Adblock has been around for over a decade. Today there is a new way to block in-video sponsors, the ads that your content creators are pushing rather than external google/youtube ads.
This will save you time watching ads, and save you money by avoiding witnessing psychology tricks in ads.
Starting with the reason I made this article, however if you aren’t blocking adds on your computer and cellphone, keep reading.
SponsorBlock skips those ‘N0rdVPN’ type mid-video ads. It also has options to skip ‘Subscribe to my channel’ moments, intros, filler, etc… I have basically all options enabled and it cuts the videos perfectly.
Link to SponsorBlock.
This isn’t all encompassing, it’s just my setup. On desktop I have an extension for Chrome/Edge/Firefox “ublock Origin” for ad blocking.
To be clear there is a ‘ublock’ that sold out to… Adblock. If you remember them, adblock sold out and let big spenders pay to let ads through. “ublock Origin” is the one you want.
Unrelated, my philosophy on most software, great software ‘lives long enough to become a villain’, its good to be flexible or use Open Source software because villains can be forked to become heroes again.
tl;dr- ublock origin on PC
I use Bromite, blocks most ads and supposedly trackers. However, this is compiled software on an external non-google-playstore website. Its like installing a .exe on your computer… I personally don’t put any of my passwords in it, but I’m likely just paranoid. The .apk can be downloaded near the bottom of their homepage.
I don’t give Apple money or want to enable people to use Apple products so this is up to you. The time savings are worth it to figure it out for yourself.
I’ve heard of using VPNs and a RaspberryPi and Pihole. I havent tried these, but as long as your method takes less than 30 hours per year to set up/configure, you will be saving time.
Ads have the ability to change your brain. Their goal is to change your perception. They may subtlety make you think you need to own something or you are a loser. They may make you think their product will change your life. Whatever the case, ads have an adversarial relationship with you. Find out how you can block ads – it will save you time, money, and free you brain to think about what is best for you.