We're constantly working hard to prevent ads from appearing on YouTube. If you're suddenly seeing ads on YouTube, use the information below to rule out some of the most common reasons why ads might appear.
Do you only see ads on YouTube, or on other sites too?
If you're seeing ads on YouTube and on other sites, please first try the steps in this article: What to do if you are seeing ads.
If you've checked and you only see ads on YouTube, but not on other sites, continue with the list below for more insight into why they might be appearing and what you can do.
Do you see a brief ad or a full-length ad?
If you’re using the desktop extension, you may see a variety of different behaviors, such as a temporary black screen or a short ad, which may, in some cases, include a skip button. These are related to our efforts to reduce the length of ads if we aren't able to block them completely.
A good way to check the length of the ad is to pause ABP and see if the ads are longer. If they are, then that means ABP is reducing the ad as much as possible.
Signed into YouTube? Try signing out.
We've found that signing out of your YouTube account prevents YouTube from circumventing our blocks. Try signing out and see if it helps.
Have you allowed ads?
It seems like an obvious solution, but it happens more often than you’d think! Check to make sure you didn't allowlist YouTube.
Are you using a mobile device?
YouTube uses a technology that prevents consistent ad blocking in videos on mobile devices. This only impacts YouTube. You can test if some ads are being blocked by pausing ABP and see if you see more ads with it disabled than enabled. While we aren’t able to consistently block ads on YouTube, the majority of ads should be blocked on most other sites you visit.
Using Safari? Try a different browser.
If you're using Safari, it's more likely you will see ads as Apple limits the type of ad blocking we can provide. You may want to try using one of our desktop extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Opera, where we're not as limited by what we can block.
Check for incompatible extensions.
-
Disable all your extensions except for ABP: How to check your installed extensions.
-
Reload the page and try to watch the video again.
If you don't see any ads, then one of the extensions you disabled was somehow interfering with ABP. Re-enable each extension one at a time, making sure to refresh YouTube each time to ensure it recognizes the change, until you find the one that makes ads appear. If you need to use one of these extensions, notify the extension's developers so they can fix the issue that's causing the interference.
Still seeing ads?
If none of the steps above help, please let us know so we can continue to assist you.