Technology1 min read

uBlock Origin filter to block autoplay videos in TechCrunch

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Articles on TechCrunch frequently load a mid-post JW Player alongside an additional floating Connatix video unit. Simply hiding the containers leaves the underlying media players running invisibly in the background. Users of the Manifest V2 edition of uBlock Origin on Firefox can halt this behavior by entering network blocks for jwplatform.com, jwpcdn.com, and connatix.com into the extension dashboard alongside cosmetic rules.

Key points

  • Merely hiding page elements is insufficient because the embedded video players will conti…: Merely hiding page elements is insufficient because the embedded video players will continue running in the background.
  • Cosmetic rules will conceal the player container even if vendor changes occur, but new ne…: Cosmetic rules will conceal the player container even if vendor changes occur, but new network rules would be needed to stop audio.
  • Changes entered into the custom filter dashboard only take effect after the user clicks t…: Changes entered into the custom filter dashboard only take effect after the user clicks the apply button.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Every TechCrunch article autoplays a video in the middle of the post. Hiding it isn’t enough, because the player keeps running in the background.

The video is a JW Player embed, and the page also loads Connatix’s floating ad player. Blocking their scripts stops the video from loading at all, and the cosmetic rules hide the empty box it leaves behind.

These work in uBlock Origin on Firefox (the full MV2 version, not uBO Lite). Paste them into Dashboard → My filters and click Apply changes:

! TechCrunch: stop the autoplaying JW Player video

||content.jwplatform.com/libraries/$script,domain=techcrunch.com

||ssl.p.jwpcdn.com^$script,domain=techcrunch.com

||connatix.com^$third-party,domain=techcrunch.com

techcrunch.com##.wp-block-techcrunch-jw-player-embed

techcrunch.com##.jw-player-inline-promo

If TechCrunch switches video vendors, the ##

rules will probably keep hiding

the box, but you’ll need a new network rule to stop the audio.

Technology