Description of the issue:
For the past 3 days, I’ve been facing two persistent issues on YouTube while using the Brave browser:
Ads showing despite Shields being ON:
Even with Brave’s default Shields settings enabled, I’m seeing video ads on YouTube. Within just 16 minutes today, I encountered two separate ads:
One was a YouTube Music Premium ad
The other was a Grammarly promotional ad
(Screenshots attached below.)
Over the last 48 hours, I’ve seen 8–9 ads total — a mix of YouTube’s own promotions and third-party content (like Duolingo, music tracks, etc.). I’m not using any external ad-blockers or VPNs.
Playback loading issue (videos won’t start without refresh):
When I click on a video, it gets stuck loading (the red progress bar goes to ~70%) and doesn’t start until I manually refresh the page — after which the video plays instantly. This happens for the first video and even the next ones in a playlist or autoplay. The issue is intermittent.
I initially assumed this was a connectivity problem, but my internet speed consistently tests around 3 Mbps on fast.com.
Exact URL of the website in question:
Screenshot of the ad as it appears in Brave: Attached screenshots below:
Does the site function as expected when Shields are turned off?
Not tested recently, but from prior experience, ads become even more frequent when Shields are off.
Does the ad appear when using a Private window as well? (yes/no)
Not tested yet.
What OS are you using when you see the ad?
Windows 11
Brave version (check About Brave):
Brave is up to date
Version: 1.80.124 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Chromium: 138.0.7204.168
Additional notes:
No VPN or additional ad-blocking extensions are being used.
I only rely on Brave’s built-in Shields and settings.
Brave no longer blocks ads for me either. I reinstalled the latest version of Brave and I still get YouTube ads. I also checked all the components to make sure everything is updated. Please fix this soon!!
YouTube Playback Issue – Resolved
The issue where YouTube videos would get stuck during loading and required a manual page refresh to start playing appears to be resolved. Videos are now loading and playing smoothly without needing any user intervention.
Ads Appearing Despite Shields – Ongoing (Testing Aggressive Mode)
To address the persistent issue of ads showing despite Brave Shields being enabled, I’ve changed the Tracker & ad blocking setting to “Aggressive” under Shields. I’ll continue monitoring over the next several hours (or up to a day) to evaluate whether this setting effectively blocks video ads on YouTube.
I’ll report back with findings after some time.
Got exactly the same issues on Linux Mint, latest build of Brave as far as I know. Short Ads play at the start of all my Watch Later videos; on the bright side I can hit skip after about 20-30 seconds.
Just adding my 2 pence so you know the issue is wide spread.
Gentlemen. 1. Brave doesn’t like to work with Adblock extensions. 2. Brave does not like tuning and adjustments. 3. Brave works right out of the box. It happens sometimes that advertisements penetrate YT, then only a clean reinstallation helps. I mostly ONLY use Brave for YT because it’s the BEST. If you use ad blockers, use another browser.
After running tests for a full 3 days with Brave Shields set to “Aggressive” under Tracker & ad blocking, YouTube video ads have stopped appearing entirely. On the first day, a few ads (3–4) slipped through during the initial 6–7 hours, but since then, playback has been clean with no interruptions.
Next, I’ll switch back to the default “Standard” mode to test if YouTube remains ad-free under less aggressive settings. I’ll monitor and report back with results after sufficient testing.
Brave used to filter Utube well on my portable when no default browser. Tried many other browser, but Utube heavily ads as if no filter at all. Was icon cookies in Brave’ Utube window that I deleted using malwarebyte. Utube window became white & kept the sound. By cutting off adds filter on Brave, Utube window re-appeared but Utube adds also. So, my Brave cannot filter Utube adds anymore! Need to find new Utube adds filter! Baad!
