News
The platform is experimenting with injecting server-side ads that can’t be skipped
YouTube has started implementing a new ad-insertion technique that could make blocking ads on its platform virtually impossible. According to a report published yesterday by the official Twitter account of SponsorBlock, Google is testing server-side ad insertion on YouTube. This technique places advertisements directly in the video stream, even affecting the timestamps used by popular “anti-ad” services like SponsorBlock.
As a result of this new measure, several users on Reddit have reported seeing non-skippable ads on YouTube, even when using ad blockers like uBlock Origin. Additionally, some have observed that Google is blocking video controls, making it impossible for users to skip ads whenever they come on.
Developers of browser extensions have already started investigating this new form of ad distribution in an attempt to find a solution. However, it’s still early to say whether they’ll find a way to avoid this new scheme. Some users have suggested that one way to verify if this ad-insertion experiment is running is to search for the line “yt.config_.EXPERIMENT_FLAGS.html5_enable_ssap_entity_id” in your web browser console (by pressing F12). If the result is “undefined”, it means the experiment is not active in your account.
![Person watching a YouTube video on a laptop](https://sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com/es/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/YouTube-miniaturas-videos-nueva-funcion-1024x576.png)
An endless struggle
YouTube has been in a constant battle against ad blockers for years. In 2022, their efforts led to the shutdown of YouTube Vanced, an application that basically offered the same service as YouTube, but without ads and with some additional options. Since then, YouTube has stepped up its measures to make users pay for YouTube Premium instead of using ad blockers.
Over time, other alternatives have emerged in the internet community, such as ReVanced and SponsorBlock, in order to bypass YouTube restrictions. ReVanced modifies the official YouTube app to enable Premium features, including ad blocking. SponsorBlock allows users to detect and mark sponsor segments in videos, creating a shared repository that other users can use to skip those segments.
But Google’s new strategy could significantly complicate the effectiveness of these community solutions, inhibiting the functioning of previously efficient methods used to get past ads.
Publicist and audiovisual producer in love with social networks. I spend more time thinking about which videogames I will play than playing them.