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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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[-] casmael@lemm.ee 21 points 5 months ago

Wow that’s very annoying. What does this mean for the future of adblocking?

[-] MinusPi@pawb.social 42 points 5 months ago

It'll be difficult for a while until someone figures it out and then it'll be easy again. It's just an arms race.

[-] elxeno@lemm.ee 15 points 5 months ago

This one might be harder, if YT just sends the ad like it was part of the video file, generating it on the fly, it's a lot harder to detect, and probably not too hard for them to do, but breaking timestamps is pretty bad for some types of videos, like tutorials.