If you're noticing a few seconds of black before your YouTube videos start, you aren't alone: YouTube viewers, particularly those using uBlock Origin, are reporting an odd delay before videos begin playing. This likely isn't a glitch, however. As it turns out, it appears to be part of YouTube's latest escalation in its fight against ad blockers.
YouTube is putting ads directly in its videos
YouTube is now adding advertisements to the video stream itself, using something known as "server-side injection." Currently, the company delivers most of its ads to users as a separate video before the video you chose to watch. That allows ad blockers to identify the ad, stop it from playing, and load your video directly. If the ad is part of the video, however, the traditional ad blocker strategy breaks.
The company didn't drop this new ad tactic out of thin air: The developer of SponsorBlock, an extension that automatically skips ahead of sponsored content in videos, sounded the alarm last month that YouTube was experimenting with server-side ad injection. Even though SponsorBlock isn't an ad blocker, this change could break its services, as adding ads to the video itself throws off the timestamps of the video. SponsorBlock relies on these timestamps to skip ahead of sponsored segments: As ads vary in length and number, timestamp changes will be unpredictable, and tools like SponsorBlock won't work as they're currently designed.
As of now, however, traditional ad blockers like uBlock Origin seem to be able to identify the ads even when they're part of the video. But since they're tied to the video stream itself, the blocker can only stop the ad from appearing, not remove the segment completely. It comes at the same time YouTube is rolling out new changes to its safety standards for browser extensions. The company says certain browser extensions may now affect YouTube's performance, and recommends disabling them if so. How convenient for YouTube!
YouTube is getting aggressive in its fight against ad blockers
It's the latest development in the running battle between YouTube and third-party ad blockers. While YouTube has always dissuaded viewers from using ad blockers, the company started cracking down on the tools last year. When using certain ad blockers in some browsers, users saw a pop-up warning them to disable their ad blocker. If they continued to use their ad blocker, they may have found that YouTube wouldn't load for them at all. Even if YouTube didn't block videos entirely, the site might artificially slow down load times, or skip to the end of the video. YouTube has also gone after third-party clients with ad blockers built-in, so those are no longer a reliable alternative.
While the new server-side injection strategy doesn't appear to be totally widespread yet, it's clear YouTube isn't backing down—and it's not difficult to understand why. YouTube's main source of revenue is advertising. By using an ad blocker, users block both YouTube and its creators from generating money from views.
Of course, using the internet without an ad blocker is a bit miserable, and has been for years. With the concerning rise of malicious advertising, too, using an ad blocker is actually good cybersecurity practice. Hell, even the FBI recommends you use one.
For YouTube, there's a clear solution: Subscribe to YouTube Premium. If you pay, you can watch YouTube mostly ad-free, without worrying about using an ad blocker that will break your experience with the site. While avid YouTube fans might find value in the service, as it also comes with YouTube Music, casual YouTube users might balk at adding another subscription to their ever-growing list of streaming services. There is a one-month free trial, so you can try it out without financial commitment. And if you are interested, YouTube now offers the following plans:
Individual: $13.99 per month, or $139.99 per year (saves $27.89)
Family: $22.99 per month, for you plus five others in your household
Student: $7.99 per month
Just don't subscribe within the YouTube app: YouTube raises the price to $18.99 per month to compensate for the 30% commission Apple's App Store takes.