Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but last time I checked I couldn't find any content blocker for MacOS Safari that would block pre-roll Youtube ads whereas uBlock Origin in Chrome, Firefox, etc. does not have this problem.

I develop an ad blocker - Magic Lasso Adblock [1] for Safari that flawlessly and completely blocks all ads in YouTube. It works across iPhone, iPad and Mac. So it can be done and the experience works when implemented correctly.

[1] https://www.magiclasso.co/

Vinegar

Wipr blocks them for me

I use Wipr too, but it seems like a couple months ago, Google figured out how to get past it since I see shippable ads 50% or more of the time. I used to never see them.

It comes and goes - the Wipr guy does make a lot of tweaks pretty frequently, if you pull up his twitter

Right, for $2 and no access to the source code.

Safari content blockers don’t get access to the website. They merely present a list of selectors to block, and Safari does the rest. So the lack of source code access is benign, by design.

Content blockers don't have access to websites, but they themselves need to be "hosted" within a native application, right? And that application can potentially do more than just provide a list of rules to Safari.

Along with any other application...on your phone, yet you don't ask for the source code to those?

I should have specified I'm talking about macOS.

Ah, so you mean you want a free solution, because why should the devs of an extension that you obviously value earn anything from their work?

I want a free solution because that's the standard in the space. I shouldn't have to pay money to make a browser with less features have parity with a better developed one.

Speaking only for me, I'm OK with paying, but trusting browser extensions, as they currently exist, is hard.

Do you know how Safari content blockers are implemented? They by design cannot do much malicious stuff.

Well that’s why they’re adblocking to begin with - to prevent monetization

1Blocker works for me and has good support

Probably the best use for a Touch Bar is scrubbing through Youtube ads.