Stop using random anti-adblock fixes you find on the...

SponsorBlock (and DeArrow)'s posts Post Back to profile

Stop using random anti-adblock fixes you find on the internet, these are almost always out of date and interfere with the actual anti-adblock features in uBlock Origin. YouTube is changing their anti-adblock code multiple times per day.

Simply do the following:
1. Use uBlock Origin and no other adblocker. This includes disabling adblocking in "Enhancer for YouTube", and any built in browser blocker
2. Purge caches and update filters
3. Reload the tab

More info: https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uAssets/issues/19976

Like 14 Oct 2023 at 23:43 | Open on fosstodon.org

43 comments

SponsorBlock (and DeArrow)

And if there is not an updated filterlist, the anti-adblock does not apply logged-out at the moment, so you can continue in a private tab

14 Oct 2023 at 23:43 | Open on fosstodon.org

Miga

@sponsorblock For me it also just tends to work by just refreshing the page, for whatever that's worth

15 Oct 2023 at 3:15 | Open on social.vivaldi.net

the Hearth

@sponsorblock is updating ublock actually necessary for this or is it all in the filter lists? we can't update ublock origin past version 1.16.4.30 because we have to use a browser that supports XUL extensions for accessibility reasons and that's the last XUL version of ublock
-F

15 Oct 2023 at 0:15 | Open on plush.city

SponsorBlock (and DeArrow)

@Hearth yes, the current solution uses scriptlets only available in newer versions unfortunately and are not ported to uBO legacy

15 Oct 2023 at 0:17 | Open on fosstodon.org

the Hearth

@sponsorblock Will there be a solution that works on old versions? Or (less likely but i really hope) will there be a new version of ubo legacy to address this?
-F

15 Oct 2023 at 0:17 | Open on plush.city

SponsorBlock (and DeArrow)

@Hearth I'm not sure, I'm not part of the ublock team and only have outsider information. I just posted here to try to help correct some misinformation I've seen being spread

15 Oct 2023 at 0:19 | Open on fosstodon.org

the Hearth

@sponsorblock oh, sorry, wasn't aware of that
-F

15 Oct 2023 at 0:20 | Open on plush.city

Poppy (Tryna learn webdev rn) :spinny_cat_nb:

@sponsorblock@fosstodon.org Another thing I recommend is to switch to third-party clients. They will work as well as Youtube itself, and even have some extra features on top (plus, you don't need the algorithm).

15 Oct 2023 at 2:19 | Open on kitty.social

GabeMoralesVR

@sponsorblock "stop using random adblock fixes from the internet. Here's a random adblock fix for you, courtesy of the internet!"

15 Oct 2023 at 4:22 | Open on mastodon.gamedev.place

SponsorBlock (and DeArrow)

@GabeMoralesVR I'm saying to use the official filter-lists by uBlock which are updated constantly instead of taking a fixed rule from a random 4 month old forum post (which is the source of the recent rules mentioned in viral posts)

15 Oct 2023 at 4:24 | Open on fosstodon.org

GabeMoralesVR

@sponsorblock you're talking about deleting cache, a "fix" that already has a hit/miss ratio that is significant enough to be considered superstition.

Not to mention that the only reason deleting the cache works for *SOME* people, is because Youtube is allowing a few instances of blocking (three strike rule) before kicking you out. This will change in the near future assuredly, like every site that institutes ad block does.

15 Oct 2023 at 4:25 | Open on mastodon.gamedev.place

SponsorBlock (and DeArrow)

@GabeMoralesVR You may be misunderstanding, I am talking about clicking "Purge caches" in uBlock's filter list setting to be able to update lists. Otherwise, it only updates lists every 3 days. The latest YouTube related filter-list change was 4 hours ago.

I am not talking about resetting your browser's cache. I edited it to be more clear.

15 Oct 2023 at 5:07 | Open on fosstodon.org

Forcen

@sponsorblock @GabeMoralesVR

Just to be clear, they are also updating the "quick-fixes.txt" list which updates every 12 hours: https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uAssets/commit/886064b7c2014b6345225e3213b585bd7908a553
So it should be a bit quicker than 3 days.

Also there is some advanced settings you can change to make it update out of date lists quicker: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Advanced-settings#autoUpdateAssetFetchPeriod
Change these three to a lower value to increase the frequency of updates of OOD lists.

@sponsorblock @GabeMoralesVR

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15 Oct 2023 at 8:47 | Open on raru.re

LisPi

@sponsorblock I wonder why they're so motivated to be obnoxious just now.

15 Oct 2023 at 4:42 | Open on mastodon.top

Ambulocetus

@lispi314 @sponsorblock They tested it out earlier in the year, and they made a tiny bit more money, so now they are all Gung Ho.

15 Oct 2023 at 12:58 | Open on qoto.org

LisPi

@ambulocetus @sponsorblock I suspect they made more from the slight reduction in load on their servers from the users just leaving than they made from anything ad-related.

15 Oct 2023 at 18:03 | Open on mastodon.top

David Marx 🇪🇺

@sponsorblock what’s about Invidious or Piped?

15 Oct 2023 at 6:23 | Open on nrw.social

DELETED

@sponsorblock Thank you. I fear we will be losing this game, though. Google can easily have 30 people working on this fulltime. Even as in: 30 different anti-adblock solutions, and you get a random one. They can deploy JS obfuscations that take time to RE. VMProtect-like code in your browser. They can bake the ads into your video stream and analyze your timing. They can work on specifically detecting e.g. ublock, e.g. by having their JS making fake calls to blocked URLs. 😢

15 Oct 2023 at 6:29 | Open on mastodon.social

jaseg

@halfbit_ @sponsorblock I think you're underestimating how asymmetric this fight is. They already obfuscate their JS, but it doesn't help. You can simply run their js, obfuscation and all, in a sandbox. Google has to spend weeks of engineering to design and test a change, while all uBO needs to do is to make it look to the javascript like the ad played, something they can do in minutes or hours thanks to the web being an open platform. This is the computer science equivalent of guerilla warfare.

15 Oct 2023 at 6:48 | Open on chaos.social

immibis

@jaseg @halfbit_ @sponsorblock they have web environment integrity, secure boot and widevine on their side

15 Oct 2023 at 6:57 | Open on social.immibis.com

immibis

@jaseg @halfbit_ @sponsorblock it's absolutely internet guerilla warfare, and guerillas win because they are nimble, but we have to also remember that they have internet nukes and they will not hesitate to glass the whole region if it's advantageous to them, so it's not so easy to assume the guerillas will win.

15 Oct 2023 at 6:58 | Open on social.immibis.com

DELETED

@jaseg @sponsorblock I hope you are right. But...

1) Obfuscation works. Copy protection on computer games take weeks to crack (and those have a much smaller % of CPU to waste). Google can roll out new stuff faster than we can RE it.

2) Our timing is different from non-adblocking people. Sure, maybe the user skipped over a boring part etc. But aggregating all data, you can surely bin users into two camps.

And then deny ad-supported YT to all accounts linked to your cellphone number.

15 Oct 2023 at 7:08 | Open on mastodon.social

jaseg

@halfbit_ @sponsorblock
The difference in obfuscation of YouTube's js vs obfuscation in a game is that with YouTube the actual functionality is very limited, in the end you just want a video stream.

I agree that statistical signals will clearly tell apart ad-blocking and ad-victim users. Tbh I never use Youtube logged in, and I think it would be a very bad thing for both sides of this if they ever required login.

15 Oct 2023 at 7:15 | Open on chaos.social

immibis

@halfbit_ @jaseg @sponsorblock There are advantages and disadvantages on both sides. It's a cat and mouse game that I suppose neither side can *reliably* win, but both sides can keep taking back from the other, if they keep trying. Google is better funded, but that cuts both ways - its employees are ONLY there to get a paycheck.

15 Oct 2023 at 7:20 | Open on social.immibis.com

Natanael ⚠️

@halfbit_ @jaseg @sponsorblock worst case adblocks will still always work if you're willing to accept a black box over the video with no sound when the ad would have been playing. The browser addon has control over rendering and can let the website do whatever it wants including loading the ad and let all it's scripts run, but this doesn't need to reach the user's display.

15 Oct 2023 at 20:28 | Open on mastodon.social

Volodymyr

@sponsorblock @noodlejetski or simply buy YouTube Premium family.

15 Oct 2023 at 7:34 | Open on social.net.ua

DELETED

@sponsorblock Dont stop anywhere with ads. Move on.

15 Oct 2023 at 8:58 | Open on mastodon.social

CauseOfBSOD :fediverse:

@sponsorblock@fosstodon.org ive found on other websites that additional anti-adblock patches are more effective

15 Oct 2023 at 9:19 | Open on fedi.bangsparks.com

Jaap Zeldenrust (he/him)

@sponsorblock "anti-adblock" is functionally a double negative, and as a result I have no idea whether you're talking about measures to block ads or about exempting specific sources from your measures to block ads.

15 Oct 2023 at 11:20 | Open on mastodon.sdf.org

Affinity, UV Catastrophe

@jozeldenrust "Anti-adblock" is the term of art for techniques deployed by websites to prevent or hinder the site from being usable by people using adblockers, usually by gating content behind a nag screen when they detect an adblocker is in use or disabling access to the site altogether. Users use adblocking measures; websites do things to stop them. The latter is the anti-adblock stuff. The original post discusses ways to get around what youtube is doing specifically, i.e. they're "fixes" to the problems caused by Youtube's anti-adblock measures.

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15 Oct 2023 at 12:56 | Open on yiff.life

James Wood

@jozeldenrust @sponsorblock I believe the first two occurrences of “anti-adblock” should instead be “anti-anti-adblock”. With that, it makes sense. Users use ad-blocking, YouTube counters them using anti-adblock techniques, and users in turn counter with anti-anti-adblock fixes.

15 Oct 2023 at 14:05 | Open on mathstodon.xyz

Jaap Zeldenrust (he/him)

@mudri @sponsorblock The first one makes sense if the "fix" means countering the countermeasures to your adblocking measures. But since "fix" is ambiguous - it can either mean causing the adblocking measures to work as intended, or causing the countermeasures to work as intended - it gets confusing.

I think this message could be improved by making both perspectives and objectives explicit. Use "Alice" and "Bob". Alice wants to watch YouTube without ads, Bob wants to show Alice ads, etc.

15 Oct 2023 at 14:48 | Open on mastodon.sdf.org

Parienve

@jozeldenrust @sponsorblock
"Anti-adblock fixes" are measures taken by web users to counter websites' anti-adblock techniques, so the full phrase is effectively a *triple* negative.

15 Oct 2023 at 21:12 | Open on qoto.org

ObsolescentSapien

@sponsorblock uBlock is amazing, but also, don’t use the YouTube website and especially not the app. If YT content is a must, navigate to Invidious, or use the NewPipe app (on Android). PeerTube is also a great option for video content. P.S. Fuck Google. They have destroyed the internet. May all their servers spontaneously combust.

15 Oct 2023 at 11:24 | Open on mastodon.online

XenoLurch🏴

@sponsorblock This solid advice. Not using youtube at all is even better. Invidious or pipe are good alternatives that solves the ad issue effortlessly.