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YouTube Forces Ads in Moldova Without Offering Premium as an Option

8 points by andrei_zol ↗ HN
Until March 2024, users in Moldova enjoyed an ad-free experience on YouTube. However, in March 2024, YouTube began showing intrusive ads in the region. Despite this change, YouTube Premium — the service that allows users to remove ads — remains completely unavailable in Moldova. (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6307365) This situation is frustrating because: - workarounds don’t work: Using a VPN or changing the country in the YouTube profile doesn’t solve the issue, as payment methods are tied to the user’s actual location. - no legal alternative exists: Moldovan users cannot subscribe to YouTube Premium to remove ads, unlike users in most other countries.

In response, a petition has been started on Change.org urging Google to make YouTube Premium available in Moldova. (https://www.change.org/p/bring-youtube-premium-to-moldova-stop-forced-ads-without-an-option-to-remove-them)

Many tried reaching out to support.google, but they only provide formal, generic replies and don’t address the core issue. I’m turning to the HN community for advice: Does anyone know a specific person, team, or organization at YouTube (or Alphabet) who could help with this issue?

Curious to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

12 comments

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slater
If Google wants to play stupid games, have them win stupid prizes: Use an adblocker. Ublock Origin works great.
jisnsm
Workarounds don’t exist? Haven’t heard of ad blockers? Which, by the way, are completely legal.
andrei_zol
what about YouTube mobile app?
jisnsm
Use a pirated apk on android or use the website on iOS.
andrei_zol
"pirated apk". It kinda feels unsafe.
beretguy
On iOS use browser with ad blocker and vinegar extensions.
wruza
I’m using Safari and AdGuard app which acts as an ad-blocking extension for it.
kuylar
On Android, you can use ReVanced [1] to patch the YouTube app (and much more) on your own device. It's safer than looking for "modded APKs" online as you can see the source of the patches you apply to your own app [2]

[1] https://revanced.app/

[2] https://github.com/revanced/revanced-patches/

seabass-labrax
Also, NewPipe deserves a shout-out!

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.schabi.newpipe/

It is not 100% reliable as YouTube are continually finding new ways to block third-party apps, but NewPipe is never far behind. It has some features that the official app lacks, too! The only thing I ever miss with it is Chromecast support, which can't be added as it currently requires a proprietary library.

rvrs
I was very pissed off to find that my Youtube Premium didn't work when I visited Armenia. I was still paying for it, but ads played and I couldn't listen to videos in the background. WTF?