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submitted 11 months ago by corbin@infosec.pub to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[-] Isoprenoid@programming.dev 190 points 11 months ago

Once again, ad blockers prove to be a great security measure.

[-] McDropout@lemmy.world 19 points 11 months ago

I wish if ad blockers were on option on things like Smart TVs and smartphone, not just on my browser.

[-] jonesy@aussie.zone 24 points 11 months ago

If your smart tv is android based you can try side loading Smart Tube, which integrates ad block, sponsor block and a whole pile of QoL settings you can tweak to suit you.

https://github.com/yuliskov/SmartTube

[-] Sasha@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 11 months ago

You can even add android to any tv with a chromecast with google tv, it's a much nicer OS and runs faster than a lot of smart tv OSs

[-] ObsidianZed@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

After looking to solve this exact issue I ended up grabbing an Onn 4k streaming box (Google/Android TV) for $20 from Walmart. Not on sale, just full retail is $20, compared to the 4k Chromecast with Google TV at $50 msrp. It's fast enough and even got better performance out of streaming games through Moonlight than I did from my Steam Link.

[-] Sasha@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 11 months ago

Oh cool, that's actually really useful to know. Thanks!

[-] yamanii@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

Doesn't really solve the issue, I have one but could never find a way to cast YouTube to it and not have ads, since both Vanced and New pipe can't do it.

[-] Sasha@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 11 months ago

Yeah slightly annoying that, the default YouTube app should be able to cast to smart tube and you still won't have ads though. Vanced used to be able to cast to it, before it was killed and revived.

I just don't cast to it and use the remote.

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[-] KpntAutismus@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

on android it's possible. i use firefox with ublock origin, and revanced.

[-] Evkob@lemmy.ca 4 points 11 months ago

And for ad-free YouTube specifically on Android-based smartphones, LibreTube is my personal fav but there are plenty of other options such as NewPipe, Clipious, and YouTube Revanced.

[-] KpntAutismus@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

depends on if you want to sign in to your account. to my knowlege, only revanced can do that.

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[-] KrapKake@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

You can set custom DNS to block ads and whatnot on androids and most smart TVs AFAIK. It should just be a setting somewhere. I use

base.dns.mullvad.net

For TV you might need IP address in which case it's 194.242.2.4.

Source and more info about this here: https://mullvad.net/en/help/dns-over-https-and-dns-over-tls

[-] generic@iusearchlinux.fyi 14 points 11 months ago

This doesn't work for most streaming services. The ads and the actual video come from the same server. I know this is the case on Hulu (probably YouTube, too).

[-] Evotech@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

Yeah, it used to not be like this but they have taken measures to not use separate domains to serve ads because of dns filters.

[-] PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Yeah it doesn’t block YouTube ads, because YouTube hosts the ads locally. No reason to have the ad provider host their own, when YT already has the infrastructure built to host them. Trying to use DNS to block YT ads would also block the videos themselves, which sort of defeats the entire purpose of using the site.

[-] TheFederatedPipe@kbin.social 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

@McDropout

How to block #ads on #Android

Block ads on the web: Firefox + uBlock Origin.

A must have, if you want to browse the web without ads, trackers, malware and more. There are other browsers you could use, but with #firefox, you can install add-ons to help you mitigate all the tracking and ads. You can even install desktop only add-ons now, and supporting a engine which is not #chromium (controlled by Google) like every other major browser.

There are multiple forks available on the F-droid if you don't want to use plain firefox. This works on desktop too, I recommend #LibreWolf.

Block ads on any app with: #TrackerControl.

My favorite way of blocking ads, you have control over which domain the app can connect. It works like a VPN, but it does not make any outgoing connection. The bad thing is, if you want to use an actual #VPN, you can't have both at the same time and you need to disable your custom DNS.

I recommend to enable in settings > advanced options > block system apps, and individual domains too. When you open the app for the first time, it asks you if you want to block essential request for the apps to work, I recommend to enable this if you don't want apps breaking.

You android vendor may be killing the app, for this reason is necessary to add the app in the list of apps not be optimized by the system. If this issue keeps happening follow the guide from dontkillmyapp.com (advanced)

Official website: TrackerControl.org

Set a custom #DNS in the settings.

A DNS works like a translator, computers are good with numbers, but we are not good at memorizing long numbers. Computers communicate with each other using the Internet Protocol (IP), which are pure numbers. For example, your instance #IP is 104.26.8.209 but is easier to us just type lemmy.world.

A DNS is like a table where it has a relationship between keys pointing lemmy.world to 104.26.8.209, so your computer knows where is the computer is trying to connect.

Let's imagine an app is trying to connect to "https://ads-from.company.com", if you are using a DNS which blocks known domain ads it will redirect that request to "0.0.0.0" which is like sending it to a black hole. There are multiple DNS available, which different purposes, for ads, malware, porn, gambling, etc.

#Mullvand VPN has a guide in how to use their DNS for multiple devices.

Alternative front-ends.

Have in mind that these are not full bulletproof protections, one may work better than the other, and can break from time to time. With popular services with ads, like social media, you could use alternative front-ends to their official client or website.

Here is a list of alternative front-ends and an add-on to automatically redirect to them, you have to use it with a browser and you can add as a shortcut to the home screen, better if it works like a #PWA https://libredirect.github.io

Alternative apps

  1. YouTube: NewPipe, LibreTube, NewPipe x SponsorBlock
  2. Twitter: Squawker
  3. YouTube Music: Harmony Music
  4. Twitch: Xtra, Twire
[-] __jz@troet.cafe 1 points 11 months ago

@TheFederatedPipe
#RethinkDNS allows blocking/analysing of traffic via VPN app, actual VPN (Wireguard), AND custom DNS over HTTPS

@corbin @Isoprenoid @McDropout

[-] yoshisaur@lemm.ee 2 points 11 months ago

if you’re using an iphone, you can sideload uyou+enhanced through Altstore. it comes with an adblocker, shorts blocker, sponsorblock, a downloader and more.

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[-] blargerer@kbin.social 77 points 11 months ago

Google continues to push blatant scams with their ads and wonders why people run adblockers.

[-] silverbax@lemmy.world 52 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I've seen the Joe Rogan and Dr. Phil ads mentioned in the article, as well as George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks and others. I've reported the ads multiple times.YouTube needs to squash this NOW instead of just pretending they aren't aware of it.

[-] MaxVoltage@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Nah buv let it exlode and cull the weak /s

[-] MysticKetchup@lemmy.world 40 points 11 months ago

One would think that with their resources, Google/YouTube could actually vet the ads they run on their platform before they run them. At the very least, check the ads coming from unknown companies

[-] Buffalox@lemmy.world 23 points 11 months ago

They could, but the goal is 100% automation to maximize profits. Much cheaper to just run an algorithm than using a human being.

[-] generic@iusearchlinux.fyi 13 points 11 months ago

You're assuming they care about the content of the ads. If they're getting paid, they run the ad, that's it.

[-] lone_faerie@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 11 months ago

They're able to do that on all the videos everyone else uploads. They turn a blind eye to ads because all they care about is the money.

[-] anlumo@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

They only scan the videos whether they can put ads on them, and content id so they can get music labels to upload their stuff to the platform. They don’t care about the rest.

[-] EdibleFriend@lemmy.world 38 points 11 months ago

You can be demonetized on youtube for saying fuck too many times or too early in a video. Yet the advertisers are allowed to show me ads that, literally, are saying you can use their product to make AI porn of your friends against their will.

[-] billwashere@lemmy.world 31 points 11 months ago

I would think the celebrities these are supposed to be would sue the shit out of YouTube for allowing this whether they agree with the message or not. Seems like a pretty strong case. The interesting part is how would you ever authenticate these sort of messages. I would think after losing a few of these cases YouTube would stop allowing ANY celebrity type messaging.

[-] nicetriangle@kbin.social 28 points 11 months ago

I hope they get absolutely railed by lawsuits

[-] TORFdot0@lemmy.world 23 points 11 months ago

I ended up uninstalling the official iOS app and went to the browser with vinegar. I kept reporting these scam ads and YouTube doesn’t bother removing them. Google doesn’t care if their users are scammed because the users aren’t their customers

[-] nnjethro@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

Unless the user actually is their customer, then they don't show them ads. ;)

[-] TORFdot0@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

Shoot, I didn’t even consider Google purposefully allowing scam and malicious advertisements as a means to sell YT premium

[-] Goldmage263@sh.itjust.works 2 points 11 months ago

"You either die a product, or live long enough to see yourself become a customer.

-Bruce 'Capitalism' Wayne

[-] SirStumps@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

My solution to prevent these scams from showing is an add blocker called "uBlock Origins". On my phone I use "Revanced" and "Grayjay". Poof no more scams. Like and subscribe for more tips and tricks.

[-] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 4 points 10 months ago

all of the ...vanced clones kept failing on me. Grayjay had been seemless and perfect just my 2c

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[-] BigVault@kbin.social 12 points 11 months ago

I feel sorry for the people that are exposed to this shit by Google, especially those that are less tech savvy that aren't blocking ads.
Educate as many people/loved ones as you can folks about this to protect them and to fuck Google.

[-] lurch@sh.itjust.works 11 points 11 months ago

Youtube is cancer. I recommend using their competion, for example Dailymotion, to keep them on their toes

[-] TORFdot0@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

We are on the fediverse, why not peertube?

[-] anlumo@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

You could also stare at a blank wall instead, which is just as exciting as any of the other video platforms.

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[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 8 points 11 months ago

You can hear it in the voices. The weird part is, I could completely see Rogan and Phil agreeing to do these kind of ads if it didn't have repercussions. I wonder if that's the plan. They let them do the deep fakes to trick the people they want to trick and then for the rest, it's a deep fake and they had nothing to do with it.

[-] billwashere@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

Agreeing with the content sure. But letting them use their voices and images without getting paid? Hell no. If they were paid then it’s no different than if they made them.

[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

How would we know either way, so what would be the risk? The videos aren't being flagged or taken down, soooooo....

[-] schwim@reddthat.com 7 points 11 months ago

If I had to watch an ad, deep fake or not, I'd just stop watching YT vids altogether.

[-] holo_nexus@kbin.social 5 points 11 months ago

Yea this is sketchy AF. Not to mention concerning due to its potential implications. Going to be interesting how not only YouTube but other platforms deal with this.

[-] ExLisper@linux.community 3 points 11 months ago

Is this new for anyone? Every time I saw ads somewhere on the web half of them were scams.

[-] mawkishdave@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

Youtube has comerciales 😱

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this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2023
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