this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2024
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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I wonder if a SponsorBlock-like extension with the ability to accept training data from users to help identify ads.

That's...how SponsorBlock works? The ads come at different entry and exit points for every user. Otherwise it wouldn't be a problem for sponsorblock.

The Plex server application has a feature which scrubs videos and identifies intros

Pretty sure they just use timestamps from a crowdsourced database, just like sponsorblock.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The ads come at different entry and exit points for every user.

They're not referring to the YouTube ads, but the "let's take a minute to talk about today's sponsor nordvpn that I used on my trip to Antarctica." This is a part of the video file itself, and it starts and ends at the same time for all users.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

This is a part of the video file itself, and it starts and ends at the same time for all users.

Except it doesn't when a YouTube ad is injected in the middle. Then all timestamps after the ad are offset by the length of the ad. That's not from me, that's from SponsorBlock themselves in the OP.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Pretty sure they just use timestamps from a crowdsourced database, just like sponsorblock.

Nope, it’s analyzing the sound to guess where the intro starts and ends. Turns out this is pretty simple to implement, but quite reliable. Source: worked for Plex

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That's great, but it won't work if each user receives a different file.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

This is about intro detection in TV shows, not ad blocking. I’m not proposing this as a good way to block ads, just noting that this feature in Plex doesn’t use a database.