Can I make a YouTube video unbranded?

Short answer: no, not really. YouTube has steadily removed the embed parameters that used to do this, and the channel name and ads were never controllable by the embedder to begin with.

Here's where each of the common requests stands today:

Channel name and "Watch on YouTube" link — There's no parameter to hide these. The old showinfo=0 parameter that used to suppress the title and uploader info was deprecated by YouTube around 2018 and is now ignored. modestbranding=1, which once reduced the YouTube logo, was also deprecated in August 2023.

Ads — These aren't controllable from the embed at all. Whether ads play is determined by the video's monetization settings, which only the channel owner controls. An embedder has no parameter to disable them.

Recommended / related videos — You can't fully remove these or show a blank end screen. The rel=0 parameter used to disable related videos entirely, but as of September 2018 it now just shows related videos from the same channel as the one that just played. And even that behavior is unreliable — if the viewer is logged into a YouTube/Google account, the recommendations are influenced by their own browsing history and subscriptions.

The workaround: use Vimeo. If you need a truly clean, unbranded, ad-free player, host the video on Vimeo instead of YouTube. Vimeo's player can be configured to hide the logo, title, and end-screen suggestions, and there are no ads. You can then embed it on your CRIBFLYER site exactly like any other video — see our article on Vimeo privacy settings for the recommended Vimeo-side configuration, and the FAQ on supported video providers for the full list of hosts CRIBFLYER works with.