Is it just me, or is the internet currently undergoing a mid-life crisis? My YouTube diet — which is strictly educational, I swear — has recently been hijacked. We have moved past the "annoying" phase and entered the realm of unskippable 60-second ads.
A brief history of ad-creep
- The Golden age: TV ads only lived between shows.
- The Silver age: Ads invaded the shows.
- The Streaming lie: "Pay us, and we'll remove the ads!" (They are now introducing them back again.)
- The Modern era: A digital obstacle course of vignettes, newsletter pop-ups, push notifications, and the almighty "Cookie Consent" — courtesy of the EU.
And the content is getting... weird
Lately, my feed is dominated by AI-generated, suspiciously jacked Tai-chi masters. These middle-aged avatars, speaking in flawless Midwestern accents, claim a 10-minute breathing exercise will give me a Mr. Olympia physique by July. Just in time to hit the beach.
Apparently, we have also cured everything from tinnitus to complex autoimmune syndromes with a simple "secret" stretch. If only the medical community knew it was this easy.
Less ads, please
If you are as tired of this cycle as I am, here is a small tip for my Android users to clean up your browsing (YouTube excluded):
Private DNS — AdGuard setup on Android
Go to Settings → Search for "Private DNS"
Select Private DNS provider hostname
Type: dns.adguard-dns.com
Hit save and enjoy a slightly less cluttered existence.
Repeat the configuration on your home router and share the joy with all connected devices.
