Strike back at YouTube. Remove all ads on your channel.

I've been posting to YouTube since 2010 and only recently in 2022 have I really been able to make a dent and get a little bit of traction on my channel. With that said, my views are only in the thousands, while others are getting hundreds of thousands, or even millions.

I can blame it on the YouTube algorithm but I also know that I'm not actively trying to target a specific audience or trying to be an influencer. Most people with lots of views are trying to target a specific audience or trying to be an influencer. I know that by not showing my face or adding an audio commentary severely limits my range. I'm not about to change the way I do videos though.

What really bothers me the most is that YouTube allows itself to insert any advertisements along with your videos to make revenue while you, the creator are left with crumbs or nothing at all. I don't even have 1000 subscribers yet to allow my channel to be monetized to make money anyways. 

I really hate ads while trying to watch content, and I have found a way to circumvent ads on my own channel. Simply "Age Restrict" every video. I know that this will in fact block any kind of monetization, but it vastly improves my viewing experience to have an uninterrupted session of video watching and that's what I really want from YouTube. This will undoubtedly help anybody that wants to see video content without advertisements as well. 

There's one downfall. This method also blocks a ton of viewership but there's also a way around that too.

To play any age restricted video (thankfully without ads) on YouTube without signing in, change the URL to include nsfw in front of the word youtube or change the string watch?v= to embed/.

original https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQJSAqStNzY

to https://www.nsfwyoutube.com/watch?v=CQJSAqStNzY

or https://www.youtube.com/embed/CQJSAqStNzY