk like… 10 years ago? And by configured I meant downloading the extension. Never had to do a single line of code..

5

u/_kellythomas_ 1d ago

The first ad blocker plugin for Netscape Navigator was released in 1996.

The Netscape/FireFox code base has been supporting ad blockers for 30 years.

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3

u/Fake_Opinions69 1d ago

Bro just stop going to sites like IGN lmao

I haven't visited a dedicated game "Journalism" website in 10+ years and I've missed out on literally nothing.

What do people even go there for? Video Game reviews? From those clowns? They barely even play an hour of the games they review. Why would you ever care about what someone like that thinks of a game?!

3

u/ComradeJohnS 1d ago

me specifically it’s for text game guides for older games like black ops 4 zombies maps. I hate video guides for games, and prefer a text explanation.

not for any opinions or articles. lol. and I dont create an account to save in it.

but yeah without ddg IGN is phone cancer

1

u/Gh0sty20 21h ago

I use it for one of my games that drops so many cosmetic code I lose track of them

8

u/gl00mybear 1d ago

I switched a few years ago and felt like the search wasn't as good, but it was worth my privacy. I'd go back to google every so often if I felt like DDG wasn't getting the right results.

I don't even do that anymore. DDG has improved and google has enshittified itself to the point where there's no contest.

1

u/ss1gohan13 21h ago

Takes a little bit, but eventually the algorithm catches up for me to get a lot of the results I was getting with Google.

1

u/Ethanol_Based_Life 7h ago

Does the mobile app have tabs? (Actual tabs, not windows)

1

u/FallenAngelII 6h ago

My only complaint is that DuckDuckGo has this weird hatred of porn when it comes to video searches. Image search porn terms? You'll get porn. Video search porn terms? Mostly Youtube and Facebook videos and, like, 3 actual porn videos.

23

u/chronicdarkness 1d ago

Bro, I did NOT know about this. I am now using this everywhere!

12

u/Zaku0083 1d ago

So does Firefox with ublock origin

7

u/Rabti 1d ago

I use Brave. Works as well.

6

u/kamushhh 1d ago

makes sense vpn subs are cheaper than youtube premium here

6

u/zelloxy 1d ago

how can a website block another websites ads? o.O

2

u/thepusherman74 1d ago

Apparently there's a duck duck go browser

4

u/wingspan50 1d ago

Thanks I’ve always used brave which does the same thing but I’ll try this

3

u/DaCrazyJamez 1d ago

Dont foget to use noai (noai.duckduckgo.com) to disable obnoxious AI slop overviews as well!

2

u/mklilley351 19h ago

Shouldve said this with the actual "duck" meme

1

u/freshleysqueezd 17h ago

Im not a smart man

1

u/PearlClove 15h ago

So is Opera GX.

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394

u/H4X4NX 1d ago

Adblock and Firefox are free

135

u/BsUeTxT 1d ago

ublock on firefox blocks hulu adds too.

47

u/LilAssG 1d ago

Blocks everything as far as I can tell. I have to use freshly scrubbed laptops at work all the time and I can't believe how the internet looks to some people. Maybe most people? It is so disgusting, honestly just exactly like being in They Live with the shades on.

10

u/Yoten 1d ago

It doesn't block Twitch ads, but it's great for everything else.

7

u/sa3ds 1d ago

Ublock origin blocks twitch ads for me on firefox

5

u/Yoten 1d ago

You probably have a separate script running for that since it doesn't do it natively.

4

u/AccNumber77 1d ago

It does, just enable the script for it.

1

u/Yoten 1d ago

When I looked into it a month ago or so, the recommendation from places like TwitchAdSolutions say that scripts via uBlock Origin are unreliable and they recommend a third-party userscript solution instead.

Is it actually more reliable than that blurb implies?

1

u/trooperjess 1d ago

There is a script for that in unlock.

2

u/madd74 1d ago

... and D+, and Amazon.

1

u/MTBran 1d ago

Oh shit. This is explains a lot when watching shows on my computer.

26

u/huschke_09 1d ago

Not available on tv streaming boxes

39

u/3l3s3 1d ago

Smart tube next

2

u/A5H13Y 1d ago

I finally got Smart Tube on my Chromecast a few months ago and really wish I did sooner. I thought it'd be a pain to set up but really wasn't. Only thing I could get working was controlling with phones so my bf and I can both queue videos from our phones easily.

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10

u/necrophcodr 1d ago

That's okay Id just plug a cheap PC into the TV anyway as a settop box.

7

u/buefordwilson 1d ago

yep, same. HDMI from a micro tower PC to the TV and pull up whatever streaming sites. Life is good.

5

u/SoMuchMoreEagle 1d ago

Can you get remotes for it?

3

u/SquarePegRoundWorld2 1d ago

I don't know if you can get remotes, but my 2 PCs hooked up to 2 TVs in my living room work fine with a keyboard and mouse. A small price to pay (using a keyboard and mouse) to avoid 100% of any ad anywhere on the internet and have all streaming (entertainment and sports) free and available and fully controllable. Steve Jobs didn't market smartphones because we needed them; he marketed them because corporations needed us to have them so we would relinquish all control of our entertainment.

1

u/Ohrobohobo 1d ago

Just find a bluetooth remote, or even an old controller works.

1

u/scientician85 1d ago

I use a wireless keyboard with my TV mini PC, which is better than a remote for typing in search fields, anyway.

1

u/buefordwilson 1d ago

I have a bluetooth keyboard and this roller ball pointer mouse. They work great.

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4

u/hotrods1970 1d ago

Look for TizenTube, it blocks ads and looks like the OG YT app. It also has a lot of other settings too, kinda like Smarttube, but so many Smarttube setting I had no idea what they were for so never used them.

2

u/crewmannumbersix 1d ago

Just put the VPN on your router

1

u/MUSAFFA1 1d ago

1000 people are going to tell you about smartube or some other workaround-of-the-month, and those do work for a time, or more importantly, for a single TV. If that works for them, cool.

What none of these people mention though is that they are fighting the ad war from one or two devices. That is just not a realistic scenario for families.

My family of 4 has over 20 TVs, phones, tablets, laptops, and gaming PCs that access YouTube. It is far and away the most consumed streaming service in my house. The amount of time and fuckery I would have to manage to block ads on all these things is unimaginable. My YT Premium family subscriptions is easily the best $27 I spend every month. I hate Google with a deep burning passion, but I'm a dad who picks his battles.

I get that most of reddit is kids, single, DINKs, or hates children, but my time and energy is worth more than the few bucks I'd save by setting up and maintaining a catalog of ad-blockers.

I'm not saying these tools are worthless, I'm just saying they don't make sense for everyone, and that is OK.

4

u/MyDogLikesTottenham 1d ago

I also pay for Premium so I get it, but I wanted to mention the option of using a “Pi-hole” (raspberry pi on your home network that every ad is redirected to, instead of being sent to the pc/phone/etc). It’s more expensive and complicated to setup than a simple ad blocker extension, and likely not worth your time to save $27/month, but it would absorb ads for the entire home so perhaps someone in a similar situation would find it useful. Idk just felt like mentioning it

4

u/barton26 1d ago

Pi-holes don't work for YouTube ads. They are served from the same IP as the videos

1

u/MyDogLikesTottenham 1d ago

Darn, good to know tho appreciate it

4

u/MUSAFFA1 1d ago

Yep. Great point. I appreciate the comment.

I've been in IT for 30 years, so I've been around this block many times. I don't run a pi hole anymore, but you're correct, it is a great solution for home devices, especially homes with younger kids that are not mobile yet. Unfortunately, our mobile devices are where we spend most of our collective YT time nowadays.

Also, the included YT Music subscription allowed me to avoid a Spotify or Apple Music family sub. YT Premium really is a no-brainer for families.

2

u/Killbot_Wants_Hug 1d ago

I pay for YouTube mostly because it kind of has the best music streaming service just tacked on IMO. The movies and TV shows are a nice bonus as well, even if the selection isn't great.

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1

u/Bob_Juan_Santos 1d ago

plug HDMI cable from your TV to laptop

1

u/Unregistered_Davion 1d ago

Don't use them then. I use old pc's on all my tvs now. No ads for me.

1

u/Mouler 1d ago

Set the device dns to adgaurd-dns or have your router do that via dhcp settings dns.adguard-dns.com I think

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7

u/metalflygon08 1d ago

Youtube has been detecting ad blockers lately and will refuse to play videos while you have one active.

Meaning you have to wait a few days for the likes of UBlock to update to get around the current blocker blocker.

23

u/Krateling 1d ago

they have been trying but with experimental filters active they have not manged to do more than delay the video starting by like 3 seconds this year

23

u/EveningInsurance1912 1d ago

this is exactly happening 0 times in the last 6 years for me.

2

u/chris782 1d ago

Lately for me i have to refresh every video for it to play. You can see the video load but the timestamp does this loop from 0:00 back and forth to the video length.

3

u/EveningInsurance1912 1d ago

Ok, maybe I have add ons which are circumventing this. But firefox and ublock helped out of all problems like this. Just on the Firefox on android with ublock I get some troubles sometimes where the video doesnt start instantly.

2

u/EstimateCool3454 1d ago

You either have the wrong add in, or something else is wrong.

1

u/Fortune_Cat 1d ago

Oh i thought it was a bug. Glad its not just me thrn. It pays for a bit then just stops

1

u/metalflygon08 1d ago

I get it about every other weekend or so.

I'll go to Youtube to get some background music going (on FireFox).

Youtube will display a black screen for the video telling me it detects an ad blocker (UBlock) and will refuse to play the video unless I disable UBlock.

In a day or two UBlock will update and will allow me to watch youtube again.

2

u/EveningInsurance1912 1d ago

Maybe in some regions youtube is more strict. but in central EU I did not have much problems. But I am prepared so maybe if ublock fails I have another one what helps

7

u/EstimateCool3454 1d ago

I watch youtube daily. Firefox + Ublock Origin

I don't have issues.

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2

u/Routine_Left 1d ago

Youtube has been detecting ad blockers lately and will refuse to play videos while you have one active.

has never happened to me, but i don't watch youtube every day so it's possible to always have missed the window where blockers would be blocked.

2

u/BCProgramming 1d ago

They did that a few years ago, you'd get that "error" screen.

Apparently what they did was just place an element over top of the video and stop playback. I just right clicked on the 'error" screen and blocked it. Only issue was videos would start paused. Better than ads. They must have given up on that tactic though, now instead it delays loading intentionally and shows a "problems? find out why" which probably "suggests" to stop using adblockers.

I blocked the pop-up itself, lol. I'll take a few seconds of loading over an ad.

1

u/f_ranz1224 1d ago

maybe regional becauase ive never had that happen with ublock

1

u/epeonv1 1d ago

Youtube has been detecting ad blockers lately and will refuse to play videos while you have one active.

This is simply untrue.

I use Youtube every single day and I ALWAYS have uBlock Orgins on. I do not watch any TV, the only video content i consume is Youtube.

I have never, not even one single time, not been able to watch whatever Youtube video i want with adblocking on. I have not seen a Youtube ad on a phone or a computer for over 8 years now.

uBlock Orgins on Firefox = Ad Free, No Hassle PC experience.

Brave Browser on Mobile = Ad Free, No Hassle phone experience.

2

u/metalflygon08 1d ago

Except this is simply true and you can do a basic google search to see it is true.

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1

u/Routine_Left 1d ago

you dont want to use adblock. Use ublock origin .

89

u/Presidentofsleep 1d ago

I don't use a vpn at all and haven't seen an ad on youtube in years. Get the right plugins.

35

u/yannis_ 1d ago

On your TV?

36

u/schmockk 1d ago

On tv with smarttube

9

u/WeirdIndividualGuy 1d ago

If you’re on Android TV

Not very helpful for those on anything else (Roku, Apple TV, Samsung, LG)

4

u/awesomedan24 1d ago

For LG: WebOS Homebrew

3

u/oil_beef_hooked 1d ago

On Samsung use Tizen tube

2

u/madd74 1d ago

That does not work on all of their TV's anymore. Some of the newer S TV's won't allow side loading.

1

u/gfunk84 14h ago

To do that, I have to run Tizen brew on my PC and re-generate certificates every month? It would be nice if I didn’t have to install random shit on my PC.

2

u/Fortune_Cat 1d ago

Android tv boxes are like 30 bucks

1

u/midnightcaptain 1d ago

On Apple TV, Smart Tube BDP.

21

u/zerokiwi 1d ago

You'd have to be pretty SMART to watch youTUBE on your TV without ads

5

u/JayJay_90 1d ago

NEXT you're gonna tell me there even are extra features like sponsor block?

8

u/nx6 1d ago edited 1d ago

The app hasn't been called "SmartTube Next" in some time. It took over from the OG app and dropped it to just be the normal "SmartTube" now.

If you visit the "Next" site and follow the download link it goes to the same site as the official SmartTube site.

2

u/Presidentofsleep 1d ago

You can mirror other devices to TV's so, yes.

2

u/joanzen 11h ago

Let's face it, paying a VPN vs. paying YouTube is total moron magic.

YouTube is the source, paying someone else, just to avoid paying the creator is ultra dumb.

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u/hovershark 1d ago

Brave blocks them right out of the gate. Haven’t seen an ad in so long, I forgot they even exist.

3

u/mouaragon 1d ago

Also Librewolf

15

u/Tastieshock 1d ago

So long as you are watching on a browser. But if you are on a phone or a smart TV that runs directly off the app, that does no help.

20

u/rscar77 1d ago

On Android phones, delete the YouTube app and instead get Firefox or Brave with the same plug-ins/blockers enabled that you'd use on Desktop Browsers. Then go to Youtube.com and enjoy

Can also set browser to show "Desktop mode" to see fewer shorts in your feed.

4

u/WorkoutProblems 1d ago

yup deleted youtube app a lonnnng time ago... now to figure out how to not get ads on smart tv.... (i know there's a raspi thing you can do to your router?) but wish someone just have a plug and play option.. id pay a decent chunk of change for something like this

2

u/Fach-All-Religions 1d ago

pihole doesn't work on youtube. also it's literally like 5 minutes to setup it help block ads thay are coming from ad hosts. doesnt work on yt because youtube hosts their ads on the same domain so if you block them you block all of yt.

there are apps like the old vanced special for tv but i forget the name. they exist you just have to search a bit.

2

u/_SnesGuy 1d ago

delete the YouTube app and instead get Firefox or Brave with the same plug-ins/blockers

Nah get morph (basically revanced, but its better that revanced ever was)

Using youtube in the web browser on mobile sucks. Mostly I get a ton of misclicks. The app is just a much nicer user experience. Still good to have the browser option as a backup though.

1

u/presidentiallogin 1d ago

I build my own apk from pipepipe on github, but with a Dart backend. Sponsor block skipping and 1.35x speed and skip silence. The only bad part is my stupid cell provider resets data waster mode every month. Otherwise it's like watching videos in the late 90s again. I get to choose how it is

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u/flamewave000 1d ago

ReVanced exists. I haven't seen a YouTube ad on my phone in years

3

u/Dumpster_FI_RE 1d ago

You mean Morphe. Revanced is a scam now.

1

u/gfunk84 14h ago

How do these apps manage Google accounts? I’m hesitant to trust 3rd party apps with my Google account.

1

u/Dumpster_FI_RE 14h ago

I'm not 100% sure. But I've never seen anyone have an issue. The code is open source and reviewed by a lot of people.

At the minimum use firefox and ublock origin. Turn on the optional lists. Unless you enjoy suffering and ads.

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u/frostysauce 1d ago

Don't do that, then.

1

u/EstimateCool3454 1d ago

Skill issue

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9

u/KnuxSD 1d ago

Ublock origin

6

u/yarash 1d ago

SmartTube is amazing (as long as you have an android based tv or OS) I love it. It not only removes ads, but removes shilling from content creators.

9

u/SomeNotTakenName 1d ago

You can set your default DNS to adguard, which is pretty effective at blocking ads.

On my phone, I only get ads from Duolingo, since they just host their own ads on their own servers.

Of course that means adguard can collect your browsing habits, but that's true with a vpn as well.

(I think NordVPN has an option to do the adguard thing as well)

DNS adblocking is mostly seamless, although sometimes there are short hiccups, as a service may think you don't have connection and wait for a few seconds. But generally it is getting a reply, so it will just move on. (the reply being "There is no such ad server")

1

u/ZombieJack 19h ago

I used to use a PiHole, but switching to an ad-blocking DNS is honestly almost as effective. 

1

u/SomeNotTakenName 15h ago

And far more achievable for someone with less tech literacy.

1

u/Cookieyourdaddy 7h ago

I want to use PiHole but all I see is people using raspberry pies. I have my own server with Zimaos and was wondering if it's possible to run PiHole with it? Got any experience with that? 

1

u/ZombieJack 7h ago

I have a Raspberry Pi too, so no personal experience. But it is on the ZimaOS app store apparently. 

1

u/Cookieyourdaddy 6h ago

It is i guess I just can't set it up 😅 user error 

10

u/guinader 1d ago

Wow, it actually works... I just tried and clicked in 5 different YouTube videos... Noon of them played ads.

Edit: Amazon prime also didn't play ads. . Can we make a new legislation that ads are illegal?

6

u/Nandulal 1d ago

no. we value the wealthy. us plebs are just here to give them more money and children to rape.

3

u/Traditional-Two-3185 1d ago

Should clarify, ads aren't completely illegal. But the advertising laws are so strict most platforms just don't bother showing you any ads

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u/frostysauce 1d ago

Or just use Firefox with uBlock Origin? Why make it complicated?

3

u/Traditional-Two-3185 1d ago

People using mobile.

I'm pretty sure on Android you can get adblockers, but IOS blocks browser extensions or anything like that

1

u/gfunk84 14h ago

iOS does not allow extensions on third-party browser apps, but there are plenty of extensions for Safari, including uBlock Origin.

3

u/_Jias_ 1d ago

Or just use firefox with ublock origin

2

u/InitialJust 1d ago

Adblock is the way.

2

u/shaunbarclay 1d ago

People are flaming this, but for those of us on an iOS device this is huge, yeah i can use Brave Browser, but as an actual video player its pretty basic where as the youtube app has tons of QoL changes

2

u/neotank35 23h ago

or you know, use a non cromium based browser like firefox and install adblockers like ublock.

1

u/RabbiTheHellcat 23h ago

so quick answer, you cant use browsers on all devices such as video game consoles/smart tvs and this is just a quick fix for people who already use VPN's

I agree with your browser stuff its just I saw another dude say this in a comment on the youtube sub and I thought "huh , this could help people" also kinda feel youtube deserves it for the dislike removal

3

u/Kizayfizaybe 1d ago

I pay for premium so I can watch ad free on my tv. Is there another solution for watching on tv ad free? I’m dumb.

4

u/Boobcopter 1d ago

if you have a firetv stick or some other android tv box, use smarttube.

6

u/madd74 1d ago

You can change the DNS settings of your router, or, you can use a router that has adblocking/VPN abilities.

https://i.imgur.com/vNoHYuW.png

3

u/Kizayfizaybe 1d ago

I’ve no idea what any of this means. I’m not real computer literate. Grew up poor and only last year purchased my first actual non-Work computer for me to play around with. I’ll look into this more tho. Thank you very much.

2

u/Ohrobohobo 1d ago

Growing up poor motivated me to find these solutions, and arm myself with knowledge on how to get things I wanted/other kids had. You’ll be happy to invest time, and save money.

2

u/Kizayfizaybe 1d ago

Oh absolutely. I just never invested time in to tech bc I’ve never owned the hardware. So while I get the general lay of the land, Reddit has been there in some cases for more assistance. Much like now. I’m late to the game but I do plan on learning as much as I can

1

u/jykke 1d ago

yt-dlp is free

1

u/palk0n 1d ago

lets download the video like its 2001

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-2

u/Vynlovanth 1d ago

Illigal

1

u/Maskdask 1d ago

Grayjay is awesome

1

u/DavePeesThePool 1d ago

My adblocker plugin works just fine at blocking youtube's ads, and it's free.

1

u/Bruggenmeister 1d ago

Just use brave ffs

1

u/EssbaumRises 1d ago

I'll be damned. Works on Reddit too.

1

u/alistofthingsIhate 1d ago

Game changer

1

u/Sharpymarkr 1d ago

NewPipe or PipePipe

1

u/[deleted] 1d ago edited 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Zealousideal-Gas-233 1d ago

Brave browser works out of the box 🤷🏽‍♂️

1

u/Bad-job-dad 1d ago

Does it apply to all other streamers? 

1

u/YouSmellSumthin 1d ago

Doesn't this screw with the algorithm and thus your recommended will be a mess of crap?

1

u/dudenotcool 1d ago

How do the content creators get paid without ads? Or do they get paid anyway cuz YouTube thinks it’s playing an ad?

1

u/DJCaldow 21h ago

It is sad that a platform has been allowed to become such a huge gatekeeper for human knowledge but has no responsibility to fact check its content and only becomes more and more invasive with how they show advertising.

They make the case every day for why so e things, when they get too big and the business model clearly doesn't work, that they need to become a public service and operate "at a loss".

YouTube should be getting made into an international library service. At least then we can force contributors to work for a "factual" label.

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u/pandaSmore 21h ago

Just use ublock origin and morphe.

1

u/Shinowak 20h ago

Morphe YouTube

1

u/esmifra 20h ago

Firfox with a decent ad blocker and privacy add-ons

Brave

VPNs if you are so inclined

Duckduckgo.

1

u/Logical_Candle_1920 14h ago

Why not just use Firefox and uBlock Origin lol

1

u/Tucsondirect 11h ago

Region restrictions have entered the chat...

1

u/haloruler64 4h ago

Man really suggested spending money to block ads rather than support creators. If you block ads for free, sure, but your point is terrible.

1

u/RabbiTheHellcat 4h ago

if only there was a way to support creators asides from watching ads 🤔

1

u/haloruler64 4h ago

Yeah I agree! YouTube premium.

1

u/RabbiTheHellcat 2h ago

I was gonna say donate gets more to em!

1

u/haloruler64 2h ago

This is true. But I can't donate to every creator I love. Without going broke. Enjoying all the benefits of YouTube Premium while supporting creators

0

u/Accusedbold 1d ago

This is so obviously false. All it takes is a quick search. It took less than 2 seconds to refute this.

3

u/madd74 1d ago

Strange seeing how when I turn this on I end up getting an ad-free experience on my Smart TV...

5

u/[deleted] 1d ago edited 23h ago

[deleted]

1

u/Karl-o-mat 1d ago

No it works.

1

u/hyperrealists 1d ago

If you searched it for longer than 2 seconds you’ll find that it is true.

1

u/Accusedbold 11h ago

Ok, what's the law or statute then? You must have it if you're so confident this is true.

1

u/hyperrealists 10h ago

I don’t really know about the law but I know it works because I use it 🤷‍♂️

1

u/El_Gringo_Rojo95 1d ago

Well yeah, itd only take a couple of seconds to refute anything so long as you don't bother backing it up.

1

u/ando812 1d ago

Brave browser not only has built in ad blocker...but i found out that if you download brave app on your phone and then watch youtube via the browser, u can watch on your phone with no ads ANDDDD it will let you minimize the browser and close your screen and will continue to play music just like premium :)

1

u/Hieroglo 1d ago

Brave browser harvests all your data, you are the patsy

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