Youtube’s Anti-adblock and uBlock Origin
Youtube’s Anti-adblock and uBlock Origin
Recently, YouTube has been ramping up its anti-adblock effort, and I’ve been watching this closely due to personal interest. This blog post is where I write down what I know. Some Background Here’s...
Really interesting read about the history of YouTube adblocking, how the new detection works, how uBO is responding, and how not to block the new popups.
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Here is my experience with it.
Up until last week I've had friends (who also use uBlock Origin, same country) kind of sequentially complaining for about a month about having the videos blocked. For me personally it has been working fine until then, but Friday I got the popup. Today the popup is gone however I get ads but they don't play video, only sound.
YouTube isn’t rolling out the anti-adblock to everyone. It seems to depend on things like your account, browser, and IP address. And if you’re not logged in or you’re in a private window, you’re safe. As a result, there are a bunch of people saying, “I use XYZ and I haven’t seen an anti-adblock popup yet,” unknowingly spreading misinformation.
What I see with this is that Google might eventually lose more with this new policies than just leaving things as they were. Lets be real, if this shit show continues and they don't drop it as it becomes increasingly difficult to watch without ads people will start looking for alternative frontends such as Piped or Invidious and that will hinder their ability to harvest data and force ads. What's the next step Google? DRM protected media?
Only about 20% or so of users on YouTube use AdBlock. A frighteningly large percentage of the population is absolutely fine with being bombarded with ads - after all, 80% of the stuff we consume daily is ad financed and that money has to come from somewhere.
I have a friend that just refuses to use anything but chrome, refuses to use any kind of adblock and will only use an iPhone.
I don't get it. I've asked him to explain but he just keeps saying "it's personal preference" which is such a massive copout.
Maybe I'm looking into this too far, but I think if someone's happy to have things the way they like them (ads, Chrome, etc.) and clearly doesn't want to elaborate on it, they have every right to not elaborate further.
Let them find it their own way. Or maybe they won't, but it's their choice to make.
I mean... Ya. I fully agree. But that doesn't change the fact that it's a copout.
I respectfully disagree. Based on what you've said, it sounds like you've asked your friend multiple times to use something else, and there's a chance they're trying to be respectful to you by politely declining to hear more suggestions.
I've been on both ends of this, I've been pushed to look at games I could've been interested in but just didn't feel like giving a novel back to my friend as to why I'm not going to buy it, and I've tried to push friends onto Linux and that ultimately resulted in them getting pissed off with me.
It took me a while to realize, there is no wrong operating system to use, there is no wrong social platform to use. People are willing to try new things, but at their own pace and if they can see that there's an easy transition, but it's more than that.
I used to think the more people I get onto Linux, the more I'm doing my part for the market share and in turn the software gets better for me and for them, but what I failed to realize is that I was no different to a Jehovah's Witness, and I certainly came off as annoying as them to my friends. I don't care what they use now, but if they're ever interested in help on something that I'd love for them to use, I gladly help them and answer any questions they have, and so far, that's worked better anyway.
I just fear that you're going down the same path I did. I fear your friend isn't copping out of wanting ads, Chrome, iOS, etc. They just want to avoid a confrontation with you.
Wow.
It really bothers me that you've somehow interpreted and asserted a relationship with my friend that you have no way of knowing.
But I will entertain your naive ignorance for a moment. This friend that I'm talking about, we've been friends for over 20 years he gives me as much crap as I give him and our relationship is better for it.
I have literally told him that he's acting like an idiot for using these things that are actively monitoring everything that he does. His privacy is being systematically invaded and he doesn't care.
The reason he doesn't care is because he likes the stuff that he uses because it's fast and he claims there's little lag. Personally I think this is nothing more than an excuse for being lazy by not going through the steps of setting up his software so it won't be invading his privacy (as much).
At no point did I pressure him to change or attempt to persuade him to get an Android or to use Linux or anything else he is perfectly free to use whatever he feels is comfortable.
Nevertheless it's just a cop out he is acting stupid by using all of this stuff that infiltrates his privacy.
It's okay to be accepting of people and to be their friend and to also call them on their bullshit. If their feelings are hurt and it strains the relationship then its probably not a good friendship.
'I don't care' is the refrain of someone who doesn't know how to safeguard his digital interests. Easier to pretend it doesn't matter than admit to wanting to hit land, but are adrift at sea with no bearings or tools. It's not entirely your friend's fault either. Education systems have so much ground to catch up.
Just in case you weren’t aware, updating your block lists in uBlock Origin should fix this problem. It’s worked for me, at any rate.
That's what I did today, popup is gone however I get ads but they don’t play video, only sound.
they could just block the alternative frontends. Then we'd need an alternative platform.
absolutely, the only draw for content creators is the money they can make on youtube, which means people intersted in making money are more likely to use it and their content is obviously biased towards profit building. Any other platform can easily recreate a sane profit sharing program for creators, eventually it might become youtube, but in the meantime we can all enjoy it.
What’s the next step Google? DRM protected media?
You don't necessarily need DRM to break alternative frontends.
Yes but it might end there. Google can and will eventually push for DRM, after all they're the ones making the web has DRM...
People will not leave Youtube. They got too many videos. I believe they will just find some proxy solutions or similar. Using anything else will for the author just result in they get paid less.
that's exactly what he just said.
people will start looking for alternative frontends such as Piped or Invidious