It’s not Slowing Down Firefox — just Ad Blockers (Youtube Say)

-

 



Users on Reddit and Hacker News are complaining that YouTube seems to have inserted an intentional five-second delay before video pages will load in Mozilla’s Firefox and occasionally some other browsers. YouTube tells The Verge that these users are right about the delay, but the browser has nothing to do with it — it’s part of the company’s efforts to quash ad blockers across all platforms.


“In the past week, users using ad blockers may have experienced suboptimal viewing, which included delays in loading, regardless of the browser they are using,” YouTube communications manager Christopher Lawton wrote in an email. Lawton wrote that disabling the ad blocker should resolve the issue, though users “may still experience a temporary delay in loading” until their browser has refreshed.

Lawton also said that users will keep seeing issues like this as YouTube’s ad-blocker detection methods improve. The issue was initially reported as targeting Firefox users, but users online have said they’re seeing the delay in Chrome and Edge, too. Reddit and Hacker News users who’ve examined the code that appears to be causing the delay have said they see no indication that YouTube checks what kind of browser is in use. Mozilla’s senior brand manager Damiano DeMonte wrote in an email to The Verge that “there’s no evidence that this is a Firefox-specific issue.”

The five-second delay isn’t affecting everyone. A few of us at The Verge tried to recreate the issue, both on Mac and Windows machines. But whether logged into YouTube or not, using an ad-blocker or not, or going incognito or not, none of us saw the delay that’s being reported.

Google has made big moves on the ad-blocking front lately, and a lot of the thrust for that effort has been felt in YouTube, which started disabling videos for some viewers using ad blockers in June. YouTube confirmed last month that it had “launched a global effort” to get users to either enable ads or subscribe to its $13.99 per month ad-free Premium service. Lawton called ads “a vital lifeline for our creators.”

Last week, Google detailed a big change to Chrome that undermines uBlock Origin, one of the more popular ad-blocking extensions. Independent developers have been in an arms race with large companies that want to show ads for as long as there have been ads on the internet — and right now, Google seems serious about pushing back.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Approch for Future Technology

-
Image
Technology moves at a relentlessly fast pace in the modern world. It can sometimes feel like every single day there are new technologies and innovations that will change our futures forever. But in a steady stream of announcements about new massive futuristic technological upgrades and cool gadgets, it is easy to lose track of the amazing ways the world is progressing. For instance, there are artificial intelligence programs writing poems from scratch and making images from nothing more than a worded prompt. There are 3D-printed eyes, new holograms, lab-grown food and brain-reading robots. All of this just scratches the surface of what is out there, so we've curated a guide to the most exciting future technologies, listing them all below. Necrobotics Sometimes new future technologies can offer amazing development, with the possibility of changing the future... while also being incredibly creepy. This is one way to describe the idea of necrobotics which, as the name suggests, involv
Read more

SpaceX’s new Starlink Satellite Internet Terminal has a Kickstand

-
Image
  SpaceX quietly introduced a new Standard Starlink terminal that’s slimmer and simpler than the previous version, with a 10 percent broader field of view and no motor for setting up — instead, it comes with a kickstand; to orient it, you simply move it. A Starlink support page says the kit is available “by invitation only to a small group of early customers in the US.” SpaceX bumped its weather resistance rating up from IP54 to IP67, meaning it should be totally dust-proof and can be submerged in one meter of water for as long as 30 minutes before potential damage. Starlink’s specifications page says it can operate in winds over 60MPH. Speaking of which, the company will sell mounts in case you’d rather secure it in place. It’s otherwise roughly the same size as the previous Standard terminal (now called Standard Actuated). Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt, who posted about the new terminal Friday morning, shared the quick start video for it. The Wi-Fi router has been redesigned and now
Read more

Prepare for Your First Date with Girlfriend

-
Image
I know this can be super nerve-wracking. You want to plan your date to make sure you have a great time and show how much you’re interested. But you also don’t want to look like you’re trying too hard or investing a lot in something that may not work out. Here’s a detailed set of first date tips, according to science. Choose the Right First Date Location The location you choose sets the tone for your date. Unless you already know what types of activities your date likes, it’s best to pick a neutral, low-pressure place where you can focus on getting to know each other and figuring out how well you connect. The last thing you want to do is go to a nice restaurant and discover before your food even has been brought out that you two don’t “click” and it’s not going to work. In this scenario, you’re stuck for the rest of the meal anyway. Can somebody say “Awkward”? Instead of dinner and a movie, suggest trying a local bar or a hip new coffee shop instead. The casual environment serves as a c
Read more