An information security specialist under the pseudonym ValdikSS confirmed that the slowdown of YouTube in Russia is due precisely to the intentional actions of the authorities, and not to wear and tear of equipment or a technical error, as Rostelecom claimed. As an expert writes on the technical forum ntc.party, providers specifically slow down YouTube using the *.googlevideo.com domain.
According to ValdikSS, he found a link to a file in the Google infrastructure that can be accessed using different domain names. Judging by the measurements published by the expert, when accessing through the technical domain *.googlevideo.com, the playback speed of videos slows down significantly. On some providers, the speed of access to the Youtube domain was less than 2% of normal.
Since the file is not related to Youtube, the slowdown cannot be associated with the operation of Google Global Cache equipment, which is located on provider networks and stores the requested videos closer to users, without downloading them each time from European and American servers. Earlier today, Rostelecom claimed that problems with access to YouTube are associated precisely with the wear and tear of this equipment.
To bypass the slowdown, users from Russia can use conventional means of bypassing blocking, for example, VPN, as well as special means for bypassing TSPU, for example, GoodbyeDPI.
The idea of slowing down the work of YouTube due to alleged wear and tear of equipment, as the Agency notes, was also voiced today by state television channels. For example, NTV broadcast said that until February 2022, “even a small Russian regional operator” could order Google Global Cache. However, now, due to sanctions, Google has stopped sending its equipment to Russia.
“The servers that remain in Russia will physically wear out, and there will be more and more content. And first, the quality of YouTube will deteriorate in the regions, and then overloads will begin in Moscow and St. Petersburg,” summed up NTV correspondent Denis Talalaev.
In December 2023, ComNews reported that the number of operating Google Global Cache servers in Russia had actually decreased from about 700 to 450.
That YouTube could be completely blocked in Russia in the fall , Gazeta.ru was told by a source close to the presidential administration. According to the publication’s interlocutor, in “July-August there will be some degradation,” and in September a complete blocking of the service will begin.