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Comment by Spivak | Hacker News Reader

The killer feature for using AI on podcasts is automatic ad blocking. You get that working folks will pay $5/mo for that alone.

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Exists and is open source: https://github.com/jdrbc/podly_pure_podcasts/tree/main

This extension works if you’re listening on a computer

https://sponsor.ajay.app/

For any podcast?

Community sourced skiplist.

The page says it's for YouTube

Podcasts often have a copy on YouTube nowadays. SponsorBlock has saved me hours

For what services other than youtube?

Seems like a lot of podcasters haven't migrated from google music / google podcast to youtube music podcast. The ones that do does have youtube interface but I rarely see any get tagged by sponsorblock. Honestly one of the things I was looking forward with the google podcast -> youtube music podcast clusterfuck.

As mentioned - only works for YT.

I also don't know if the crowdsourced skiplist works for podcasts as well as for youtube ads, since I think a larger proportion of podcasts use dynamic ad insertion - do they have consistent length? Might mess up ad tags/flags

I haven't tried, but youtube music podcasts can redirect to youtube interface, which I assume will work on 3rd party apps like newpipe with sponsorblock integration. Sponsorblock mostly helpful in skipping sponsor reads, 3rd party apps (or youtube premium) blocks injected ads.

Ultimately, IMO there's too many niche podcasts out there for sponsorblock route. Better to have AI solution to figure out and tag ads + sponsors + filler content to autoskip according to timestamp on downloaded audio file podcasts which could be variable length due to localized ads.

Dynamically inserted? How does that work if you've downloaded the mp3?

what are you listening to podcasts on that it's not easy to skip ads?

I'm using Downcast. It's a fairly old app. I think it defaults to +30s +2m -30s buttons which IIRC are settable. It's trivial to skip the ads. I don't need AI to solve that.

If driving, not everyone wants to have to search for the buttons to do that, accidentally skip too far ahead, have to go back a step or two, etc.

Usually I'm listening to podcast when doing dishes, or grocery shopping, at the gym, or on a walk. I don't really want to have to take up my phone to skip an ad, and the controls on the headphones are too janky. This would definitely be a killer feature for me.

"Siri, skip ahead 30 seconds". Doesn't always work, and... sometimes, it's 60, sometimes it's 2 minutes... If it's a podcast I listen to a lot, I usually know if it's a 30/60/120 second ad spot. Even the voice command to do it isn't always convenient though, I'll definitely grant.

$5/mo is exactly what https://www.adblockpodcast.com/ costs.

Well killer of podcasts at least.

as far as I understand it, ad blocking on podcast doesn't cost the creators anything The way it does for blogs and newspapers. Podcasts are downloaded and apps generally don't report back on which seconds you listen to and which seconds you skipped. ad revenue is largely based on the number of downloads in a particular region.

It sounds like a useful feature, but I am worried it may have potential legal risks.

I wouldn’t (worry).

I’ve downloaded a file to my local device. Sue me for doing something to it before I ingest it. ;-)

Not sure why this is downvoted. Ad blockers aren't illegal, no one has the obligation to listen to ads without skipping it. This isn't really controversial on HN.

Yeah, I mean it might get rejected as an app from the app store. I support ad blockers.

I have it! It's called having a thumb to press +15s (it works also with other fingers, nose, limbs, voice...)

It's hassle when you're out/active/preoccupied/sweaty/winter with unreliable touch gloves. Sometimes it's 2 clicks for a short ad, sometimes its 8+ for long one. I consume a lot of podcasts and sometimes use a bluetooth remotes with tactile buttons. If only smartwatch like pebble still exit can have dedicated skip forward/backward button. I don't know if you listen to any popular podcasts that's also on youtube with audience sponsorblocking (like WAN show), especially with "filler" youtube gaming algo skipped. It's a much better experience eliminating 1000s of skips from your life.

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