YouTube has been spotted testing server-side ads, which could pose a problem to ad blockers.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    262 months ago

    Nothing that can’t be blocked by sponsorblock.

    And if that doesn’t work we’ll find something else. Even if we’d have to download the same video multiple times to compare and strip out the differences.

    Google may have plenty of nerds, but the world will always have more.

    • Fake4000
      link
      English
      42 months ago

      The issue is that Sponsorblock uses timestamps of videos to skip segments. If the ads injected all have different durations, then SponsorBlock is now obsolete.

      • @AstridWipenaugh
        link
        English
        52 months ago

        It’s not even that simple. If you skip ahead during an ad, the YT servers could just keep streaming you the ad content anyway. Their servers can ensure that the next 30s of packet data you receive is an ad no matter what, so the only way you can skip it is to wait it out and close your ears and eyes. Basically the same concept as ads on broadcast TV. Which means we’ll have to do a TiVo for YT… Gross.

        • Fake4000
          link
          English
          02 months ago

          Thats not how it works. If a server is streaming ads to you then it shouldnt be a problem detecting that and blocking out that server.

          What Google is doing is baking in the ad into the video so that the video itself has the ad embedded into it. This way you cant block a certain server from serving ads. And if those ads baked in have different duration for each user, then SponsorBlock stop behaving properly as it uses timestamps to skip segments.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        12 months ago

        I had to drop sponsorblock as it was letting those ads in. Now just use unblock and I don’t get those ads anymore.

      • @KrankyKong
        link
        English
        12 months ago

        What if sponsor block started collecting the durations of videos (if they don’t already), then it could skip forward by the difference.