this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2023
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So this started coming up today. On every video. I can (so far) click the "x" and remove it to watch (still see 2 ads before the video, and one after 4 minutes - ruins music on YT), but did click the "Report issue" only for the dialogue box not to work.

I found a link to a that said 11% use adblock. Thats not a lot.Maaayyyybe there is a problem with the amount of ads youtube forces down our throats for even short videos. πŸ€·β€β™‚οΈ

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[–] narc0tic_bird@lemm.ee 317 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Their detection script is probably trying so hard that it hits false positives.

Ironically, with an up-to-date uBlock Origin, you wouldn't see this popup.

[–] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 219 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Sooo..., you'll literally need to use adblocker to use YouTube. Interesting.

[–] killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 114 points 1 year ago (5 children)

It really is given that they've willingly entered a game of cat and mouse and chosen to assume the role of a blind, limbless mouse.

As others have said before me, I feel for the poor engineers who have to implement this stuff as any technical solution short of DRM is provably impractical and unworkable.

[–] Platform27@lemmy.ml 33 points 1 year ago (2 children)

any technical solution short of DRM is provably impractical and unworkable.

Don’t give them ideas.

[–] nottheengineer@feddit.de 80 points 1 year ago (2 children)

They already have plans to DRM the entire fucking web. That's why I am currently cutting google out of my life step by step.

[–] Platform27@lemmy.ml 21 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yeah, YT is the last holdout for me. It’s literally the only Google service I willingly sign up for. I’ve tried Piped/Invidious, but they don’t match YTs quality.

[–] django@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 1 year ago

No problem, quality will continue to degrade, until you will be happy to switch.

[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah the lack of playlists is an issue

[–] feinstruktur@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

So, give me a heads up if you find a reliably working alternative for their FCM that enables common apps to ... work, e.g. mobile payment (not crypto), alarm messaging for emergency forces, e.g. firefighters. I'd say one can easily step back from google if you rely on independent apps and services (done that for a couple of years). But without FCM some shit simply doesn't work.

[–] sanpo@sopuli.xyz 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They're way ahead of you, they already started implementing it in Chrome.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Environment_Integrity

[–] ericisshort@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It’s bullshit like this that made me give up all Chromium browsers earlier this year. I used to be a complete Google simp, but those days are well behind me. They’re motto these days might as well be β€œDo evil.”

[–] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I went from loving Google (had the HYC Dream, the first Android phone!)

Many years ago I cut em out. Now I have no google products and do not use their services.

[–] ericisshort@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I also had the HTC Dream (called the TMobile G1 in the US). Only google product I haven’t been able to ditch is gmail.

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm not sure what you mean by "short of DRM", because YouTube already does what it can to prevent unauthorised clients accessing it. (Have you seen how unreliable "YouTube downloaders" can be, especially for very long videos or in resolutions above HD?) But ultimately the flaw in any DRM-style solution is that the end result still needs to be able to be played back on client-controlled systems, and that is always going to provide an avenue for exploitation. It can't be avoided.

I use an automated YouTube downloader as part of my media lab and have had a 100% success rate for downloads over several years, so, sincerely, I don't know what you mean.

And yes, my argument wasn't that DRM is flawless, just that it's a feasible next step in Google trying to achieve their purpose.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I feel for the poor engineers who have to implement this stuff

I don't. They had every opportunity to do the ethical thing and refuse to implement it, but didn't.

On a related note, the industry norms need to be changed such that software engineers should be licensed Professional Engineers, should be unionized, or both.

(I say this as a software engineer myself, by the way.)

[–] killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I also work in industry as a software engineer, tech lead, and occasional eng manager and haven't seen anyone do this over several decades.

I don't think many people, software engineers included, are troubled by YouTube wanting to monetize their platform or defending their right to do so. It's opting for such an easily bypassed method that makes this such a chore for the implementor.

It's also bold to assume they might not have suggested, prototyped or specced other solutions to this problem but were still tasked with this one for whatever reason. Either way, I'd rather assume good intent and high locus than assume they are "trapped" in to implementing software that defies their own moral beliefs.

[–] MonkderZweite@feddit.ch 4 points 1 year ago

as any technical solution short of DRM is provably impractical and unworkable.

Oh, that's why WebDRM.

[–] psud@lemmy.world -2 points 1 year ago

DRM isn't effective on its own, it needs law with severe punishment to survive

[–] AnAngryAlpaca@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago

Sooo…, you’ll literally need to use adblocker to use ~~YouTube~~ the internet. Interesting.

[–] Goodie@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Are you sure? Or is it because you're not in the test group?

I'm on nightly/up to date ublock and i see it.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I've been wondering if it's uBlock Origin or me not being part of the test yet. Sounds like the latter. Shit.

[–] TheFriendlyDickhead@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I got the pop-up too, but I can just kick the X and continue watching without adds. Got unlock origin.

That's phase one. At one point, a timer will appear and you have ti wait until you can click the X. Lastly, the video will stay locked and cannot be watched.

You seeing the popup means you need to update the uBlock filters and disable other add-on's ad filters like Enhancer's Block Ads feature.

[–] TheFriendlyDickhead@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I got the pop-up too, but I can just kick the X and continue watching without adds. Got uBlock origin.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Good to know! Thanks!

[–] kobra@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah I’ve had it sporadically happen to me but last night was the most effective. Fully updated Firefox and ublock on windows and I could only watch 3 videos before getting locked out.

Previous to last night, I hadn’t seen the pop up for at least a week.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I actually had it about 20 minutes ago. Forgot to post here. But when I Xed out of it, it played normally.

[–] Silejonu@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago

Did you update your filters?

I had the pop-up today, updated my filters then reloaded the page, and the warning was gone.

[–] narc0tic_bird@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago

Pretty sure, as I saw the popup multiple times, updated uBlock filters and didn't see them again since.

[–] killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Skyhighatrist@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There’s no test group

They are almost certainly talking about a test group on YouTube, not uBlock Origin. Sites do that sometimes, it's called A/B Testing. Where different users will get different versions of the site to test something or other before changes are rolled out for all users.

Ah, the second sentence made it sound like they were questioning the uBlock implementation, not YouTube's.

And not just sites, but all forms of software can implement A/B and multivariate tests, including software like uBlock Origin. I've implemented A/B and multivariate tests before, and have even co-designed and developed an experimentation platform, so it's a subject close to my heart!

[–] cybersandwich@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

I actually installed ublockorigin after hitting these types of messages on a few sites. I think howtogeek does the same thing.

According to OP it turned out to be an extension causing the problem

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Their detection script is probably trying so hard that it hits false positives.

Nostalgic.

[–] Gonzako@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

The cobra effect

[–] rwhitisissle@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

As someone with an up to date ublock origin on Firefox, I literally just got one.

[–] Enkrod@feddit.de 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If you have YouTube Enhancer disable its adblocking.

[–] rwhitisissle@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

That was probably it. Thanks!

[–] RojoSanIchiban@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I started getting this last night even with UO before I realized FF was waiting for me to restart for an update.

Oops.

[–] DuncanIdaho@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

LOL thats nuts!

[–] JazzAlien@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

I got this popup today on Firefox with ublock origin.