Extensions
Smart Local Youtube blocks YouTube until consent
Smart Local Youtube prevents YouTube embeds from loading until a visitor chooses whether to allow them.
This addresses a recurring Joomla problem: a normal YouTube iframe can contact Google and set cookies as soon as the page loads, before a visitor has made a consent choice. The issue is especially relevant to sites serving visitors in the EU, EEA or UK, although the legal outcome depends on the site's setup and advice.
Joomla core can display embedded media, and its privacy features cover areas such as user-data requests and consent in relevant forms. It does not provide a general, site-wide gate that detects YouTube embeds from articles, page builders, sliders and extensions, then replaces them until consent. A template override or custom editor output can handle known markup, but that requires development and may miss embeds generated elsewhere. According to the listing, Smart Local Youtube goes beyond those approaches by filtering page output, showing local placeholders and applying consent before the YouTube iframe, script or request is allowed through.
It is aimed at video-heavy sites, agencies managing several client sites, and organisations that want a narrowly focused alternative to a broader consent-management platform. A small site with no YouTube content, or one already using a consent platform that handles embedded media, has little reason to add it. Sites relying on YouTube thumbnails should note that the listing says those images can be fetched from Google before consent.
- The listing presents it as GPL v2 or later open source and states there is no per-site SaaS fee, but gives no separate price or support terms.
- NextSoftware Team has nine other extensions shown in the directory; this listing has no reviews.
- Check the stated minimums of Joomla 4.4 and PHP 8.1, test every embed source used by the site, and confirm that the language-based regional detection matches the site's legal and editorial requirements. The listing does not establish legal compliance, independent accessibility testing, or how future page-builder changes will affect detection.
Listed on the Joomla Extensions Directory.