The lag exists on Firefox, but not Chrome and they say it is all down to anti-competative practice.

 Google, who owns YouTube, told 404 Media that this is all part of its larger effort against ad blockers and has nothing to do with Firefox.

To be fair, even Mozilla, which makes Firefox, told 404 Media that it does not believe this is a Firefox-specific issue. Enough people have posted about it, however, that it is happening for some users and not others.

Google did not provide specifics but did not deny implementing an artificial wait time.

"To support a diverse ecosystem of creators globally and allow billions to access their favourite content on YouTube, we've launched an effort to urge viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium for an ad free experience, the spokesperson said.

"Users who have ad blockers installed may experience suboptimal viewing, regardless of their browser."

This will be unlike those who have a suboptimal viewing experience by opting for advertisements instead of paying a large monthly fee. Those viewers can have the wonderful experience of their calm music being interrupted by shouting manic Italians in woefully unfunny adverts, or long rap music.