youtube-auto-like icon indicating copy to clipboard operation
youtube-auto-like copied to clipboard

Chrome: "This extension contains malware."

Open tobiaswaelde opened this issue 4 years ago • 21 comments

I just got a notification from Chrome that this extensions has been disabled because it contains malware.

tobiaswaelde avatar Feb 12 '21 09:02 tobiaswaelde

Same issue here, out of nowhere...

Chrome 88.0.4324.146

Cerbrus avatar Feb 12 '21 10:02 Cerbrus

Yup, same, if this hasnt been updated in a long time, how does it now contain malware?

joaomcarlos avatar Feb 12 '21 10:02 joaomcarlos

youtube removed all auto like youtube plugins, you can see that by googling "youtube auto like", the first 3 extensions all 404 you can probably load the extension locally

lollilol avatar Feb 12 '21 10:02 lollilol

yep you can still load the extension by just downloading https://github.com/austencm/youtube-auto-like/releases/download/v2.5.2/build.zip, unpacking it into an empty folder, navigating to chrome://extensions, enabling developer mode and then load an unpacked extension and choosing the folder

lollilol avatar Feb 12 '21 10:02 lollilol

Thanks. I was trying to figure out how to get the yarn build working to generate that.

r-jack-ray avatar Feb 12 '21 10:02 r-jack-ray

It looks like it's not a false positive. Some users have been reporting for days about affiliate links suddenly appearing when they go directly to the pages of large stores.

However, I do not guarantee that it is so. Edit: Wrong alert! Users had installed this addon, but it didn't caused the popunder.

MoweME avatar Feb 12 '21 13:02 MoweME

Nah the plugin hasn't changed. It looks like Google/Youtube is blocking all auto-like plugins because it apparently messes with their systems...

Cerbrus avatar Feb 12 '21 13:02 Cerbrus

I think google just don't want automatic things for like on videos, the extension has not changed for quite a while, the firefox extension still up

Rgern100 avatar Feb 12 '21 21:02 Rgern100

topic submitted to google devs https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1178256

PS: is not a new topic, they already know that ... plus this has nothing to do with bugs ... since is something more oriented to a feature, even if this is not a feature, they just need to revert back to old google chrome style.

MacAppSuggestions avatar Feb 14 '21 14:02 MacAppSuggestions

That's not a bug report. That's a unconstructive rant.

Cerbrus avatar Feb 14 '21 14:02 Cerbrus

I created a quick tamper monkey user script, all i did was copy the code and remove the imports and chrome specific calls. https://github.com/Delvar/youtube-auto-like-user/blob/main/YouTube%20Auto%20Liker.user.js

maybe this will help some one.

Delvar avatar Feb 15 '21 11:02 Delvar

Hey guys, sorry about the radio silence. It looks like Google has added new requirements for devs to justify the each permission that their extensions use. They never notified me about this, but I suspect that's the reason for the takedown and malware warning.

I've filled out the required info and submitted it for review 🤞🏻. Hopefully back up soon. In the meantime, @lollilol is correct. If you really really need it you can download the zip, unzip it, and load the extension unpacked in dev mode.

And if it wasn't already clear: no, there's no malware in here. I would have put some in but I left all my malware in my other pants that day.

austencm avatar Feb 15 '21 21:02 austencm

Update on the takedown situation: I had a frustratingly opaque chat with web store support. They finally admitted that the extension was taken down because it violates YouTube's terms of service. Specifically, the bits about automation and generating fake engagement. Can't really argue with that 😕. Telling people it contained malware was a shitty move, though.

Unfortunately it looks like this is the end of YAL's time as an (official) Chrome extension. I'll keep this repo updated as long as I'm still using it and add some instructions for loading it unpacked. If you use Firefox, the sister extension by @Taknok is still available here. I doubt that Mozilla will bow to our Google overlords.

austencm avatar Feb 23 '21 21:02 austencm

Sorry to hear about the outcome. This is my favorite extension. Like the code too.

ZUGAZ avatar Feb 25 '21 04:02 ZUGAZ

Like i already wrote before, this is just a bad trend of Google (this means even Google Search/Images/etc.) and Google Devs (and a lot other Developers/Web Designers too). Is not the first "downgrade" they made and they don't fix all related problems generated from such "downgrade" they release, no matter the topic. Really bad to have so many extensions simply disabled, so is not just about this (PS: there are other similar extensions, but simply doesn't work). In the last 2 years during my hoarding activities i have discovered at least 100-200+ removed from Chrome Store, from a list of 1k+ extensions.

MacAppSuggestions avatar Feb 25 '21 09:02 MacAppSuggestions

Is not the first "downgrade" they made and they don't fix all related problems generated from such "downgrade" they release, no matter the topic.

Mate, did you read the author's explanation?

Google cracked down on auto-likers because they violate YouTube's terms. That's not a "downgrade", and Google doesn't "owe" us a fix.
Whether you agree with those rules or not, it's just Google enforcing their rules.

I'm just happy the plugin still works, as the content creators do deserve the likes, even if we forget to click'm, some times.

Cerbrus avatar Feb 25 '21 09:02 Cerbrus

I hope so @austencm , Alphabet (Google mother company) is supporting Mozilla quite a lot :/ On Firefox the "store" AMO is not forced for app. Here is the Mozilla doc I did not looked, but there may be a similar way for Chrome ?

Taknok avatar Feb 25 '21 09:02 Taknok

This is just an excuse for this extension. What about all other 30 they simply removed in the last months and have nothing to do with youtube auto like? They will probably find another excuse when you contact them (or they ignore you at all).

If this would be true, they should ban all extensions https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/auto%20like%20youtube?_category=extensions no matter if they work or not, since the topic is the same; and not just this extension. Plus if this is true, they should ban all extensions (no matter the browser....), because has nothing to do with Google policies, but with YouTube policies.

Again, they can even implement something like Reddit, where they disable such feature for the public, but you can still continue to like and hoard videos.

Another option is to enable auto manual installed extension sync. Last option is to avoid to deactivate it, if we already installed it. Now i'm talking about extensions in general, and not only about ytautolike

Last point: there are so many spam / not working extensions (so not only themes, like i already told them). They should start to ban first these in my opinion; or enforce devs to update it.

PS: now i retested all extensions about this topic, no one is working. For one i get even a message of ban.

Yes we can still use history to hoard data, but is not the same, because with autolike we can even remove in 1 click the like or ban specific users.

MacAppSuggestions avatar Feb 25 '21 10:02 MacAppSuggestions

@Taknok I don't of anything like that in Chrome but I could probably have it ping Github to check for updates. If there's enough people requesting it I'd try it but I doubt there are more than like 20 people that have this installed right now lol.

@MacAppSuggestions I agree with you that the web store has been kind of a shitshow. With manifest v3 (update to Chrome's extension API) coming out it appears that Google is finally giving extensions more attention and I suspect the takedowns are part of that. Cleaning house.

It's true there are other extensions still up that for sure violate YT's terms in different ways. Frustrating that they enforce their rules selectively, but at the same time I don't want those other extensions taken down. I have one that hides videos by channel and I'll be devastated if I have to see WatchMojo in my feed again.

austencm avatar Feb 27 '21 23:02 austencm

4 things you might want to test/try: '

  • there is now a v2.7.1 which was released about 24hrs ago as of this writing: https://github.com/austencm/youtube-auto-like/releases '
  • secondly, I too found it 'not working' (with the 50% setting) but if I pressed 'F5'/refresh or opened the video in another tab (same as refreshing the page) the like button would be lit up: ie. it works but the graphics of the thumb only displays if you press refresh (I'm using v2.7.1 on Opera) '
  • try testing with 'Instantly' '
  • updates default to "Only videos from subbed channels" - it's working for me on all videos after I changed the setting to "ALL videos" ' P.S. Sadly, Chrome removed this extension for violating YouTube's terms of service (specifically the part about causing inaccurate measurements of user engagement). [from https://github.com/austencm/youtube-auto-like ... or click on the like "CODE" at the top of the page]

markygnlg avatar May 26 '21 12:05 markygnlg

@leodoi3

I dont mean to bring this topic up

Then don't. This is not the place for that.

Cerbrus avatar Dec 24 '21 17:12 Cerbrus