How to Bypass YouTube Ads and Other Paywalls by Adding a Dot After the Domain Name

In the ever-evolving landscape of online content consumption, ad-blocking techniques and workarounds often emerge to enhance user experience. One such method involves a simple URL modification that can help you bypass certain advertisements on YouTube and access some paywalled articles more seamlessly.

The Technique: Adding a Dot After the Domain Name

On desktop browsers, you can sometimes prevent ads from displaying by inserting a dot (“.”) immediately after the main domain name in the URL. Here’s how this works:

• Standard YouTube URL (may show ads):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuB8VUICGqc

• Modified URL with an extra dot (may prevent ads):

https://www.youtube.com./watch?v=DuB8VUICGqc

Similarly, many news websites with paywalls can be accessed in this way:

• Original paywalled article URL:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/us/george-floyd-who-is.html

• Modified URL to potentially bypass paywall:

https://www.nytimes.com./2020/06/09/us/george-floyd-who-is.html

Why Does This Work?

The underlying principle relates to how web servers and browsers handle hostname normalization:

• Without the Dot: The URL is interpreted correctly, matching cookies, sessions, and domain-specific whitelist rules. Ads are served normally, and paywalls are enforced.

• With the Dot: The extra dot causes the browser to treat the domain differently, often resulting in the hostname not matching server-side rules that deliver ads or paywalled content. The server still serves the content, but because of hostname discrepancies, ad serving scripts or paywall checks may be bypassed.

Additional Tips for Mobile Users

While this trick works expressly on desktop browsers, mobile environments usually normalize URLs, making this method less straightforward. However, you can still attempt it by using the “Request Desktop Site” feature in your browser, which might preserve the modified URL and enable the same workaround.

Limitations and Considerations

• This method is not foolproof. Websites frequently update their domain handling and security measures, so this workaround might not work consistently.

• Some sites may recognize the URL modification and enforce