Every time I navigate to youtube.com it recommends videos and channels that I might be interested in or want to see. I just don't want that annoying stuff to appear and distract me from my actual intentions.
I searched the web the last two days using different wordings and buzz words and got a number of approaches to get rid of those 'recommended xyz' sections, but none helped me out.
All techniques had one thing in common: A mechanism that would allow youtube.com to remember me (and the appropriate way to disable this feature):
- YouTube/Google-Account (with search history)
- Browser Cookies
- Browser Cache
The weird thing is, I don't use any of these. I am not logged in to a user account and I am clearing the cookies and the cache every time my browser closes (I use Firefox).
Here is what I have tried so far:
- Activated the history settings to enable cookies and history to be stored (that was the only way enable the corresponding "delete" buttons) and deleted them manually
- Tried different browsers
- Tried different computers (and smartphones!) in my home network
- Changed my (external) IP address (by resetting my router's internet connection), multiple times
None of these things helped. YouTube.com seems to remember me every single time no matter what browser or PC I use or what IP from I connect.
Is there any thing I've missed? How does YouTube remember "me"? I am using quotation marks because "me" could be anyone using my internet connection (family, friends, etc.). And because of that I don't want a solution that involves installing custom 'blocker' or 'remover' software.
Best Answer
I suppose you're trying to get rid of this?
You cannot remove it for everyone that connects to your network and browses YouTube on their device (smartphone, notebook, etc.), but you can prevent the recommended channels section from your showing up on your computer and web browser.
The solution will vary depending on the browser you use, but if you use Google Chrome, try this:
Create a new filtering rule with the following settings:
Apply the filter and reload YouTube and you should see something like this:
There's a caveat though. I found out that this filter didn't work with AdBlock enabled so maybe tweak it a little to suit your needs.