Google's anti-ad scripts are breaking browsers and privacy plugins. It could get worse because Google controls the ad market, Chrome, and the extension store.

Another great article from 404 Media highlighting the power that the tech giants have amassed over how how we use the internet.

This brings me, I think, to the elephant in the room, which is the fact that Google has its hands on quite literally every aspect of this entire saga as a vertically integrated adtech giant.

This extreme power over the adtech and online advertising ecosystem is one of the subjects of an FTC antitrust suit against Google.

  • YurkshireLadEnglish
    00·
    1 year ago

    If they start showing me this message, I’ll have no reasonable choice except to disable the ad blockers for YouTube. Sadly I’m embedded in the Google world with a gmail account and I use their photos service. I can’t risk losing access to those.

    No doubt they’ll roll this anti ad block technology out to their other sites in the future and the internet will suddenly be a bleak, hideous place.

    • Norgur
      00·
      1 year ago

      You can just use Piped. That way, your account data appears nowhere. Just a server querying Googles YouTube API.

      • Bri Guy English
        00·
        1 year ago

        for whatever reason, i’ve been having issues using Piped where videos just don’t buffer at all. Anyone else facing this? NewPipe on my phone works perfectly though

        • knatschusEnglish
          01·
          1 year ago

          I had that problem, not sure what made it go away maybe allowing scripts or disabling ublock origin.