SponsorBlock

SponsorBlock is a free and open-source browser extension designed to skip (block) sponsorship segments in YouTube videos.[3] The extension relies on a user-submitted database to identify sponsorships in videos. Extension users can submit segments in videos and vote on segments others have submitted.[4][5] The extension is a recommended extension on Firefox's add-on store.[6] As of January 26, 2023, the extension has 271,343 users on Firefox[7] and over 900,000 users on Google Chrome.[8] SponsorBlock segment retrieval API observes 20-anonymity.

SponsorBlock
Developer(s)
Initial releaseJuly 12, 2019 (2019-07-12)[1]
Stable release
5.3.0[2] / 7 March 2023 (7 March 2023)
Repository
Written inTypeScript
Operating systemCross-platform
TypeServer:
Crowdsourced database
Client:
Browser extension
LicenseClient code:
LGPL-3.0-or-later
Server code:
AGPL-3.0
Database:
CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0
Websitesponsor.ajay.app

History

Initially, SponsorBlock could only be used to submit and skip sponsorship segments, but support for multiple segment categories (such as self-promotion or intermission segments) was added in June 2020.[9] A revision in January 2022 added support for marking full video sponsorships.[10]

Usage

Users of the extension can submit timestamps for segments in videos and choose a category for them. Those segments are then automatically skipped when the video is playing. When a segment is skipped, a small pop-up appears for a few seconds to allow the user to vote on the segment or to "unskip" it. The extension tracks per-user statistics about the number of segments submitted and skipped, and sums up the amount of time saved since its installation.[11]

Reception

The extension was featured on Mozilla's Extension Spotlight on July 21, 2020. The extension is a recommended extension on Firefox and, as of April 7, 2021, is the highest-rated recommended extension listed.[6][12]

Notes
  1. Known as "blab" in the segments database and the Discord community.

References
  1. "Initial Release". GitHub. Archived from the original on April 1, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  2. "Release 5.3.0". March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  3. "5 YouTube Cheats to Break Restrictions and Make YouTube Fun Again". MUO. September 28, 2019. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  4. "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.
  5. "6 Firefox Add-Ons to Improve Your YouTube Viewing Experience". MUO. December 8, 2021. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  6. "Extension Spotlight: SponsorBlock for YouTube". The Firefox Frontier. Mozilla. July 21, 2020. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  7. "SponsorBlock – Skip Sponsorships on YouTube". Firefox Browser Add-ons. Mozilla. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  8. "SponsorBlock for YouTube – Skip Sponsorships". Chrome Web Store. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  9. Ramachandran, Ajay (June 14, 2020). "Categories – SponsorBlock". blog.ajay.app. Archived from the original on August 23, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  10. "Allow submitting as full video · ajayyy/SponsorBlock@d36b4a5". GitHub. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  11. 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.
  12. "Recommended extensions". Firefox Browser Add-ons. Mozilla. Archived from the original on April 7, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
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