DuckDuckGo Browser adds default blocking for most YouTube video ads

Nerds.xyz reports: DuckDuckGo just gave its browser a feature that a lot of people have been waiting for. The privacy-focused browser can now block most video ads on YouTube, letting users watch videos without sitting through the pre-roll and mid-roll interruptions that have become part of everyday life on the platform. The feature is already enabled by default for iPhone, Windows, and Mac users running the latest version of the browser. Android users can turn it on manually... with DuckDuckGo planning to enable it by default in a future update... To make it work, DuckDuckGo relies on the same community-maintained filter lists used by uBlock Origin, along with some of its own compatibility rules. The company says you might notice a bit of extra buffering before a video starts, but once playback begins, most ads should be gone. Slashdot reader BrianFagioli argues that the feature raises questions about how creators are compensated when ad revenue is bypassed. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

DuckDuckGo's web browser will now block YouTube ads by default.

DuckDuckGo's free web browser now blocks most video ads on YouTube, and the feature is on by default for iPhone and Mac users running the latest version of the app. Announced on Wednesday, YouTube Ad Blocking stops ads that play before and during videos on YouTube's website, and DuckDuckGo says the result is the regular YouTube experience minus the interruptions, so features like viewing history and saving your spot in playlists keep working. One thing to watch on iPhone is if you tap a YouTube link, it often opens the dedicated YouTube app if you have it installed. The blocking feature obviously won't work there, and you'll need to open the YouTube website inside the DuckDuckGo browser instead. DuckDuckGo says it is using a community-maintained filter lists from uBlock Origin, along with its own rules to help minimize breakage. The company warns that videos may buffer a little longer than usual, but playback should run uninterrupted once a clip loads. Note that YouTube Ad Blocking is separate from Duck Player, the browser's distraction-free video viewing mode, but the two can be enabled together. The move follows Google's ongoing efforts to break ad blockers every which way it can, including recent changes to Chrome that targeted uBlock Origin. It's worth mentioning that DuckDuckGo isn't the first browser to block YouTube ads, with similar features already available in Brave and Opera. DuckDuckGo's browser offers more than a dozen privacy protections, including ad tracker blocking and cookie pop-up removal. It's available for iOS devices on the App Store and for Mac on the Mac App Store and DuckDuckGo website.Tag: DuckDuckGoThis article, "DuckDuckGo Browser Now Blocks YouTube Ads on iPhone and Mac" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums

DuckDuckGo’s browser can now block most video ads on YouTube, although users may see longer buffering times or occasional hiccups.

If you use DuckDuckGo's browser, you now have a built-in ad blocker for videos.

Even as Chrome is killing ad blockers, DuckDuckGo's new video player now blocks ads by default on YouTube and elsewhere. Duck Player is available for MacOS, Windows, Android, and iOS.