Update: 03.08.2017
There have been some changes made by YouTube, that are causing ads to display on YouTube for users that are signed into Google, signed out of Google, and causing an additional issue for embedded YouTube players on pages outside of YouTube.com.
For YouTube players that are embedded on sites that are outside of YouTube.com - having Brave Shields Up (blocking ads) is causing the player to break. You can resolve the issue by disabling shields for the sites where this behavior is occurring for embedded YouTube players.
For YouTube.com - the issue is more complicated, and we are working to resolve.
We are actively investigating and working on resolving both of these issues. If you’d like to track progress as we investigate, we are addressing both items on these two GitHub issues:
For YoutTube.com: https://github.com/brave/browser-laptop/issues/7432
For YouTube players embedded outside of YouTube.com: https://github.com/brave/browser-laptop/issues/7428
Update: 02.12.17
YouTube has made a player update on 02.10.17 that has impacted embedded YouTube player playback in non-youtube pages, and impacted video ad blocking in YouTube.
For users experiencing playback issues for embedded YouTube players on non-Youtube domains , temporary disabling of Shields will allow playback.
We are currently testing fixes for both scenarios, and will update on progress here.
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Steps to ensure effective Youtube video ad blocking
Why are these additional steps required?
Google updated their privacy policy in June, 2016 to remove a barrier that once separated ad data from other personal data across Google products and services.
https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/archive/20160325-20160628/
As a result, Google has begun merging Google domains typically used for ad tracking and requests with other Google domains that were not historically associated with advertising.
For example: Google.com
and Youtube.com
are now categorized as domains which Google associates with ad and tracking cookies.
A larger list of these domains are listed on this page for reference: https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/types/
The changes have made blocking ads and tracking on Youtube more difficult for users, and have required some additional steps beyond Brave Shields settings in order to ensure effective ad blocking.
Steps to Resolve:
If you are running Brave v0.13.0 or above, and are still observing ads in Youtube, we’d suggest taking the following steps:
1. Sign into your Google account.
2. Navigate to this URL: https://www.google.com/settings/u/0/ads/anonymous?hl=en
Switch these two settings from the ON to the OFF position:
- Ads based on your interests on websites beyond google.com
- Google Search Ads based on your interests
3. Navigate to this URL: https://www.google.com/settings/u/0/ads/authenticated?hl=en
Switch the following setting from the ON to the OFF position.
- Ads based on your interests (When you are signed in to Google sites)
4. Launch Brave, and make sure that Shields settings are set to Block Ads and Tracking.
With the settings above applied, ads should no longer be observed within Youtube.
If you still observe ads in Brave v0.13.0 or above after following these steps, please let us know and we’ll be happy to work with you to resolve and make your YouTube viewing experience more private and enjoyable.