Removing YouTube ads

**molendijk** · 10-10-2012, 11:46 PM

Hi everyone,
Do you think I can publish my way of removing the ads in YouTube videos? I'm using it since a long time on a couple of my own sites, but I thought it would be improper to tell people about it, since it seems to violate the YouTube TOS.
On the other hand, there are (more complicated) plugins around for doing the same thing with Firefox, such as Tube Stop.
I'm also afraid that, as soon as YouTube knows how easy it is to remove their ads, they will find a solution to keep them.
Arie.

**bernie1227** · 10-11-2012, 12:10 AM

Which part of the TOS does it violate? I can't seem to find anything about it. On the note of other people creating plugins in order to block ads, there appears to be an extremely high proportion of ad blockers which block YouTube ads, just for Firefox and chrome alone. As per that I think it would probably be fine to post that here.

**djr33** · 10-11-2012, 02:09 AM

There's a question of morality and legality, and it's not entirely clear. I don't think youtube is happy about any of those plugins; they just haven't found a way to stop it.
However, those are meant for blocking ads in general, not just targeting youtube. Not sure if that matters much...

I'm also afraid that, as soon as YouTube knows how easy it is to remove their ads, they will find a solution to keep them.

That's what I'd be most worried about!

**bernie1227** · 10-11-2012, 02:29 AM

I can't seem to find anything about it at all actually, here's the TOS maybe you'll more luck than me, but I've also scoured google and can't find anything on the topic.

**molendijk** · 10-11-2012, 08:52 AM

Originally Posted by bernie1227

Which part of the TOS does it violate?

Par. 4F:
If you use the Embeddable Player on your website, you may not modify, build upon, or block any portion or functionality of the Embeddable Player, including but not limited to links back to the YouTube website.

**bernie1227** · 10-11-2012, 09:00 AM

well that's that then, the TOS is against it, so doing it would violate them, which can result in some strife.

**molendijk** · 10-11-2012, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by djr33

There's a question of morality and legality, and it's not entirely clear. I don't think youtube is happy about any of those plugins; they just haven't found a way to stop it.
However, those are meant for blocking ads in general, not just targeting youtube. Not sure if that matters much...

[About my worries...]That's what I'd be most worried about!

My script just blocks ads that are shown on top of certain YT videos.
Daniel, I'm glad you are sharing my worries about YouTube finding out their vulnerable spot. So I won't publish the script.
Arie.

**molendijk** · 10-11-2012, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by bernie1227

well that's that then, the TOS is against it, so doing it would violate them, which can result in some strife.

On the other hand, TubeStop still exists, so blocking ads on YouTube videos may not be referred to in the TOS.
Arie.

**jscheuer1** · 10-11-2012, 09:21 AM

Ad blocker add ons to browsers are for end users, not for content providers/middlemen such as yourself or anyone who puts YT content on their site. They're existence has no bearing on this question.

**bernie1227** · 10-11-2012, 09:32 AM

That would make sense, as it appears that youtube is restricting people with youtube videos embedded in their websites, rather than individual users viewing the websites.