this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2023
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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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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.