You want me to pay $1.99 for an app I can’t try, which doesn’t have any other features that other podcast player apps have, and also prohibit linking to your product anywhere in your ToS? It’s a very shady beginning, to say the least.
Show HN: I built a podcast app that skips over the ads
261–270 of 285 posts
Re: Show HN: I built a podcast app that skips over the ads
#262Earlier quoted context omitted.
It isn't clear exactly what they are doing nor have they said what their plans are. I think NPR bought Pocket Casts and I doubt they spent all that money with no plans for a return on that investment.
I fear more and more podcasts are going to start locking you into a podcast app. It's turning into the video streaming scene
> I fear more and more podcasts are going to start locking you into a podcast app.
Any podcast app can play any podcast, full stop. Podcasting is a simple and open medium.
Creators can make their shows available on closed platforms as well as distributing them as podcasts. When closed platforms become the only option for creator monetization, podcasting dies.
Re: Show HN: I built a podcast app that skips over the ads
#263Earlier quoted context omitted.
At the point of download?
Yes. Stuff like this https://podads.podbean.com
When 37Signals found out their podcast host was doing listener tracking they dumped them and put out a podcast about it:
Re: Show HN: I built a podcast app that skips over the ads
#264And now suddenly (looking at a lot of the comments here) ad-blocking is about privacy? I simply don't want to see/hear crap, period.
"I want people to spend the equivalent of a full-time job researching content, writing shows, organizing guest appearances, producing high-quality audio, and marketing/distributing it to me. I'm prepared to pay exactly $0 for this, and I can't not be entertained for a 30-second sponsor spot."
Well boo-hoo then, they can get a real day job instead. The hardcore hobbyists will continue to podcast without ads /and do it for FREE!/
All that will be lost are the money grubbers willing to podcast anything in order to grub more grubbies. I often find "ad supported" to be inferior to "doing it for FREE" as the former does things (anything) for the money while the latter does it for the passion of doing it.
"Ad supported" will always be a cancer on the true art of doing anything! If only ad income was taxed rather than 40-hour wage income, the country would be a more beautiful place...
Re: Show HN: I built a podcast app that skips over the ads
#265So how do creators block this app, since those users are literally worthless to them?
Re: Show HN: I built a podcast app that skips over the ads
#266The best way to skip ads in podcasts is to not listen to the podcasts if you don't like the ads. Or, you know, pay the creators.
OK, but do you read every ad on every web page you visit?
Consciously? No. Subconsciously I probably scan them as I look around the page which can trigger further investigation.
Did you pay full attention to every ad you listened to in a podcast? I don't even know what your point is.
Full disclosure, I use ad blockers online (but whitelist sites and subscribe to others). The reason I do so is first and foremost for security reasons. Ad networks deliver malware, despite their best efforts. They also deliver battery-draining ads and bloat. I'm not inherently opposed to advertising, however. Last I checked, listening to ads in podcasts is not going to give your phone malware or spin up your CPU 100% so I don't really see the point of blocking them. As far as advertising goes, podcast ads are pretty benign. Sure, you can do it and I'm not even going to call you a bad person, but it just seems like the wrong battle to be fighting.
Either it never takes off and the whole thing is moot, or it really takes off and forces podcast creators to monetize in ways that are less benign. No real gain.
Re: Show HN: I built a podcast app that skips over the ads
#267Earlier quoted context omitted.
Podcast ads have a much more insidious problem in that they perpetuate and encourage a disingenuous, lie-for-dollars[1] culture. Hearing podcasters gushing about products that just so happen to sponsor their podcast is exactly what advertisers are paying for -- that it's "genuine" and someone who you theoretically trust is pitching whatever they're selling -- and it's just incredibly greasy and distasteful. It is the…
> Every podcaster is going to claim that no, it's really what they think, what a marvelous coincidence. It's amazing what someone will "think" when their paycheque relies upon it. I think there's a lot of truth to this, but there are also plenty of podcasters who will literally try all the products themselves (or have some staff do so) and if the thing is no good, pick a different sponsor. The biggest shows are often…
"they have loads of sponsors knocking at their door that are all offering similar (large) amounts of money, so they're free to pick the one they honestly like."
I profoundly doubt this. It is a tiny set of sponsors who keep the entire podcast industry afloat, and remarkably every podcaster is just a great fan of that tiny set. It's transparent and profoundly disingenuous. It's an old school friend now bothering you to buy their MLM bullshit candles or knick knacks.
But again, I have absolutely no doubt that each and every one of those podcasters have convinced themselves that they thoroughly considered every option and this foam bed (indistinguishable from any other) at a huge premium, this fear-mongering VPN, this insurance option, this piece of luggage, etc, are all simply the best for their listeners. One would have to be profoundly gullible to actually believe that.
From an ethical perspective, if a podcast is doing this tactic they deserve every skip they get.
On the scale of scumbaggery, tracking ads that pitch to my profile are a world less vile than the current podcast pitch.
Re: Show HN: I built a podcast app that skips over the ads
#268Earlier quoted context omitted.
Podcast ads have a much more insidious problem in that they perpetuate and encourage a disingenuous, lie-for-dollars[1] culture. Hearing podcasters gushing about products that just so happen to sponsor their podcast is exactly what advertisers are paying for -- that it's "genuine" and someone who you theoretically trust is pitching whatever they're selling -- and it's just incredibly greasy and distasteful. It is the…
You're right, but is the solution to that an adblocker? Or should users simply follow the age old principle of "buyer beware"? I'm all for adblockers on the web, due to their tracking nature, but podcast ads aren't served from some third party that eats up bandwidth, causes page jumps or autoplays video. They aren't even like Spotify ads, which seem to know when you've muted audio. Is it really that taxing to fast fo…
I'm not speaking for or against this product. It's just remarkable how so many see the current podcast ad tactic as somehow wholesome or less obnoxious, when really it's a world worse. And then they'll claim that it doesn't affect them, caveat emptor, etc, which is simply bullshit -- if they've bought into it being wholesome and "valuable", they are in every way the mark. They are the reason advertisers love this gimmick in podcasts.
Re: Show HN: I built a podcast app that skips over the ads
#269Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not a reporting system. I believe that idea has been tried and did not work. This uses all-new technology to find the ads and skip over.
By just looking for the music that plays at the beginning of some ads?
That's probably it. Their vague terms make me suspicious.
Re: Show HN: I built a podcast app that skips over the ads
#270I intrigued at how uniformly negative the reaction is to this. Do people here not use things like AdBlock? Do you also avoid fast-forwarding over ads in videos for the same reason?
I think it is that they are charging money.