YouTube began its fight against ad blockers earlier this year, but recently it took things up a notch by blocking anyone using apps or extensions to skip ads. This has affected even those who don’t use workarounds, as Firefox or Edge users reportedly have to wait around five seconds every time they load a video. Screen recordings shared on Reddit and other online forums show how a user’s screen goes blank for a short period when they click on a YouTube video before the page loads, but this issue wasn’t replicated at Engadget. Some Y Combinator and Reddit posters found code that suggests Google’s anti-ad blocker mechanism may be causing the delays. The company said users with ad blockers installed might have a “suboptimal viewing” experience, no matter what browser they use.
Teenage Engineering has launched a toy car/doodad that costs $250, which seems to be part of their pattern of releasing both expensive, cool audio devices as well as seemingly pricey random products. The company seems to be preparing another announcement for later today too.
After the firing of Sam Altman as CEO, OpenAI has announced that Altman is returning as CEO. The OpenAI board caused chaos when they fired Sam Altman but later decided to reinstate him after facing pushback.
A report from Bloomberg suggests that Sonos may be working on a streaming box, which would compete with devices from Apple, Sony, and Bose. The company’s over-ear headphones would reportedly be priced over $400, making them cheaper than Apple’s AirPods Max but in line with Sony’s WH-1000MX5.
