TL;DR version:
From June to August, the number of active users of the AdGuard Ad Blocker extension for Chrome dropped by about 8%. But in late August, the trend reversed. The temporary slump in user growth was offset by the increased demand in the second half of the year.
After a brief period of turbulence that lasted about a month, we saw the trend stabilize. And while the daily number of uninstalls was still higher than before YouTube’s crackdown, it remained consistently lower than the number of daily installs.
After media reports and YouTube’s own statements implied that ad blockers were doomed, and especially after more and more users started noticing that their ad blocking extensions were not working properly on YouTube, we did indeed see a spike in uninstalls. However, at the same time, the number of installs also increased significantly! It may well be that the way ad blockers’ woes were amplified in the media inadvertently boosted their popularity and helped them woo new users.
The takeaway from all of this is that ad blockers — first and foremost, ad-blocking extensions — were rocked by YouTube’s onslaught, but survived. And, moreover, the interest has rebounded, as is evidenced by the growth in the number of active users.
Still using Firefox + ublock origin + sponsorblock. I’ve not seen an ad on YouTube for years.
On my phone I’m using Tubular, a fork of NewPipe with Sponsorblock integration.
Yeah ditto, been working fine for me
Same, on phone Newpipe works fine for me so far.
Seen plenty of people talking about the crazy ads they see on Youtube. Right wing propaganda, blatant grifting, scams… Folding Ideas has done not one but two videos talking about the ads he saw and picking them apart. Surely the people complaining about these ads know adblockers exist right? Why don’t they use them? I’m sure there are several reasons but, it’s been a known quantity for decades that you have the power to control how many and what kind of ads you see.
Is Tubular an Android only thing? I can’t find it. I’m still looking for an iOS solution.
You can use Yattee with this guide
Will try this tonight. Thanks!
If this doesn’t work for you, I have another (not as great) option that I used to use, back when I was using iOS. You can find a Invidious or Piped instance you like and a shortcut to it on your home screen. Obviously, that’s not as great as having a nice native app, but it works.