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YouTube will now show ads on all videos even if creators don’t want them

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Re: YouTube will now show ads on all videos even if creators don’t want them

#251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think technically it would be pretty easy for google to embed ads into videos in a way that would be hard to impossible to block.

Many VCRs had a feature to skip ads when recording, working solely on the (analog) video stream. They worked quite well using only the technology of the time.

For UK, it looks for a special mark being used by ITV companies (and Channel 4, which are ultimately controlled by IBA) which is mainly used to signal companies in other regions that they should switch to an advertisement tailored for their region [1]. Since the television channels were controlled by IBA and BBC, this is a for-sure way to skip advertisements.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cue_mark#Cue_dots_in_televisio...

Re: YouTube will now show ads on all videos even if creators don’t want them

#252
Usually these issues are not a function of policy, but of degree and application.

Some types of ads are really innocuous, some not so much.

If there were only a 4 second ad at the start we'd be fine with it, but it'll be a 'click to skip', there'll be more than one, it will interrupt, the ads will be loud and annoying etc..

Product Managers are always under pressure to increase revenue, but they never want to contemplate the long-run effects of the qualitative reduction in the value of their product.

Re: YouTube will now show ads on all videos even if creators don’t want them

#253

I have YouTube Premium, so this doesn't affect me as a YouTube viewer. However, this is the sort of foundational service change that you simply don't do ten years into a lucrative partner program without a good reason. "It's 2020 and our investors are hungry for growth" is not a good enough reason, IMO. Any good business needs to keep it's goals aligned with it's customers or it will stop being a good business and pe…

> However, this is the sort of foundational service change that you simply don't do ten years into a lucrative partner program without a good reason.

YouTube is a monopoly. This is exactly the type of things monopolies do.

Yes, there are other places to upload videos to watch on demand, but they’re much smaller, less well known, and just more niche.

> "Changing the deal" in a very big way like this makes your customers - the people giving you video content with no up-front expectation of payment - very, very mad.

As the saying goes, “If you’re not paying for it, you’re not the customer, you’re the product.”

The creator is not a customer. The viewer is not a customer. The advertiser is the customer.

Yes, you can poison the well and lose users, and thus alienate your customers, but again, YouTube is a monopoly. There aren’t any obviously viable alternatives for long form videos.

Re: YouTube will now show ads on all videos even if creators don’t want them

#254
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Easy? Good luck replacing all your accounts and contacts using your @gmail.com email. You'll move to another provider but you'll need to keep the old GMail one around for a long time before you're safe deleting it.

Been using a different mail provider for 5 years. Just the other month google deleted my gmail account (had it set up to delete after a year of no-login) It is quite easy to migrate: 1. get a new mail account 2. forward everything from your gmail account 3. sort everything GMail into a separate folder in your new account 4. slowly change email addresses in accounts and let people know your new address. I think after…

I went the extra mile and create a random, unique email address for every single service I sign up for, so I know precisely who sells my data to spammers if I ever get any. All the unique addresses redirect to a central one for ease of access.

Re: YouTube will now show ads on all videos even if creators don’t want them

#255
post #118

As a content consumer I see this as a positive thing for me. A few months ago when YouTube decided to auto-add ads on all videos, my watch time on YouTube decreased by more than 50% since I consume all video content on either my phone or my tablet (where I don't have access to AdBlock), and I find the amount of ads I have to go through to watch a video so annoying that I'd rather not watch it at all. As a result I sp…

> on either my phone or my tablet (where I don't have access to AdBlock) I think it's amazing you're putting up with devices that work against you. If my phone would force me to watch ads I would get a new phone tomorrow.

How do you handle driving on roads with billboards? Or walking through a city? In most of the US, the number of outdoor places you can go without advertising attacking you is dwindling. Europe seems better regarding roads (fewer billboards and more highways with none) but similar in cities.

The rise of blindingly bright LED billboards in the US feels like all the downsides of a sci-fi dystopian world without any of the upside like self-driving hover cars.

Re: YouTube will now show ads on all videos even if creators don’t want them

#256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want that corner to be expanded to the full internet, install ublock origin.

YT Premium still supports creators while Ublock Origin denies creators one of the easiest ways to be compensated for their work. That's a pretty big difference.

True, though most of the videos I watch these days either have explicit sponsor mentions, or I support though patreon. My general feel on adblock is that it is a reasonable step against an abusive advertising industry. That it harms creators is the side effect of the advertising industry's overreach, and is not a moral fault of the end user for acting in self-defense.

Re: YouTube will now show ads on all videos even if creators don’t want them

#257
post #203
post #118

As a content consumer I see this as a positive thing for me. A few months ago when YouTube decided to auto-add ads on all videos, my watch time on YouTube decreased by more than 50% since I consume all video content on either my phone or my tablet (where I don't have access to AdBlock), and I find the amount of ads I have to go through to watch a video so annoying that I'd rather not watch it at all. As a result I sp…

That's a very good point! Add to that YT's abysmal organization of subscribed channels and their terrible recommendation engine. I have to say I really like it.

Maybe if they add a few more crappy features I can avoid YT altogether!

Re: YouTube will now show ads on all videos even if creators don’t want them

#258
post #118

As a content consumer I see this as a positive thing for me. A few months ago when YouTube decided to auto-add ads on all videos, my watch time on YouTube decreased by more than 50% since I consume all video content on either my phone or my tablet (where I don't have access to AdBlock), and I find the amount of ads I have to go through to watch a video so annoying that I'd rather not watch it at all. As a result I sp…

Have you considered paying for YouTube Premium?

I do this. Its not cheap (12$ month), but it comes with "youtube music", which I'm starting to use a bit. like all things google, its a little difficult to figure out exactly what is going on.

Re: YouTube will now show ads on all videos even if creators don’t want them

#259
Having youtube premium is definitely the biggest time saver for me. Other than not showing ads, lets you listen to videos like a podcast on mobile in background. For podcasts that also posts youtube videos, I just use youtube since it lets me see reactions when I want to from podcasters.

I never understand HN Crowd complaining about ads on YouTube. It literally costs(1 month sub) less than typing a comment like this for most people on HN (At least in opportunity cost).

Re: YouTube will now show ads on all videos even if creators don’t want them

#260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Examples? Happy to be proven wrong on this.

For longer videos, YouTube tends to put not just an ad or two at the beginning, but also in the middle of the video. It can be pretty jarring to be listening to a quiet video, and then 10 minutes in, an obnoxiously loud ad starts playing. No idea if the creators opt in to this “feature” (I bet they don’t; it’s probably either all or nothing with ads), but it definitely exists.

> No idea if the creators opt in to this “feature” (I bet they don’t; it’s probably either all or nothing with ads), but it definitely exists.

You used to be able to opt-in to mid-roll ads. A few months ago, YouTube switched it to an opt-out system, helpfully enabling them for all then-existing videos that hadn't opted in:

> Starting in late July, videos that are longer than eight minutes will be eligible for mid-roll ads. As part of this change, mid-roll ads will be turned on for all eligible existing videos and future video uploads, including those videos where you may have previously opted out of mid-roll ads. Videos that already have mid-roll ads turned on will not be impacted.

(As I understand it, there is no way to disable the mid-roll ad on all videos, so you'd have to manually flip it for every single video. How kind of YouTube.)

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