YouTube Considers Server-Side Ad Injection To Fight Ad Blockers
The battle between YouTube and ad blockers is old. In a new move, the video streaming platform is considering server-side ad injection. Learn what YouTube plans to do and the potential consequences of this action.
- YouTube is considering server-side ad injection as part of its battle with ad blockers.
- This move is expected to lead to complex problems and less-than-desirable results.
- Learn what this move by YouTube means to the company and the viewers.
YouTube has been battling ad blockers for a few years now. On the one hand, the platform has been trying to push free-tier audiences towards Premium subscription plans if they want to stop seeing ads. On the other hand, viewers have constantly used ad blockers to block ads they find intrusive. However, YouTube is now considering server-side ad injection, possibly leading to complex problems and overall undesirable results.
In 2022, YouTube ran YouTube Vanced, which leveraged file streams for content uploaded to the platform to give the audience a familiar but ad-free UI. However, newer implementations like ReVanced modify the default application to enable the same Premium features, including ad-blocking. A crowd-sourced and automated sponsor segment skipping and an additional component, SponsorBlock, help achieve this.
The component relies on viewers identifying sponsor segments in videos and flagging them in a shared repository so that others can skip these reported segments. However, Google’s attempt to deter ad blockers may hamper the seemingly well-oiled operation. A post by SponsorBlock on X said that YouTube is trying out server-side ad injection.
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.
— SponsorBlock (@sponsorblock@fosstodon.org) (@SponsorBlock) June 12, 2024
See more: Is Advertisers’ Trust in Google Irrevocably Broken?
Although there are few reports of this experimental change, YouTube developers should understand the repercussions and efficacy if this method is deployed at scale. Feedback across certain forums like Firefox and YouTube subreddits indicated that it may break timestamped chapter markers and video links. However, the platform knows the length of the advertisements it would inject and can, hence, offset subsequent timestamps.
The move may also complicate excluding Premium viewers from ad serving. If ads are added server-side, the YouTube client will have to skip the ad automatically for Premium viewers. But it also means that the ad segment will be relayed to the viewer, which may allow ad blockers to use the same information meant for Premium viewers to skip the injected ads automatically.
While YouTube may find the complexity necessary, it may hamper content delivery and user experience.
With the plans to implement server-side ad injection, YouTube may be headed down a slippery slope. Simultaneously, the landscape for people who want to view YouTube content without paying a Premium may be getting rougher.
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