Firefox slow to load YouTube? Just another front in Google's war on ad blockers
Search giant says delays not specific to any browser – just those evading advert breaks. YMMV
There is a discussion on Hacker News, but feel free to comment here as well.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Google has admitted its efforts to discourage the use of ad blockers now includes delaying the start of videos – a deliberate "suboptimal viewing" experience, as the corporation put it.
Earlier this year, YouTube began interrupting videos for those using advert blockers with a pop-up encouraging them to either disable the offending extension or filter, or pay for YT's ad-free premium tier.
In a statement to The Register, Google admitted it was intentionally making its content less binge-able for users unwilling to turn off offending extensions, though this wasn't linked to any one browser.
To be clear, Google's business model revolves around advertising, and ad blockers are specifically called out as being in violation of its terms of service.
Google told us users who have uninstalled their ad blockers may continue to experience temporary delays loading videos, though the issue should resolve itself after "refreshing their browser."
As we reported earlier this month, the search giant will be pushing ahead with a planned API change in June that will render legacy Chrome extensions – including ad blockers – useless unless they are overhauled.
The original article contains 468 words, the summary contains 183 words. Saved 61%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Sounds like a monopoly exerting pressure on a market
I haven't noticed YouTube getting any slower on Firefox. Where I have noticed it getting slower is on Chromecast. What's up with that?
