Block auto-play, comments or adverts on YouTube

This article applies to our On-Premise Appliance Filter and Firewall product only, not to Cloud.

 

You can use a Content Modification policy to disable auto-play and hide comments and advertisements on YouTube videos.

A YouTube Content Modification works best if your organisation only lets users access specific YouTube videos. If your organisation lets users access YouTube, Restricted Mode may be a better solution. Restricted Mode lets you block everything a YouTube Content Modification policy does, as well as blocking mature content and live video.

Before you begin

  1. A HTTPS Inspection policy that Decrypts and Inspects the YouTube category.
  2. Remove any policies that could override your Content Modification, such as:
  3. Block non-video adverts such as popups and featured links using a Web Filter Policy to Block the Adverts category.

Create a YouTube Content Modification policy

Go to Guardian > Content Modification > Policy wizard to create a new content modification policy.

  1. In the Who section, select who the policy applies to. Select either:
    • Everyone to apply to all users
    • One or more User Groups
    • The single user icon and enter a username (not available in Cloud Filter)
  1. In the What section, select YouTube.
  1. In the Where section, select where the policy should apply. Select either:
  1. In the When section, select when the policy should apply from your list of Time slots.
  1. In the Action section, select Apply, and one of these items:
    • YouTube - Disable Auto Play: Stop the next related video from automatically playing at the end of the user’s current video.
    • YouTube Comment Removal: Remove the comments section underneath videos.
    • YouTube: Remove Adverts: Users won’t see adverts at the start, during or after the video. You cannot block Adverts using Domain or URL blocklists, because they are served from the same location as the video.

Make sure Enable policy is selected, then select Confirm.