Brave-browser: watching video on ESPN continually increases Ads/Trackers blocked on new tab page - follow up to 1311

[LaurenWags]

Description

Follow up to #1311

When watching a video (such as this one), the Ads/Trackers on new tab page incrementally increase. Per https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/1311#issuecomment-446512675 it doesn't seem to be happening on Linux or Windows for @srirambv or @GeetaSarvadnya but I am seeing it on macOS.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open a new tab page
2. Open a second window
3. Have both within view on monitor
4. Visit video above.
5. Watch in counts go up while the video plays.

Actual result:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Bb6xMRuL8zylcUGpgo4RjYcdRoENERoL/view?usp=sharing

Expected result:

Once page has loaded I wouldn't expect the counts to go up.

Reproduces how often:

easily

Brave version (brave://version info)

Brave | 0.58.11 Chromium: 71.0.3578.80 (Official Build) beta(64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | 2ac50e7249fbd55e6f517a28131605c9fb9fe897-refs/branch-heads/3578@{#860}
OS | Mac OS X

Reproducible on current release:

• Does it reproduce on brave-browser dev/beta builds? yes

Website problems only:

• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Shields? yes
• Is the issue reproducible on the latest version of Chrome? n/a

Additional Information

cc @brave/legacy_qa to confirm this does not reproduce on Windows/Linux

[nithronium]

I do not know if this was also mentioned before but I have the same issue with Youtube. Sometimes it becomes like 700 ads/trackers being blocked. It starts with 3-4, then keeps increasing as I keep watching.

Problem is resolved when I disabled the shields. However, if I activate again, problem occurs again.

[srirambv]

@LaurenWags could you check the network tab and see which script is not being blocked? Previously it used to happen like this

and my personal high score on this is

@nithronium do you see the stats increase similar to the above gif when you visit YouTube.com? Are there any specific videos that you see this? I have seen that on YT everytime you load a new video the amount of blocked item increase progressively but never went crazy like espn.com

[Brave-Matt]

Nope, YT ads are just aggressive.
https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/9zusl9/can_youtube_really_have_300_trackers_or_is_brave/

[nithronium]

Alright then. I didn't know YouTube had such aggressive ads. Other than that, my friend also reported he had issues with espn but no other website so far. I think I'm good to go. @srirambv

[lukemulks]

I took a look at the espn video playback, and the requests we're blocking are requests that we should be blocking imo.

The majority appear to be chartbeat requests, which are sending data back to chartbeat through the video player.

I'm also observing the following requests, that appear to be related to video header bidding,

Request URL: http://espn.hb.omtrdc.net/?s:sc:rsid=wdgespcom%2Cwdgespge&s:sc:tracking_server=w88.espn.com&h:sc:ssl=0&s:user:mid=61908584608842934314814505294492092541&s:sp:ovp=Brightcove&s:sp:sdk=1.6.7&s:sp:channel=espn&s:sp:player_name=PROD%201.9.x%20-%20BC%205.28%20-%20no%20flashls%20-%20FW%20v3.x&s:sp:hb_version=js-n-1.6.9.110-a2ee4c&l:sp:hb_api_lvl=4&s:event:sid=1549868828525149226884&s:event:type=start&l:event:duration=10&l:event:playhead=0&l:event:ts=1549868833557&l:event:prev_ts=-1&s:asset:type=main&s:asset:name=NBA_One-Play%20(No-call%20on%20Durant%E2%80%99s%20double-dribble%20leads%20to%20controversial%20ending)%202019%2F2%2F10%20ESHEET&s:asset:video_id=25969632&s:asset:publisher=EE0201AC512D2BE80A490D4C%40AdobeOrg&l:asset:length=38&s:stream:type=vod&l:stream:bitrate=0&l:stream:fps=0&l:stream:dropped_frames=0&l:stream:startup_time=0&s:meta:startType=manual&s:meta:Showcode=nba_instantreplay&s:meta:a.media.type=2&s:meta:a.nielsen.clientid=us-600140&s:meta:a.nielsen.vcid=b01&s:meta:a.nielsen.appid=P31187EE2-AC6E-46CB-BB54-D07591BED067&s:meta:a.nielsen.program=NBA_One-Play%20(No-call%20on%20Durant%E2%80%99s%20double-dribble%20leads%20to%20controversial%20ending)%202019%2F2%2F10%20ESHEET&s:meta:a.nielsen.segc=Sport%2FProgram%20Code&s:meta:a.nielsen.admodel=2&s:meta:a.nielsen.sega=NBA_One-Play%20(No-call%20on%20Durant%E2%80%99s%20double-dribble%20leads%20to%20controversial%20ending)%202019%2F2%2F10%20ESHEET&s:meta:a.nielsen.accmethod=0&s:meta:a.nielsen.ctype=VIDEO

Might seem high, but I'd suggest that if the blocking taking place doesn't disrupt the UX, then it's likely something we should avoid making exceptions for imo. Nielsen and other companies that I'm observing blocked requests to profile user data.

[Brave-Matt]

+1 (kinda):
https://community.brave.com/t/laptop-runs-hot-when-brave-browser-open/54034/3?u=mattches
☝️ User cites ESPN as an example of a site that causes high CPU usage/heat

[adamwinn]

I'm seeing this too. My trackers blocked counter was increasing by multiple thousands in just a few seconds. Brave shot up to 700% cpu. This is on the homepage of espn.com. It didn't used to do this so maybe it was something caused in the last update. I'm using Version 0.68.139 Chromium: 77.0.3865.90 (Official Build) (64-bit)

[ryanbr]

I've checked this in Brave released (Version 1.1.21 Chromium: 79.0.3945.79 (Official Build) (64-bit)):

I'll address the 2 issues, the espn site is using trackers continuously throughout the video, and it should be blocked (as @lukemulks stated). Using uBo to see which trackers are being hit. https://secure.fanboy.co.nz/gif/espn-trackers.gif All of these are being blocked by shields. (Note, uBo number of blocked items is also increasing as the video plays)

The other issue, does it cause cpu usage? https://secure.fanboy.co.nz/gif/espn-cpu.gif I don't think so? Even on my old Ryzen 1700 desktop. Getting around 10-15% variance. I'll check other platforms like smart phones and maybe less core heavy cpus. But initial checks it seems okay.