diff --git a/brozzler/cli.py b/brozzler/cli.py
index bea5153..d896f7b 100755
--- a/brozzler/cli.py
+++ b/brozzler/cli.py
@@ -544,27 +544,12 @@ def brozzler_worker(argv=None):
         finally:
             signal.signal(signal.SIGQUIT, dump_state)
 
-    def get_skip_av_seeds():
-        # TODO: develop UI and refactor
-        SKIP_AV_SEEDS_FILE = "/opt/local/brozzler/skip_av_seeds.txt"
-        try:
-            # make set from seed IDs in SKIP_AV_SEEDS_FILE
-            with open(SKIP_AV_SEEDS_FILE) as skips:
-                skip_av_seeds = {int(l) for l in skips.readlines()}
-                logging.info("running with skip_av_seeds file %s" % SKIP_AV_SEEDS_FILE)
-        except Exception as e:
-            skip_av_seeds = set()
-            logging.info("running with empty skip_av_seeds")
-        return skip_av_seeds
-
     rr = rethinker(args)
     frontier = brozzler.RethinkDbFrontier(rr)
     service_registry = doublethink.ServiceRegistry(rr)
-    skip_av_seeds_from_file = get_skip_av_seeds()
     worker = brozzler.worker.BrozzlerWorker(
         frontier,
         service_registry,
-        skip_av_seeds=skip_av_seeds_from_file,
         max_browsers=int(args.max_browsers),
         chrome_exe=args.chrome_exe,
         proxy=args.proxy,
diff --git a/brozzler/worker.py b/brozzler/worker.py
index 479dfa7..5f6fbd0 100644
--- a/brozzler/worker.py
+++ b/brozzler/worker.py
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ class BrozzlerWorker:
         self,
         frontier,
         service_registry=None,
-        skip_av_seeds=None,
         max_browsers=1,
         chrome_exe="chromium-browser",
         warcprox_auto=False,
@@ -74,7 +73,6 @@ class BrozzlerWorker:
     ):
         self._frontier = frontier
         self._service_registry = service_registry
-        self._skip_av_seeds = skip_av_seeds
         self._max_browsers = max_browsers
 
         self._warcprox_auto = warcprox_auto
@@ -262,7 +260,7 @@ class BrozzlerWorker:
                 self.logger.info("page interstitial shown (http auth): %s", page)
 
             if enable_youtube_dl and ydl.should_ytdlp(
-                site, page, browser.websock_thread.page_status, self._skip_av_seeds
+                site, page, browser.websock_thread.page_status
             ):
                 try:
                     ydl_outlinks = ydl.do_youtube_dl(self, site, page)
diff --git a/brozzler/ydl.py b/brozzler/ydl.py
index b292129..7161294 100644
--- a/brozzler/ydl.py
+++ b/brozzler/ydl.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ import threading
 thread_local = threading.local()
 
 
-def should_ytdlp(site, page, page_status, skip_av_seeds):
+def should_ytdlp(site, page, page_status):
     # called only after we've passed needs_browsing() check
 
     if page_status != 200:
@@ -47,21 +47,6 @@ def should_ytdlp(site, page, page_status, skip_av_seeds):
     if "chrome-error:" in ytdlp_url:
         return False
 
-    ytdlp_seed = (
-        site["metadata"]["ait_seed_id"]
-        if "metadata" in site and "ait_seed_id" in site["metadata"]
-        else None
-    )
-
-    # TODO: develop UI and refactor
-    if ytdlp_seed:
-        if site.skip_ytdlp is None and ytdlp_seed in skip_av_seeds:
-            logging.info("skipping ytdlp: site in skip_av_seeds")
-            site.skip_ytdlp = True
-            return False
-        else:
-            site.skip_ytdlp = False
-
     return True