When YouTube first debuted ads, they weren’t intrusive and provided creators a way to earn money. However, over the years, the ads have gone from being a minor inconvenience to one of the most annoying things on the platform.
Additionally, with YouTube’s ongoing war against ad-blockers, users are left with no choice but to either subscribe to YouTube Premium or sit through multiple 30-second ads.
Fortunately, there is an easy solution to this problem that not many people talk about: Surfshark VPN. In this article, we will show you two ways to skip these annoying ads.
How can a VPN help?
Before we start with the steps, it is important to understand how a VPN works. The service encrypts all your data and IP address, enabling you to spoof your location. This allows users to bypass geo-restrictions and browse the internet without issues. Moreover, a VPN also masks your online activity, preventing websites from tracking your whereabouts.
As the benefits of a VPN are now clear, you might wonder which one to use. While we acknowledge that there are multiple free VPNs available on the market, not all are the same.
Recent reports have found that many free VPNs do not encrypt user data, while some outright contain malware. Therefore, keeping such cases in mind, we recommend only using a trusted service, such as Surfshark VPN.
Block ads on YouTube
There are two ways to get rid of ads, and both are pretty straightforward:
1. CleanWeb
Surfshark contains a plethora of additional features designed to help users, one of which is CleanWeb. In simple terms, CleanWeb is a feature that blocks all ads, malicious websites, and trackers from the internet, making your online presence invisible.
Consequently, this feature can also help you block ads on YouTube, saving valuable time. To block ads:
- Head over to the Surfshark website.
- Scroll down to find the “Install CleanWeb 2.0” section.
- Select your browser and download the extension.
- Now, open the extension.
- Navigate to the CleanWeb section and enable it.
2. Use specific VPN servers
If you don’t want to install the browser extension, there is another way to block YouTube ads: connecting to the servers of specific countries. However, you might wonder why YouTube doesn’t display ads in certain countries.
Although we don’t have a precise answer, some suggest that such countries do not have a monetization program, thus exempting the population from ads. To take advantage of this situation:
- Open the Surfshark VPN app.
- In the countries tab, search for Albania or Moldova.
- Select one and click “Quick Connect,” and that’s it.
