SponsorBlock

SponsorBlock is a free and open-source browser extension that skips segments of YouTube videos.[2] Users make them, which other users can vote on.[3][4] It is recommended on Firefox's add-on store.[5] As of June 30,  2022 (2022 -06-30), it has over 175,000 downloads on Firefox and over 600,000 downloads on Google Chrome.[6][7][better source needed]

SponsorBlockLogo.png
Developer(s)Ajay Ramachandran
Initial releaseJuly 12, 2019; 5 years ago (2019-07-12)[1]
Written inTypeScript
Operating systemCross-platform
TypeServer:
Crowdsourced database
Client:
Browser extension
LicenseLGPL-3.0-or-later
Websitesponsor.ajay.app

History

Only sponsorships could be skipped until more categories (such as self-promotion or intermissions) were added in June 2020.[8] An update in January 2022 added support for marking whole videos as sponsorships.[9]

Usage

Users submit segments of videos and choose a category for them. Those segments are automatically skipped. When a segment is skipped, a small pop-up appears for a few seconds to allow the user to vote on it or "unskip" it. The number of segments each user has submitted and skipped is tracked.[10]

Reception

The extension was on Mozilla's Extension Spotlight on July 21, 2020, and is the highest rated recommended Firefox extension.[5][11]

References

  1. "Initial Release". GitHub. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  2. "5 YouTube Cheats to Break Restrictions and Make YouTube Fun Again". MUO. September 28, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  3. "SponsorBlock für YouTube - Add-on für Google Chrome". CHIP (in German). CHIP Digital GmbH. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved December 6, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  4. "6 Firefox Add-Ons to Improve Your YouTube Viewing Experience". MUO. December 8, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Extension Spotlight: SponsorBlock for YouTube". The Firefox Frontier. Mozilla. July 21, 2020. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  6. "SponsorBlock for YouTube – Skip Sponsorships". chrome web store. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  7. "SponsorBlock - Skip Sponsorships on YouTube". Firefox Browser Add-ons. Mozilla. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  8. "Categories – SponsorBlock". blog.ajay.app. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  9. "Allow submitting as full video · ajayyy/SponsorBlock@d36b4a5". GitHub. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  10. Brinkmann, Martin (January 3, 2020). "Skip sponsor messages in YouTube videos with SponsorBlock". ghacks.net. Softonic. Archived from the original on March 24, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  11. "Recommended extensions". Firefox Browser Add-ons. Mozilla. Archived from the original on April 7, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.

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