The developer of SponsorBlock, an extension designed to skip sponsored video segments, said that YouTube is experimenting with server-side ad integration.
This should mean that ads are now part of the video that is streamed to your device, rather than delivered separately to the web or mobile client. The current approach allows ad blockers to intercept ads and limit the display of ads. In the future, ads will be indistinguishable from video, as they will be an integral part of it, not a separate element.
In the case of SponsorBlock, this means that «all timestamps are shifted by the ad time».
Integrating server-side ads will be a significant challenge for full-screen ad blockers, which YouTube has been fighting in various ways since last year. After the browser extensions, Google has set its sights on third-party clients that are popular on mobile devices.
Last June, the platformlimited the number of views to three videosfor users who use an ad blocker, in November began to be quiteaggressively slow down the entire siteand thentightened restrictions for a larger number of users. The situation changes if you disable the blocker. As always, users are encouraged to subscribe to YouTube Premium to avoid ads and enjoy other benefits. Individual YouTube Premium subscription in Ukraine costs 99 UAH per month (student 59 UAH), while the YouTube Premium family plan for 6 people is — 149 UAH per month.
Currently, this innovation is still being tested, and some users are already experiencing the problem. However, it is not yet widespread.
Source: 9to5google
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