Google Chrome reportedly bypassing Adblock, forces users to watch full-length video ads

[steven36]

Twitter is alit today, it seems, with news of Google neutralising AdBlock Plus. The popular extension, originally created by Wladimir Palant in 2006, is used by many to bypass ads hosted on the internet, including the video ads served by Google's video streaming site.

It has drawn the ire of many web publishers and websites alike for allegedly curtailing their revenues significantly. In an attempt to shore up the almost non-existent profits from YouTube, Google might have finally found a way of skirting the extension. Multiple Twitter users are now posting their accounts, including images, of Chrome circumventing the extension's ad-averse net:

So YouTube has finally clamped down on Adblock, if Adblock is active on the page, the pre-roll ad will play without a skip option.
— SteeScribbles (@SteeScribbles) September 6, 2015

A 3 min ad? Really? I have adblock also how is this even possible? pic.twitter.com/3BmqZAGzIr
— revVGC (@r4rev2) September 7, 2015

YouTube now treats ads as pre-videos on the site, and only the skip ad button is seen as an ad by adblock. GENIUS! Good job guys! :D
— Jordi v/d Bussche (@Kwebbelkop) September 5, 2015

Google's workaround seems to be applicable to all similar extensions and isn't exclusive to just AdBlock Plus.

The company has not stopped at just skirting the extension, however. Users with AdBlock enabled will now have to see full-length video ads with no option to skip them half-way through, a feature YouTube has offered for a very long time. The only way to get the option back is to disable AdBlock, or to whitelist YouTube.

Ever-industrious, the internet has already found a way of bypassing Google's own bypass, though:

Fixed it. It seems to be just a Chrome thing. According to Adblock, uninstalling the "YouTube" "app" resolves the issue.
— SteeScribbles (@SteeScribbles) September 6, 2015

This move is likely to please content creators and publishers, but is obviously a blow at users' ability to choose how they interact with the internet and what content they consume and what they don't. Blocking ads has always been a controversial issue and it will likely remain so in the future.


Source

[WALLONN7]

Things like that will keep me far far far away from Chrome forever... Wait... Chrome itself is the only reason for me to do it! B)

[Misaki2010]

I switched to Microsoft Edge a long time ago :) Chrome sucks! It eats too much RAM memory and it has privacy issues... I'm not saying Windows 10 doesn't but at least it's a while operating system, not just a browser... Edge is awesome if it's used with Adguard...

[steven36]

There most likely testing this Hulu has had a long time were you must watch commercials in order to watch there videos regardless of what browser you use. Only way to get around it is use a app that can DL Hulu videos and watch them offline.

It sure seems there headed that way from reading this

YouTube reportedly plans to offer brands more transparency for viewed ads

[quachnam]

Ok, We will block ads by host in Window .... :D :D :D :D :D

[HX1]

SRWare Iron used to be a nice Chrome substitute.. not for sure how it is now... if they will change this function.. but it used to natively support a list of blocks... plus extensions.

[steven36]

Ok, We will block ads by host in Window .... :D :D :D :D :D

Considering Goggle sites mostly only use HTTPs it most likey can tell if you block ads in host as well. Good luck with that they can ether hard code the ips or just fix it were it blocks the whole site

SRWare Iron used to be a nice Chrome substitute.. not for sure how it is now... if they will change this function.. but it used to natively support a list of blocks... plus extensions.

Its bypassing the ads on youtube with ublock installed i tested it but it dont mean it will work once they update to 45 code base.

[ARMOUR]

Blockers not blocking ads on YouTube in Chrome? Try this fix!

http://www.ghacks.net/2015/09/06/blockers-not-blocking-ads-on-youtube-in-chrome-try-this-fix/

[steven36]

Blockers not blocking ads on YouTube in Chrome? Try this fix!

http://www.ghacks.net/2015/09/06/blockers-not-blocking-ads-on-youtube-in-chrome-try-this-fix/

yes thats posted above .

Fixed it. It seems to be just a Chrome thing. According to Adblock, uninstalling the "YouTube" "app" resolves the issue.

— SteeScribbles (@SteeScribbles) September 6, 2015

As long as they dont build it in were you cant uninstall it you can remove it and it will work I think there just testing it for now still in early stages.

[steven36]

More News Google's 'crackdown' on ad blockers is just a bug in Chrome

GOOGLE HAS NOT launched a crackdown on ad blockers in its Chrome browser, but rather a bug in Chromium's source code is to blame.
Adblock Plus, the most popular extension for ad blocking in Chrome, is still available, but users are reporting that it no longer prevents pre-roll adverts appearing in YouTube. Twitter is less than impressed.

You have never known terror until you experience the moment when you realize AdBlock no longer works on YouTube.
— Alex Schmidt (@paragon_al) September 7, 2015

Google tried killing Adblock on YouTube through that app they have in Chrome. Good effort.
— Alex (@alexdavid12) September 6, 2015

When did Youtube ads start dodging adblock and why tf are they 50 seconds long?
— Morgan (@mograntaylor) September 6, 2015

But a statement from Ben Williams, who designed AdBlock Plus, revealed: "The problems on YouTube are because of an issue in Chrome. It apparently is only affecting a small subset of users. We know about it. I imagine they'll get a fix up soon."

A workaround has been found and a bug report has been filed in Chromium.

Ad blocking is a divisive issue. Some do it for security, others argue ardently that it's essential for the monetisation of the internet and that blocking is tantamount to stealing web pages.
In the meantime, YouTube videos now roll pre-ads with no skip option, in some cases meaning up to a minute of corporate drivel before you can see kitty-cat-dun-fallen-over.
The news comes a week after Google pulled the plug on adverts that were still rendering in Flash and could not be converted to the new HTML5 standard. Google is now pausing flash advertising by default as the Adobe-owned runtime dies the death of a million cuts.

We asked Google for comment, but it hasn't replied, so in the nature of scientific inquiry, we, who would never dream of using ad blockers, tested a few in the name of science and can confirm that adverts roll in Adblock Plus, Adblocker and Ad Muncher.

It has been a busy year for Adblock Plus in particular. The company has already won two court battles over its legitimacy, launched a dedicated browser for Android and confirmed that it will release a product for iOS 9 which will allow ad blockers through for the first time.

Source and Bug Reopt

[edwardecl]

I'm sure someone will create a fork of Chrome if they are stupid enough to block ad blockers in this way without workarounds.

[steven36]

I'm sure someone will create a fork of Chrome if they are stupid enough to block ad blockers in this way without workarounds.

Chrome code is so buggy people... now they blew up adblockers and people have trouble with it in Windows 10 preview . It be best to only use it as second browser that's all I use SRWare Iron for. It has a bug with hosted apps they say .

But Bug report states sounds just like hulu.

Let me tell ya why Adblocking software is failing on YT: Youtube is in the process of blocking adblocking software in anticipation of their new "Paid Subscription" initiative. This is just my opinion on this Youtube adblock issue.

This bug affects everyone who has installed a hosted app and use some form of ad/request blocker. This may affect the UX of millions of users (since 45), so I'd like to merge the patch (https://codereview.chromium.org/1311543005/) with 45 if possible.

[Karlston]

Oh... it was just a bug? Hmmm... or the big G buckling after the massive errrrrr.... negatiive feedback?

Can always block the major crappy-ad-serving domains in your router. Look for Parental Controls or Access Restrictions or similar, and block them 24/7. That way even your iOS/Android wi-fi connected devices can avoid the annoying distracting shit ads.

[CODYQX4]

They screwe it up in bad fashion, just like they broke a bunch of HTTPS sites in a previous update.

If you don't have "Chrome Apps" installed for the site in question, then the blocking should still work. I've yet to see YouTube ads, but I don't have a YouTube app installed.

[steven36]

Oh... it was just a bug? Hmmm... or the big G buckling after the massive errrrrr.... negatiive feedback?

You can't trust Ben Williams no more than you can Google . ABP by default allows some ads they get paid from ads even though they make Ad blocking add-ons . And Google makes ads. They are and ad marketing company .

Here some more on it

The tweak made by Google to allow the video adverts to work regardless is thought to effect all advert blocking extensions, not just AdBlock specifically. However, it is limited. It only works in Chrome for now, and only some users are experiencing the change.

What this does show is that Google is working to circumvent advert blocking of any kind. You can understand why. YouTube relies on adverts to generate revenue that helps cover the cost of running all those video-serving servers. Without adverts, YouTube is very costly for Google. If adverts are blocked, it has the secondary effect of YouTube not being a platform advertisers target. So not only are people watching less adverts, there’s less adverts to show them.

It seems likely we could get into a war of updates very soon. Google updates services to circumvent advert blocking, and in return advert blockers issue extension updates to override Google’s changes and allow the adverts to be blocked again.

http://www.geek.com/apps/google-starts-punishing-adblock-users-with-unskippable-youtube-video-ads-1633305/

[straycat19]

I don't use ABP and I was watching videos on youtube for over 4 hours early this morning in chrome and never saw one ad. So all this info came as a complete surprise to me.

[emerglines]

Even the facebook suggestion banner can't be blocked with UBlock. So is Google Chrome.

EDIT: This is on Firefox, the youtube problem is on chrome only, I didn't test Facebook on chrome to confirm the same as what FB do on Firefox.

[HX1]

I used to hate having to have five browsers installed to check between different browser engines for code inconsistencies or issues... but I used to.. Probably will again soon... I used to have SRWare Iron installed for that reason as well as Opera, Safari, Firefox.. and IE of course by default...

Sounds unrelated but over the years you start to see bugs and inconsistencies in code between alot of them.. areas that still have to be updated and changed in how they emulate the code.... Happens all the time.. even in Firefox between Nightly, Beta and Release versions... :P

[steven36]

Google Chrome not being open source tries to force updates on you . while Firefox over the years had many bugs in its code you always had option to use and older version with the latest security updates. Even back when version 3 of Firefox came out the code was buggy so you had option to stay with 2.5 tell they got all the bugs out witch took them tell like when 3.5 came out . Even today Firefox offers you and ESR version were you can stay behind a year with the latest security updates.

But Chrome wants you to ether update to the latest or use beta .Also all forks off Chrome lag behind on security updates. Were there's Forks off Firefox that update really fast right after FF GA release.

[dMog]

i sent my misgivings to google on this...if more people did this and stopped using google ....google would change attitude very quickly...market share loss is huge to any of these company

[Cereberus]

i've run across some sites in the past where abp was bypassed. but whether newer abp fixed that i don't know.

but nothings ever bypass ublock with umatrix for me so far :/

unless it was some form of just a plain image with a ad, in which case i can manually filter that one out easily using the ublock element picker.

but even then even when running hitman or mbam, i have not seen any junk files from adware when surfing the net even after months of heavy usage.