Jason KoeblerNov 20, 2023

New: Firefox users have reported an "artificial" 5-second delay when they try to load YouTube videos that is magically fixed if they use Chrome, which has been going viral in a few different places. I asked Google what is going on. They

1) Didn't deny the artificial wait time is happening
2) Said it's part of its war on ad blockers, not targeted at Firefox

Mozilla also told me no indication this is targeted at Firefox

https://www.404media.co/youtube-says-new-5-second-video-load-delay-is-supposed-to-punish-ad-blockers-not-firefox-users/

YouTube Says New 5-Second Video Load Delay Is Supposed to Punish Ad Blockers, Not Firefox Users

Firefox users are reporting an 'artificial' load time on YouTube videos. YouTube says it's part of a plan to make people who use adblockers "experience suboptimal viewing, regardless of the browser they are using."

404 Media
Show threadTom Ritchford

@jasonkoebler Interesting! I wouldn't put it past them, but I'm browsing on Firefox (MacOS), using uBlock Origin, on a VPN, and I don't see this five second delay on YouTube at all.

But then I'm in the EU (and while I use Mullvad's VPN, my exit point is in my same country), perhaps that's it?

Nov 21, 2023 at 8:50amWeb