Ask HN: Has your YouTube usage decreased? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Has your YouTube usage decreased?

#31

Post by JCharante » Sat, Nov 25, 2023, 4:38 AM UTC

keiferski wrote: post #23

No, I signed up for premium a few months ago and happily pay the $20/month. YouTube has literally millions of hours of high-quality interviews, lectures, courses, etc. and paying is worth every penny. If you find yourself watching low-quality videos, that’s a problem with your selection of content, not the platform itself.

Same here, I think my YT usage is actually increasing

Re: Ask HN: Has your YouTube usage decreased?

#32

Post by gavinhoward » Sat, Nov 25, 2023, 4:38 AM UTC

skytbest wrote: post #25

gavinhoward wrote: post #16

Yes, absolutely. But this is intentional avoidance on my part. I don't want Google to ban my Google account because I use an adblocker on YouTube.

Has that been happening?

I don't think so, but I don't want to risk it in case it does start happening.

Re: Ask HN: Has your YouTube usage decreased?

#33

Post by ls612 » Sat, Nov 25, 2023, 4:38 AM UTC

I get $8/month for YouTube Premium Student and will have 2 more years, so hopefully by then the YouTube-Adblock wars will subside like they did for Twitch.

Re: Ask HN: Has your YouTube usage decreased?

#34

Post by themadturk » Sat, Nov 25, 2023, 4:39 AM UTC

I don't YT that much anyway, but I just tell my blocker (1Blocker on Safari) to let it through. YT still complains, I acknowledge the message and refresh the page and it lets me right in after that. I don't seem to see any more or fewer ads than I did before I stopped blocking YT, but as I said, I don't use it that much.

Re: Ask HN: Has your YouTube usage decreased?

#35

Post by whatwhaaaaat » Sat, Nov 25, 2023, 4:39 AM UTC

Yes but not because of the ad blocking but because of the actual content of the ads. I’m not under any circumstance having the option of dead bodies appearing on my tv when a 4yo runs into my office so my time is limited to when he won’t. The kids already were severely restricted but now it’s over - no google products at all for them for now.

I’m taking the power in to my own hands like my parents did with me owning distribution and storage. Seeing these dreadful ads played on children shows has made me realize these people have hostile intentions.

Re: Ask HN: Has your YouTube usage decreased?

#36

Post by throwaway318 » Sat, Nov 25, 2023, 4:40 AM UTC

I started watching YouTube less when the content shifted to longer 10+ minute videos and shorts. It's harder to just browse. So now only via specific search. However that's got worse as noise increasingly outpaces signal. I also don't log in, clear cookies, or subscribe to anything though do have a mental note of some channels. Adblockers are not a problem as I surf from Germany, Sweden or Denmark via VPN - perhaps some content just gets not shown.

I get that I'm not YouTube's target captive audience. Perhaps you aren't any more either.

Re: Ask HN: Has your YouTube usage decreased?

#37

Post by solatic » Sat, Nov 25, 2023, 4:40 AM UTC

No, I signed up for Google Play Music back in the day for $8/month, which has turned into YouTube Music + ad-free YouTube at that same rate. I'm happy with that price, but if they meaningfully increased it then I'd probably cancel, switch to Spotify, and cut my YouTube usage. There's already enough advertising on YouTube as it is, with creators embedding sponsor endorsements, to add platform ads on top.

Re: Ask HN: Has your YouTube usage decreased?

#38

Post by frogulis » Sat, Nov 25, 2023, 4:40 AM UTC

A friend showed me a trick, where telling youtube not to track your watch history results in no homepage suggestions. In my case that's resulted in massively decreased usage - I basically only watch my subscribed channels, and videos that I specifically search for.

Re: Ask HN: Has your YouTube usage decreased?

#39

Post by whatwhaaaaat » Sat, Nov 25, 2023, 4:41 AM UTC

gavinhoward wrote: post #32

skytbest wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has that been happening?

I don't think so, but I don't want to risk it in case it does start happening.

Sounds like it’s time to start diversifying. How is it acceptable that one company could have that sort of control over you?

Re: Ask HN: Has your YouTube usage decreased?

#40

Post by somenameforme » Sat, Nov 25, 2023, 4:41 AM UTC

I decided to check this out with Google Trends, out of curiosity. The answer [1] is surprising. Over the past 5 years there's been a quite substantial downward trend in interest in YouTube, at least as far as what people search for.

Though that page probably also answers why, somewhat amusingly. Swap the related queries to sort by "top" instead of "rising" and 3 of the top YouTube related queries are: "mp3 youtube" "youtube download" and "youtube to mp3".

[1] - https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&q=...