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SponsorBlock (and DeArrow): "YouTube is currently experimenting with server-si…" - Fosstodon (fosstodon.org)

submitted 5 months ago by sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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YouTube is currently experimenting with server-side ad injection. This means that the ad is being added directly into the video stream.

This breaks sponsorblock since now all timestamps are offset by the ad times.

For now, I set up the server to detect when someone is submitting from a browser with this happening and rejecting the submission to prevent the database from getting filled with incorrect submissions.

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[-] limewire@lemmy.cafe 60 points 5 months ago

I'm kinda surprised they haven't done this already. Twitch has been doing this for a while now, and the only reliable way around it is to use a proxy in a country that Twitch doesn't run ads in.

[-] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 24 points 5 months ago

Video length is incredibly important to The Algorithm and a LOT of content creators time their videos to the second. Taking away control of that (even if the end result ins the exact same length) is going to ruffle a lot of feathers and lead to a lot of people who want to "be a champion for the viewers who should like, comment, and subscribe and use my referral code for war thunder" as a result.

[-] InFerNo@lemmy.ml 6 points 5 months ago

Surely The Algorithm will not know of the ads inserted, so that won't influence the results.

[-] ThisIsAManWhoKnowsHowToGling@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 months ago

Never underestimate the ability of a small change to completely break a system

[-] PlexSheep@infosec.pub 7 points 5 months ago

Yeah it sucks, ublock can't block twitch ads.

[-] gjghkk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 5 months ago

I think Twitch has gone to shit lately, because of their decisions, but I don't know the numbers. Do you have any info about this?

[-] limewire@lemmy.cafe 8 points 5 months ago

Oh, it's been pretty crap for a while now. I constantly see viewers complain about ~~AIDS~~ ads and even content creators feel poorly about them.

Looking at https://twitchtracker.com/statistics shows a relatively flat viewership base. Since January, they've seen a decrease of close to 15% viewers and concurrent channels. It appears that they had a large increase in viewers and channels in 2020, probably due to Covid, and since then they have been in decline.