The slowdown was apparently caused by a bug that was damaging the browser extension. It’s not a filter response.
Google claims that users of its popular ad-blocking extension have falsely blamed YouTube for slow video streaming speeds. And the content filter itself is the cause of the playback being choppy.
The extension in question is Adblock Plus, a popular browser add-on for zapping ads before they are displayed. and a related extension called AdBlock
YouTube’s decision last year to make its anti-ad blocking policy more visible By presenting a dialog box during video playback that interrupts people to disable such filtering software. It might help make him the prime suspect in this latest drama.
In November 2023, a video streaming website owned by Google confirmed to The Register that it intended to impose a page load delay for people viewing YouTube while using ad blocking extensions.
At the time, reports indicated that some individuals who were not using the blocking extension were also experiencing loading delays. In response, Google advised that these are likely cache issues for those who previously disabled blocking extensions. And reloading the whole page takes care of things.
The suggestion comes shortly after privacy advocate Alexander Hanff filed a complaint in Ireland claiming that YouTube had violated European privacy laws by running an ad blocker detection script without permission. express consent The complaint remains unresolved.
Registrants understand that the Irish Data Protection Board is likely to delay any decision. Until the European Data Protection Board issues relevant rules. Whether it is a policy Meta’s “payment or consent,” which is considered consent to use data if the user Facebook/Instagram decided no Payment of membership fees is legal.
In terms of YouTube’s stance on ad blockers, Presumably, people posting to the Adblock Plus and Reddit support pages blamed Google’s streaming service for its dismal video performance, which appears to have started about a week ago.
Netizens complain that their videos take longer to buffer. Resulting in jerky playback And this is the result of YouTube’s deliberate response to ad blockers.
However, YouTube insists it is not to blame. This is in contrast to some recent news reports.
“Recent reports of users experiencing loading delays on YouTube are not related to our ad blocker detection efforts,” a Google spokesperson told The Register in an emailed statement. “Our Help Center has troubleshooting tips for users experiencing issues.”
Raymond Hill, creator of the open source ad blocking extension uBlock Origin (which was not affected by the slowdown), confirmed as much over the weekend in a social media thread, noting that the reported issues are traceable. Addressed bug in Adblock Plus 3.22 and AdBlock 5.17
Although the two tools share the same name, (but not the CamelCase spelling) They are separate. Instead, it involves a project owned by eyeo, an ad filtering company that makes money without blocking so-called “ad filters.” “Acceptable advertising” for a fee The German business has been operating since 2022, with Frank Einecke, Google’s former managing director of global marketing partners, stating in November 2023 that ad blocking was expected to cost publishers $54 billion by 2024.
According to Hill, the performance issues affecting both browser add-ons extend beyond YouTube and worsen if users use multiple ad blocking extensions. This may interfere with each other and increase the use of computer resources.
The bug has been removed in version 3.22.1 Adblock Plus and version 5.17.1 AdBlock.
Unsurprisingly, Hill recommends the free uBlock Origin over alternative blocking extensions based on resource usage. This is a long-standing issue with extensions that Google cites as the reason for rewriting the Manifest v3 architecture.
Even in Adblock Plus and AdBlock fixed versions. (which uses the same insertion script), he said, “[AdBlock’s] insertion script on YouTube still accounts for more than 20 percent of CPU usage,” compared to just 1 percent for uBlock Origin.
Another reason to avoid Adblock Plus and AdBlock, Hill claimed last month, is that both have been accused of using fake progress bars to encourage free extension users to purchase the paid version.
Eyeo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hill noted that this bug appears to be the result of a code refactoring to make the extension work under Manifest v3. The affected version of Adblock Plus 3.22 specifically identified the bug as an update. “Recommended update to differential filter list. This is critical to delivering frequent updates to filter lists under Manifest v3.”
When Google ends the legacy extension architecture Probably in June 2024, when Manifest v3 is available, uBlock Origin is expected to stop working. A less capable version named uBlock Origin Lite already works under Manifest v3. IX IX IX IX IX IX IX IX
