The developer of the SponsorBlock extension, designed to skip sponsored video segments, has stated that YouTube is experimenting with server-side ad integration.
This should mean that now the ad is part of the video being streamed to your device, rather than being delivered separately to the web client or mobile client. The current approach allows ad blockers to intercept and restrict ad display. In the future, ads cannot be distinguished from video, as they will be an integral part of it, rather than a separate element.
In the case of SponsorBlock, this means that "all time stamps are shifted by the duration of the ad."
Server-side ad integration will pose a significant challenge for full ad blockers, which YouTube has been combating in various ways since last year. After extensions for the browser, Google targeted third-party clients, which are popular on mobile devices.
In June of last year, the platform limited the number of views to three videos for users using ad blockers, in November it began to aggressively slow down the entire site, and then tightened restrictions on a larger number of users. The situation changes if the blocker is turned off. As always, users are encouraged to subscribe to YouTube Premium to not see ads and have other benefits. An individual YouTube Premium subscription in Ukraine costs 99 UAH per month (student 59 UAH), while a family plan YouTube Premium for 6 people costs 149 UAH per month.
Currently, this new feature is still being tested, and some users are already encountering issues. However, it has not yet gained wide adoption.
Source: 9to5google
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