this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2023
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Easiest way to bookmark YouTube ads? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works to c/firefox@lemmy.ml
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cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/5599576

Does a Firefox equivalent to TubeSift Bookmarker exist?

I did a brief search of Firefox extensions, but couldn't find anything. Most of the ad-related YouTube extensions seemed devoted to blocking ads, rather than archiving and cataloguing them.

My current workflow is as follows:

  • Right-click on the video player, select "Copy debug info"
  • Alt+Tab to a text editor
  • Ctrl+V the debug info into text editor
  • Ctrl+F for "addocid"
  • Ctrl+C the advertisment video id
  • Alt+Tab back to browser
  • Ctrl+N to open new browser window
  • Type "youtu.be/"
  • Ctrl+V the video id
  • Wait a fraction of a second for the URL to redirect from youtu.be/[video_id] to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[video_id]&feature=youtu.be to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[video_id]
  • Ctrl+D to bookmark the video
  • Ctrl+W to close the browser window

I can usually do this in under 15 seconds, but I would like to find a faster (or completely automatic) method. Does anyone have any recommendations?

P.S. As for why I want to do this, I like to have the option of rewatching or referencing an interesting or funny ad at a later date. Most ads are unlisted videos, which makes them nigh impossible to look up.

Update: I partially automated my workflow using AutoHotKey.

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[–] cy_narrator@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You are weirder than I am but thats okay, I love weird people

[–] Linus_Torvalds@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You could write a macro/userscript(Grease/TemperMonkey? idk) that does your manual steps automcatically?

[–] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

Thanks, this is a good idea. I started to look into it, but then ran into some challenges in parsing the JavaScript to extract the video ID of the ad:

Do you have any experience with JavaScript?

[–] Linus_Torvalds@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

No matter how you extract the code, this will be hacky. The problem with this approach is that you are entirely dependent on the YouTube backend. They will not notify you when they change their code/API. They will not comment their code.

In the past, this has led to a considerable development investment of projects like NewPipe where they have to fix somethong every few months as there is a backend change.

I am still thinking about your problem, but I am unsure whether the approach of extracting from JS works (mid term).

Why not do the steps you outlined above as a macro on your keyboard? This eliminates the need for JS. To extract the video URL, you could use some RegEx automatically or Ctrl+F. Just some thoughts. I am still invested into this weird request :)

[–] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago

Why not do the steps you outlined above as a macro on your keyboard? This eliminates the need for JS. To extract the video URL, you could use some RegEx automatically or Ctrl+F.

Thanks for the recommendation. I've done pretty much exactly what you describe using AutoHotKey.

[–] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 months ago

I am still invested into this weird request :)

Haha, not sure why you would be, but thanks!

Why not do the steps you outlined above as a macro on your keyboard? This eliminates the need for JS.

This is another option I am considering. Again, I'm not too familiar with the tools, but I'm vaguely aware of tools like AutoHotkey. Are there any tools you would recommend for this sort of thing?

[–] Linus_Torvalds@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I have a lot of university stuff going on but I will try in the next week or so. If I don't respond, DM me.

[–] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Wow, thanks for your offer to help! I've added a lemmy.world link to the post of what I've tried so far. Should open on your home instance.

[–] Metal_Zealot@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I really have to ask... To what end? Are you building a collection of ads that you feel will be lost media?

[–] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 months ago

Are you building a collection of ads that you feel will be lost media?

Yeah, more or less. Every YouTube pre-roll advertisement is also just a regular video on the platform, but often the video is often unlisted. I've had a couple cases where I thought "I remember a funny ad about that" or "I remember a unique cut of this movie trailer" once the ad is no longer running, and I haven't been able to find them. A way to autosave every pre-roll ad would give me the option of looking them up later.