YouTube showing "An error occurred, please try again later" message instead of blocking video ad

[jobp]

Environment

OS: Win10 Pro, Edition 1511, OS Build: 10586.122
Chrome: 48.0.2564.116
ABP: 1.11
Filterlists: Only the filter =adunit& with no filter subscriptions.

How to reproduce

1. Login to my Google for Work Account (linked to ​jobp@adblockplus.org).
2. Go to a YouTube video with ads (I use a VEVO channel): ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10IKRNNfCGU
3. See the attached screenshot.

Observed behaviour

YouTube's error page is showing for the length of the ad.

Expected behaviour

The video should play without a video ad or error message.

Other information

Interestingly, I am only able to reproduce this issue from my Google for Work account. I can not reproduce with my personal Google account. Therefore, it could be somehow related to this?

Two requests are blocked by the filter:

https://www.youtube.com/get_video_info?html5=1&video_id=oLv0acTmN3U&cpn=Nt1hKaPeSuc7H7PX&eurl&el=adunit&hl=en_US&agcid=87342505574&aqi=dpHmVqrtDsWWWMHJvagL&sts=16864&lact=1368&adformat=2_2_1&iv_load_policy=1&autoplay=1&width=640&height=360&content_v=cggNqDAtJYU&authuser=0&ei=dpHmVqGjBImuWLSdgrAB&c=WEB&cver=1.20160308&cplayer=UNIPLAYER&cbr=Firefox&cbrver=45.0&cos=Windows&cosver=10.0
https://s.youtube.com/api/stats/qoe?event=streamingstats&cpn=Td8Ca_z9un-Fm-AC&el=adunit&docid=NbWZXvXqStI&ns=yt&fexp=3300131%2C3300161%2C3312223%2C3312381%2C9405972%2C9416126%2C9420452%2C9422596%2C9423661%2C9423662%2C9424135%2C9424816%2C9426859%2C9426903%2C9427240%2C9428010%2C9428669%2C9429262%2C9429820%2C9429856%2C9430020&cl=116827590&adformat=2_2_1&html5=1&c=WEB&cver=1.20160308&cplayer=UNIPLAYER&cbr=Chrome&cbrver=49.0.2623.87&cos=Windows&cosver=10.0&vps=0.000:N,0.007:B,0.067:ER&cmt=0.007:0.000,0.067:0.000,0.067:0&error=0.067:manifest.net:0.000:backend.gvi;rc.0&bh=0.067:0.000&bat=0.067:1:1&vis=0.067:0

Only the first request seems to be related, if you whitelist it the advert will be displayed and the error goes away. (See ​this paste.) If you whitelist the second request the error is still shown.

Related discussions

• ​https://adblockplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=44403
• ​https://adblockplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=149245
• ​https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11270618
• ​https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/49nwvp/ive_just_started_getting_error_occured_on_every/

[kzar]

According to some of the discussions there is a work around, switching off "Ads based on your interests" (online and offline) on the ​Google Ads Settings page.

For me those settings were already switched off, but I can't reproduce the issue even after switching them back on.

[kzar]

The next thing we want to do is to verify the issue still occurs with only the filter =adunit& enabled (and no subscriptions). That would simplify the reproduction steps.

Also a screenshot of any (expanded) exceptions and warnings thrown in the console could be useful to further diagnose what's happening.

[jobp]

It's still happening with only that filter in ABP. There is another blocked request: https://s.youtube.com/api/stats/qoe?event=streamingstats&cpn=Td8Ca_z9un-Fm-AC&el=adunit&docid=NbWZXvXqStI&ns=yt&fexp=3300131%2C3300161%2C3312223%2C3312381%2C9405972%2C9416126%2C9420452%2C9422596%2C9423661%2C9423662%2C9424135%2C9424816%2C9426859%2C9426903%2C9427240%2C9428010%2C9428669%2C9429262%2C9429820%2C9429856%2C9430020&cl=116827590&adformat=2_2_1&html5=1&c=WEB&cver=1.20160308&cplayer=UNIPLAYER&cbr=Chrome&cbrver=49.0.2623.87&cos=Windows&cosver=10.0&vps=0.000:N,0.007:B,0.067:ER&cmt=0.007:0.000,0.067:0.000,0.067:0&error=0.067:manifest.net:0.000:backend.gvi;rc.0&bh=0.067:0.000&bat=0.067:1:1&vis=0.067:0 but it's also not working if you whitelist that one.

[saroyanm]

Feels like the issue was fixed, I assume on Youtube side, me and Job were not able to reproduce it again with our accounts that were having that issue.