Based on recent reports, YouTube is actively restricting access to Premium accounts created through VPNs and cracking down on users accessing Premium content across different regions. According to user discussions, YouTube now detects and blocks VPN connections when attempting to stream Premium content[1][2].
Some key impacts:
- Users report being unable to play YouTube Music through Sonos speakers when using a VPN, with the service becoming accessible only after bypassing VPN connections[1:1]
- Premium subscribers attempting to access content from different regions than their subscription face connection errors and service disruptions
- The restrictions appear to be part of YouTube’s broader strategy to enforce regional content licensing and subscription terms
The crackdown coincides with YouTube’s increased focus on Premium subscriptions, including showing longer unskippable ads to free users in 2025 to drive Premium adoption[3].
YouTube is trash. I was watching a cooking video, and I swear, after 60 seconds of ads, the YouTuber talked for maybe one whole minute before it went to ads again with a 60 second timer.
SponsorBlock skips sponsor segments. SponsorBlock also supports Invidious and Piped if you enable Support 3rd Party YouTube-Sites in the SponsorBlock options.
Nice — I absolutely use SponsorBlock on desktop (/laptop). Did not know it was on mobile.
On what terms? I have my VPN permanently on. That doesn’t mean I’m trying to cheat.
The problem here is the lack of a current alternative. As others here have mentioned, peertube might be a future alternative, but I can not help but feel that only fairly ideological people like myself would be interested (in the sense of dropping youtube on privacy grounds). I can’t see “normies” moving elsewhere. That said, maybe a good alternative doesn’t require mass uptake. I mean Lemmy seem pretty cool, albeit I haven’t been here very long at all (like a day lol, although I have lurked for sometime).
I just set my VPN to Albania. No ads and I don’t have to give YouTube any of my money.
at this point i’m using invidious almost exclusively now.
youtube keeps insisting that i use an account at all.
I feel good, that I have never depended on YT… I don’t pay them, I don’t watch ads, and I use other services too, and own my films and music… It’s nice - especially when reading posts like this.
They could have just ignored this
LOL this is insane we should switch to Rumble and other alternatives other wise we are fucked.
Lol, it’s like paying to lose your privacy, it’s dumb!
Just install uBO/use Brave and you don’t need Premium.
Dont use brave, use uBlock Origin and Firefox.
Or FreeTube on Desktop.
For mobile, NewPipe or one of its forks, e.g. PipePipe for SponsorBlock too.
You don’t need Premium anyway. For the cost of an YT Premium account you can use Netflix, Rakuten or any other paid streaming service with less money, or even for free in PlutoTV, or channels of public TV of every country, where you can watch movies, documentals, Series, etc for free, without ads. The greed and policy of YT will be its end sooner or later. Ads always can be avoided, uBO, even uBO Lite, Adguard and several others are working fine in YT.
😐
For me.
This is how we all give Boatracecrook the cold shoulder and leave. The more people they block the better.
Boat race, is cockney rhyming slang for face.
At the very minimum, to protect future generations and our grand children and their children from; the banal, brainless, brain dead, manipulative surveillance.
I have never used Boatracecrook.
I must admit that as a new user on Lemmy, I do take umbrage at all the links to Boatracecrook videos that people feel they need to share and promote.
I trust people to watch the video and give a short written description, not add a poxy link in the avatar image.
I have got caught out more than once clicking on an user supplied avatar and I have been taken to poxy Boatracecrook.
To be honest, I was under the impression that lemmy was different and did not engage in the anti-human practices of Boatracecrook.
I cannot understand why anyone watching a Boatracecrook video, then suddenly decides to add a link for Lemmy users.
Then manipulatively hides the link in the avatar of the post, when the link could be added to the main text body for all to see, and give people a choice if they click on it.
I can only assume this is about self promotion and not about supporting the Lemmy community.
just buy adguard it supports multiple device, and can block twitch ads too.
Even uBOLite do it
