The Reddit user claims that YouTube ads can be removed by simply adding an extra period in the URL.
Users can switch to YouTube Premium to watch ad-free videos
YouTube ads can get excessive, with multiple pre-roll ads, long unskippable ads, and so forth, and the best way to get rid of this annoyance is to switch to YouTube Premium. For people who aren't willing to take the step through, a method has been found to skip ads, as long as you're using YouTube through your Web browser. According to a Reddit user, all you need to do is make a tiny change to the URL of the video you're watching. How does it work? It all depends on the placement of a single dot.
According to the Redditor, users can bypass YouTube ads by simply adding an extra dot after the domain. In other words, instead of searching a video with the URL; youtube.com/xyz, users simply need to add an extra period after '.com' i.e youtube.com./xyz to enjoy the ad-free video.
The Redditor explains that this method works because several websites forget to "normalise the hostname." This essentially means that sites use a different domain to serve ads/ media that does not contain an extra period.
"I had initially assumed that it didn't work on mobile because the browsers normalised the URL, however this isn't the case. The redirection happens on the server side. So, if you want this to work on mobile browsers, use the "Request Desktop Site" feature," the post on Reddit reads.
The Redditor claims that this method works for many news websites serving paywalls. Of course, skipping ads on YouTube, or bypassing a paywall, is bad for the content creator whose material you are enjoying and so this isn't a good step to follow for the most part.
It is likely YouTube will fix the loophole discovered by the Reddit users soon, and users will again need to find other ways to bypass YouTube ads. The Google-owned platform last year launched YouTube Premium where users can watch ad-free videos by paying a subscription of Rs. 169/ month. With the premium subscription, users also have access to several YouTube Originals. They can also enjoy background playback of videos with the regular YouTube app along with offline downloads.
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