Twitch: "Hey, come back! This commercial break can't play while you're away."

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Reaction to Twitch’s “come back” ads

  • Many see Twitch’s behavior (pausing ads when the tab isn’t focused) as a new level of intrusiveness, echoing long-standing “drink verification can” / Black Mirror–style dystopian jokes.
  • Some note this relies on browser APIs that reveal tab focus/visibility; they argue users should be able to disable this and have sites always think they’re visible.

General frustration with ads

  • Multiple commenters reject ads as a “fact of life,” citing Instagram, Twitch, and YouTube as becoming unusable without blockers or paid tiers.
  • People complain not just about platform-inserted ads but also about creators’ midroll sponsorships bloating video length and lowering content quality.
  • There is anger at loud ads, volume resets during breaks, hidden volume controls, and perceived “ad fraud” such as counting 1-second Shorts views as full views.

Ad blocking tools and countermeasures

  • SponsorBlock is widely praised for skipping creator-read sponsorships, with some noticing how fast segments get annotated.
  • For Twitch, people mention “Alternate Player for Twitch.tv,” custom uBlock Origin scripts (e.g., VAFT via TwitchAdSolutions), and note mixed success.
  • AdNauseam is cited as a tool that clicks all ads to waste advertisers’ money; some want similar approaches for video ads.
  • Several recommend Firefox/LibreWolf + uBlock Origin, plus extensions that disable or fake the Page Visibility API.

Browsers, APIs, and privacy

  • There’s criticism that browsers added visibility/focus APIs in the name of power efficiency but enabled user-hostile ad tricks and more precise tracking.
  • Suggestions include making such APIs permission-based or stubbing them out; some see Google’s ad business as a conflict of interest for Chrome.

Business models and ethics

  • One side argues that people who accept ads fund free content and ad-block users should be “thankful.”
  • Others call ads psychological manipulation or akin to running a cryptominer—wasting user resources for someone else’s benefit—and advocate strong regulation or outright bans.
  • Discussion touches on subscription vs ad-supported models: YouTube Premium and Twitch Turbo/Prime, and the idea that platforms want both subscription revenue and ad targeting.