Youtube is F***ing with Us?

[usonian]

2. Once in a while, I get ads and just close the window.

I haven't had problems, but I almost always use Firefox loaded with adblocker extensions, but not a specific youtube cleaner-upper.

All sites are getting bombed by AI bots, and take various defenses. The bots want EVERYTHING.

Since every case is different, down to device, browser, extensions, even what network you're on. No general advice wll do, but you might try an app from your (whatever) store that offers to block ads on youtube.

I commonly use iCloud Private Relay, which just hides my IP address and some other things I'm not aware of.

Some people use a VPN to hide their location and encrypt traffic so that their ISP can't snoop on them. Being in a different location (virtually) can mix up sites. I like it when a random search points to a review on amzon in UK or India.

Bots outnumber human users. I just read that today. A trashy internet just got ultra-trashed.

DU uses cloudflare to protect from bots and hackers, and sometimes, that puts up a captcha or nag.

It's war!