Patching protobufs poetically

· syvb · Sept. 21, 2026, 1:36 a.m.
Summary
This blog post explains a technique for ad-blocking on YouTube by modifying network requests through a uBlock Origin filter rule. The author shares their experience of adapting a filter that had stopped working, detailing how to manipulate JSON stringification to prevent ads by altering the parameters sent with POST requests to YouTube's player endpoint. The post highlights the properties of Protocol Buffers in this context and explores different methods for achieving ad-blocking without invasive script injection.
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