Ask HN: Why there are so many ads on YouTube? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Why there are so many ads on YouTube?

#81

Post by lambda_obrien » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 5:27 PM UTC

tubularhells wrote: post #73

lambda_obrien wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, literally youtube had ads which just said things like, "does your kid hate it when youtube has commercials? Does it annoy you when they scream because of that? Pay us to remove them!" It works be one thing to advertise a service or product, but they just put ads in to literally annoy you into paying. I'm not kidding. I WAS a YouTube premium member until recently, but dropped it because of crap like this. I know t…

Why don't you use an adblocker?

Frankly, I hate dealing with tech outside of work and I would have to pihole my TV.

Re: Ask HN: Why there are so many ads on YouTube?

#82

Post by runjake » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 6:01 PM UTC

joelwilliamson wrote: post #7

Just use an adblocker. The only time I see see ads on YouTube are when I'm using someone else's browser.

Which adblocker and block lists do you use?

While I used to find this true, uBlock Origin seems to no longer block YouTube ads.

Re: Ask HN: Why there are so many ads on YouTube?

#83

Post by runjake » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 6:13 PM UTC

JohnCurran wrote: post #42

OminousWeapons wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pi-hole is amazing, but before standing one up, be aware that it does not block YouTube ads without additional configuration.

What additional configuration is required? I was under the impression it couldn't be blocked at all due to ads being served from YouTube.com domain or similar. Would really like to implement it on my own PiHole

Let me offer an alternative answer to tubularhells' unhelpful answer:

There isn't really a good, efficient easy way to block YouTube ads with Pi-Hole. It's a constant cat-and-mouse game of finding the appropriate domain regexes and keeping them updated.

Re: Ask HN: Why there are so many ads on YouTube?

#84

Post by esarbe » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 6:20 PM UTC

Because you are not using an Adblocker.

Re: Ask HN: Why there are so many ads on YouTube?

#85

Post by mooreds » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 6:38 PM UTC

If you aren't paying for something, your attention is the product being purchased.

Re: Ask HN: Why there are so many ads on YouTube?

#86

Post by rambojazz » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 7:32 PM UTC

Yes there was an announcement some time ago that they would be adding more ads without necessarily splitting revenue with content creators.

Re: Ask HN: Why there are so many ads on YouTube?

#87

Post by rambojazz » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 7:35 PM UTC

doctorwhat wrote: post #9

joelwilliamson wrote: post #7

Just use an adblocker. The only time I see see ads on YouTube are when I'm using someone else's browser.

Exactly. I don't understand people not having an ad blocker... Otherwise pi-hole is a good option for your local network.

As far as I know you cannot install adblockers on the Android app for YouTube for example, and probably on other platforms too. I've looked for one but found none.

Re: Ask HN: Why there are so many ads on YouTube?

#88

Post by tra3 » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 8:00 PM UTC

tubularhells wrote: post #74

dangwu wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people watch YouTube using their smart TVs.

If you are on HN, you should know how to install a PiHole between your router and smart TV. There, no more ads.

That’s incorrect. YouTube ads are served from the same domain as content.

Re: Ask HN: Why there are so many ads on YouTube?

#89

Post by tkiolp4 » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 8:33 PM UTC

yrgulation wrote: post #4

I would vouch they need money to pay for hosting and everything else, and as a free service perhaps ads are the only way. Not sure how one can expect youtube to host that amount of content for free perpetually. I dislike ads, particularly dark patterns, and shocking I pay for youtube premium. An unpopular opinion but can someone please explain how can all this be hosted for free? Or why do some believe they should?

I understand YouTube (they need money, they run ads)... what I don’t understand is the companies that pay YouTube to post their ads. I mean, who on earth likes ads? Being interrupted by Company X while watching a video will make me with high probability hate company X (instead of making me buy their products). This is something i don’t really get because no one likes ads, but here you have that’s the number one strategy of (bad) companies in marketing. It’s so stupid.

Re: Ask HN: Why there are so many ads on YouTube?

#90

Post by kleer001 » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 9:35 PM UTC

lambda_obrien wrote: post #55

kleer001 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TANSTAAFL

No, literally youtube had ads which just said things like, "does your kid hate it when youtube has commercials? Does it annoy you when they scream because of that? Pay us to remove them!" It works be one thing to advertise a service or product, but they just put ads in to literally annoy you into paying. I'm not kidding. I WAS a YouTube premium member until recently, but dropped it because of crap like this. I know t…

> I WAS a YouTube premium member until recently, but dropped it because of crap like this.

That doesn't follow.

How would you see ads if you're a YTP member? You standing up for a freeloader? Their annoyance is your annoyance?

> it's a dick move to annoy users into paying you

What else should they be doing? You an advertising genius? Maybe cut off free youtube entirely? Only a free hour a day? Show me someone else that's in the same situation, by order of magnitude, and doing a better job by your standards.

Come back to reality, mate. Server bills (repair, licensing, etc) and rent and people running the servers and dear god so much else needs to be paid. YT is providing a service, a service that ain't free.