I also think they slowed it down for firefox users.
Google is intentionally throttling YouTube videos, slowing down users with ad blockers
Submitted 1 day ago by mesamunefire@piefed.social to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/streaming-video/google-throttling-youtube-adblock-users
Comments
Xanthrax@lemmy.world 1 day ago
teft@lemmy.world 1 day ago
If you get a user agent switcher and change your user agent for youtube to chrome then that slowing down goes away.
JayGray91@piefed.social 1 day ago
Wait I can do it just for YouTube? Never occurred to me. I'll have to look into this
theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I’ll wait.
ulterno@programming.dev 1 day ago
So here’s what happened recently:
- I opened the Google News widget on my Android phone, saw a Sponsored link, and found it interesting
- Clicked on it, the link opened in Chrome, opening the googleadservices redirection thingummy
- Took over 5 seconds to process the redirect
- I exited the browser
Guess who missed ad money?
Aetherion@lemmy.world 1 day ago
They cannot kill Adblocks, because if they would — a lot of html5 embedded YouTube videos would be coming worthless and so would youtube (discord for example)
apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Good, kill your product
Sixtyforce@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
I use adblockers, but I’m confused how this would hurt google if people using adblockers stopped using youtube.
SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org 1 day ago
Less views = less relevancy of the platform. For live streams they have always played second fiddle. For short videos there is even more competition. Just wait for China to open up Billie Billie or instead make a separate version for the west.
Reygle@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Then I suppose it’s a good thing they’re limiting non-premium users from using the “high bitrate” quality options?
^ that was sarcasm. HARSH sarcasm. With both middle fingers pointing toward a Google logo and spitting.
dil@lemmy.zip 21 hours ago
yeah I had some blender visuals I made that only look good high quality because of the detail and it looks sick as my desktop wallpaper with hidamsri but horrible and blurry viewing it on youtube at the highest quality
PixelPilgrim@lemmings.world 1 day ago
fine by me i listen to audio of videos i watch and i dont mind the lower resolution because it means im using less internet
belastend@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
Grayjay :)
DFX4509B_2@lemmy.org 1 day ago
YT’s blocked on it, at least on my end. Fuck you, Google.
CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world 1 day ago
YT’s blocked on it.
Just tried it. It works.
lud@lemm.ee 1 day ago
Does grayjay rehost content from YouTube or are they using the YouTube backend for streaming video? I would be quite annoyed if anyone used my website as a host for content that’s being consumed on another website.
A few years ago (and to a lesser degree nowadays) you occasionally came across images which wouldn’t work if you “hotlinked” to them on another website. Images aren’t a huge deal anymore but video absolutely is.
toothpaste_ostrich@feddit.nl 1 day ago
Bless you.
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 1 day ago
HA! Jokes on them! I’m running a budget dell PC from 10 years ago! The PC itself is slower than any delays they cause! I’m talkin’ 3-5 minutes to load each video. Sometimes the whole PC freezes, and you need to unplug it. Sometimes the browser crashes right at the end, so you gotta relaunch the browser, and then wait 20 minutes for all the tabs to populate. Then you gotta end task on all the individual windows. Then you gotta reload just the tab you’re looking at, and THEN you can wait 5 minutes again.
You think I’m even going to notice your 10 second delay?
a_wild_mimic_appears@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
try to get a ssd from somewhere, that gives devices like yours a second life (and if you switch to linux it gets even smoother - sorry i couldn’t resisit)
bassomitron@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I know times are hard, but you could build/find a PC for <$300 that doesn’t run that badly. Hell, even a ~$150-200 tablet would be way better than that.
dullbananas@lemmy.ca 19 hours ago
Daniel Suelo for CEO of YouTube!
buttnugget@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I’m curious what people would prefer for revenue generation models. Just subscription fees? A lot of folks also seem resistant to that as well.
poloqualle@feddit.org 1 day ago
I would happily pay for yt premium, if that also meant that google does not violate my privacy and sell my data.
Retro_unlimited@lemmy.world 1 day ago
That’s my problem, you have to be logged in if you pay and that’s just more data for them to suck up. I watch not logged in. If I want to comment I use a different device.
surph_ninja@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I would prefer a model that does not demand infinite growth, leading to ever declining quality and services. I would prefer a tech site that’s satisfied bringing in a comfortable and steady flow of profit.
buttnugget@lemmy.world 1 day ago
All decent people would. I meant within the bounds of treason and tyranny.
SnortsGarlicPowder@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
What they had like 10 years ago a couple ads here and there. Not 5 minutes ad 5 minutes ad 5 minutes ad 5 minutess ad.
buttnugget@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Interesting. I didn’t think anyone was cool with any ads.
Coil@lemmy.world 1 day ago
There was a time where they only used banner ads. Or ads before the video and not in the middle. Honestly, if they had a cheap, no frills ad free sub, I’d pay for it.
buttnugget@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
That’s really interesting! Would you pay $8 for a no ads subscription?
mesamunefire@piefed.social 1 day ago
Direct sponsoring has worked in the past with many open source projects (including lemmy.world). Could be closer to what Patreon does.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 1 day ago
I saw something that might be this happening last week, but this week the videos are perfect and load normally; but the rest of the page is absolutely fucked. Like the “playables” section last night was tripping balls and looked like a slot machine as the entries randomly changed around at light speeds.
mesamunefire@piefed.social 1 day ago
Ublock origin (if your using it) "fixed" the issue shortly after. Im convinced someone at google works on adblock lol. Probably not true but the timing was really fast.
Steve@startrek.website 1 day ago
Spy vs spy
hefejefe@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Down with google
Lemminary@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
And his stupid CEO specifically. I’ve yet to hear him pitch a good idea.
Coolbeanschilly@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
It’s a good thing I’m patient when it comes to when the videos load. If they keep doing this, I’ll just find another platform. Nebula seems like it has the same types of videos I like to watch.
Of course, I can get into PeerTube as well.
mesamunefire@piefed.social 1 day ago
Yeah Peertube is awesome. It already scales very well with its tech. Its been growing too. I think its good to have multiple alternatives. Its a good free option.
Ultimately the platform is the last important part of watching a video. If the creators can get more $$/activity going somewhere else they will. It happened to Vimeo, it will happen to Youtube.
farboo99@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Ok so im not crazy. I was wondering why videos kept buffering every minute this past week.
rdri@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Wish they could use Gemini to generate ad clicks instead.
yucandu@lemmy.world 1 day ago
uBlock Origin->gear icon (settings)->My Filters->add this line:
||googlevideo.com/videoplayback$xhr,3p,method=get,domain=www.youtube.comChivera@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Thanks I will try this
Opinionhaver@feddit.uk 1 day ago
As much as I hate dealing with their shenanigans, I can’t really blame them either. As long as I can get away with using an adblocker, I will - but honestly, YouTube gives me more value for free than a lot of services I actually pay for. I have no moral argument for why YouTube should let me watch videos for free, even though I like free stuff just as much as the next guy.
TerHu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
oh i absolutely can blame them, because they made a choice. either you take my money and respect my privacy, or you sell all of my data and won’t get my money. however you can’t sell all of my data and take my money, nono, f u alphabet, that’s not how this works.
Traister101@lemmy.today 1 day ago
I did not always use an ad blocker. Frankly my stance is they’ve made their bed, now they get to lie down in it. If it wasn’t for YouTubes ad quality being so poor I would have never bothered taking the 30 seconds it takes to install an adblock those 10 or so years ago
theneverfox@pawb.social 1 day ago
How about: they’re a major factor in the rise of post truth and in ruining the Internet. And in hacking democracy itself
Their control is endangering the human race. They’ve crushed countless innovations to keep a stranglehold on technology. They proactively helped fascists get into power
They don’t deserve to make ever increasing money off us. They’re not content creators - they’re bad stewards of a public forum they bought and expanded through monopolistic practices.
I’d say it’s not only moral to deny them ad revenue, I think watching their ads is a danger to society
squaresinger@lemmy.world 1 day ago
YouTube gives me more value for free than a lot of services I actually pay for
That’s the really annoying part.
I’ve been considering swapping to other services for a long time, but to follow the creators I want to follow I’d have to subscribe to Nebula and Floatplane and I’d still miss out on quite a few creators.
BakerBagel@midwest.social 1 day ago
I’ve got 500Mb fiber internet and YouTube refuses to stream above 360p unless i manually change it. Which each update becomes harder and harder to do as they hide the video quality button somewhere else.
tal@lemmy.today 1 day ago
If you use Firefox:
BakerBagel@midwest.social 1 day ago
I’m don’t having a functioning computer right now because i can’t afford even a used one. I’m just using the YouTube app on ny phone or tv
colonelsharki@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Is google’s company motto still ‘Don’t be evil’?
Critical_Thinker@lemm.ee 1 day ago
They removed that from their official code of conduct in 2018.
phantomwise@lemmy.ml 1 day ago
That’s a relief. I’ve been dreading the day when they introduce server-side adsm but it seems we’re not there yet 😅 I’m not sure what they think they’ll accomplish with this when it’s A LOT less painful than turning off your adblocker and dealing with the ads, though. Maybe they’re just trying random things to see what works.
DirkMcCallahan@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I feel like this has been happening for a while, but maybe it’s just that YouTube’s website is shite.
MagicShel@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
Oh no! What will I—Video Downloader. I’ll just watch offline at my leisure.
the_abecedarian@piefed.social 1 day ago
Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub 1 day ago
I can’t tell an honest difference between 1080p and 720p from across a room. On a monitor, sure, but I grew up in the 90’s. Anything 480 and above is tolerable to me.
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Did you comment in the wrong place?
Your comment is talking about resolution, and the post is about YouTube throttling speeds, not resolution of videos.
I suspect you were trying to respond to a comment instead of making your own top level comment, though I’m not certain.
In any case, if the comment is in the wrong place, now you know. If it isn’t, well, it may help to know that it’s out of place thematically.
G4Z@feddit.uk 1 day ago
I’ve been using this
criticon@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
I had to allow a bunch of stuff in pihole because I wasn’t able to use Google flights or Google News and some functions in Gmail, the sites never finished loading
PushButton@lemmy.world 1 day ago
You might need a little bit of degoogleizer.
In a small dose, it eases the pain, but with the right treatment, your life will become yours again.
RedditIsDeddit@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I noticed this today
leckiesock@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Clear cache
shalafi@lemmy.world 1 day ago
No longer working for me on Firefox, Win11. Now what?
leckiesock@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I have no answer. I’m almost 40 and could no longer care less about BabyTube. I’m now more interested in life and travelling. Long gone are the days where YT was interesting.
Alenalda@lemmy.world 23 hours ago
Revanced is fine so far
Leg@sh.itjust.works 20 hours ago
Can confirm.