Do you block ads on YouTube? You will wait to watch. But Google has a solution

YouTube has recently been doing everything it can to limit the phenomenon of ad blocking. Now the fight against ad avoiders has apparently reached a new level.

Wait five seconds before watching. Weird delays on YouTube

He was the first to draw attention to the problem with YouTube when he published a video in which the platform loads in the Firefox browser with a delay of several seconds before the video player is displayed on the screen. The user then performed a similar attempt, but using a Chrome browser simulation. However, in this case the problem does not occur.

There was a discussion online, and some people confirmed that they were experiencing a similar delay in loading the platform, despite a good network connection and smooth loading of other websites. A topic that ran its own simulations. Using Chrome to impersonate Firefox did not produce a similar effect.

What’s more, one Reddit user found a “timeout” function in YouTube’s code. The code is intended to slow down the display of content on the platform for five seconds, which is consistent with what can be seen in the previously published video. Interestingly, however, the function does not limit the delay to the Firefox browser only. However, subsequent discussion participants stated that with the use of appropriate filters, the five-second delay can be reduced to zero in Firefox as well.

Google replies: it’s the adblocks’ fault

Google has already commented on this matter. In a comment to 9to5Google, the company confirmed that it “made an attempt to persuade viewers” with ad blocking enabled to unblock ads or try a paid YouTube Premium subscription. As Google writes, all this to “support a diverse ecosystem of creators around the world and enable billions [widzów] access to their favorite content on YouTube.

The internet giant then stated that “users who have ad blockers installed may experience a sub-optimal experience [czasu] display, regardless of the browser used.” However, Google does not reveal in any part of the comment whether the described delay is an “attempt to persuade viewers”.

So we still don’t know whether this is intentional, aimed at people blocking ads, or whether it results from some technical issues. The fact is, however, that (intentionally or not) the company received another argument to convince us to unblock ads or buy a Premium subscription.