A Redditor on the /r/webdev sub recently posted a pretty neat trick that allows users to effectively blocking ads on the Youtube.
Instead of downloading any sort of ad blocking extensions, all you have to do is add a period, i.e., ‘.’ After ‘.com’ in the URL. Hence, instead of going to ‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCduR3Ui61c’ URL, go to ‘https://www.youtube.com./watch?v=CCduR3Ui61c’ to block all the ads on the page.
This works a change in URL breaks the page such that it removes most (if not all) advertisements. This also includes the video ads that interrupt your videos. The additional period messes with the hostname, and since there is no hostname match, the page cannot load several aspects such as advertisements. Apart from blocking advertisements, it also works for blocking cookies and can be used to bypass the paywalls of new sites.
The simple trick works well for both laptops and mobile phones. However, it does not work on the YouTube app, both on iOS and Android.
Nevertheless, don’t forget that ads are the main source of earning for many YouTubers. Hence, before blocking off all the ads, remember if you are not watching the ads, they are not being paid. Nevertheless, it is very likely that Google will patch this issue very soon.