Youtube would no doubt improve. Google is only good at search, and even then nowadays it is really annoying.
Ask HN: What do you think would happen if Google and YouTube split?
31–40 of 78 posts
Re: Ask HN: What do you think would happen if Google and YouTube split?
#32I've always assumed that Google ads subsidises everything else at Google. So my concern with a split would be YouTube increasing price or less investment in the service.
I have a hard time imagining that youtube is subsidized given the ridiculous number of obnoxious ads you're forced to watch and the steep price of removing them. Surely if they were subsidized this wouldn't be worth the cost of ruining their product.
The steep price of removing them: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin...
Re: Ask HN: What do you think would happen if Google and YouTube split?
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have a hard time imagining that youtube is subsidized given the ridiculous number of obnoxious ads you're forced to watch and the steep price of removing them. Surely if they were subsidized this wouldn't be worth the cost of ruining their product.
The steep price of removing them: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin...
At some point they'll just embed into the video stream. TBH I had assumed they were already doing this.
EDIT: Still, point taken. I'll try to figure out how to install this on my home router—I don't ever watch youtube from my browser.
Re: Ask HN: What do you think would happen if Google and YouTube split?
#34Search of youtube is absolutely horrendous so I don't see any additional harm to from splitting them. And of course the benefits are so large as to be difficult to enumerate.
What’s horrendous about it in particular?
there is lot of creepy and gore content that is fed between keywords, in order to bait kids and make them see shocking content. Type the symbol . for example, or some Disney characters (like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsagate or https://www.reddit.com/r/ElsaGate/ if you like to have a starting point )
Sadly not fixed
https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/tebv1z/comment/ihb...
if you are really adventurous
Re: Ask HN: What do you think would happen if Google and YouTube split?
#35Not exactly technical but...
Personally, I might start paying a subscription for YouTube. I wouldn't be forced to use a Google account for YouTube, and I would actually invest in my YouTube account.
Most importantly I would start trusting YouTube if it parts its way with Google.
Re: Ask HN: What do you think would happen if Google and YouTube split?
#36I've always assumed that Google ads subsidises everything else at Google. So my concern with a split would be YouTube increasing price or less investment in the service.
And what would be the reason for this subsidy? Do they think YouTube is going to keep growing and it's worth waiting for them to become somehow more popular? Would it be catastrophic for Alphabet if other large players entered YouTube's market? And why would losing a subsidy mean increasing prices? As far as I can tell consumers think YouTube's offerings are overpriced as is and they could probably increase profit by…
Because google currently gets valuable ads data from youtube. So even if the product itself runs at a loss the net benefit is positive.
If its spun off then the platform has to stand on its own and it would need to make more money.
Re: Ask HN: What do you think would happen if Google and YouTube split?
#37Re: Ask HN: What do you think would happen if Google and YouTube split?
#38It wouldn't be the work of a couple of hours and changing DNS records. Youtube runs on Google hardware in Google datacenters running proprietary Google software that integrates throughout the Google proprietary ecosystem. Everything will break.
Realistically, once the division is somehow negotiated through, Youtube will have to find a way to make enough money to support its operations, and would find itself in the same bind that every other video site has hit in terms of balancing adoption with income.
The only barrier they will not have to face is competing against Youtube, the big free elephant in the room.
Re: Ask HN: What do you think would happen if Google and YouTube split?
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
The steep price of removing them: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin...
At some point they'll just embed into the video stream. TBH I had assumed they were already doing this. EDIT: Still, point taken. I'll try to figure out how to install this on my home router—I don't ever watch youtube from my browser.
There's a different extension to auto skip the (community defined) ad segments in videos. There will always be a way.
Re: Ask HN: What do you think would happen if Google and YouTube split?
#40YouTube would die.
Although it generates a large amount of revenue, YouTube's costs are substantially higher. It provides Google with engagement and a prime source of user data, so subsidising it has been an acceptable trade-off for Alphabet. Recent attempts to increase revenue, although partially successful, have shown that the platform is unlikely to pay its own way because universal accessibility is fundamental to YouTube's success; removal of the free level is not a viable option.