Security News > 2024 > June > YouTube tests harder-to-block server-side ad injection in videos
YouTube reportedly now injects ads directly into video streams to make it more difficult for ad blockers to block advertisements.
Currently, YouTube performs client-side ad injection, where JavaScript scripts and the video player on a user's device load and display ads.
Most ad blockers commonly disable YouTube ads by blocking the JavaScript scripts used to inject the advertisement into the video stream.
Server-side ad injection integrates the advertisements directly into the video stream before the content is delivered to the viewer, so users receive a continuous stream that already has the ads built into it.
A manifest file determines the order in which these chunks are played, and when a user clicks on a video, the YouTube server sends a playlist that includes both content and ad chunks.
Ad blocker users say YouTube videos are now skipping to the end.