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YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

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Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#121
post #4

On a related note as someone who uses YouTube constantly YouTube Premium is absolutely worth it.

HN/Reddit : For years, "I'm happy to pay for services that has no/few ads". Companies: Here's a ad-free version. Subscribe HN/Reddit: Why are you asking me to subscribe? I hate this

There are ads in every video content nowadays. Did you miss the past 10 years or something ?

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#122

I'm pretty torn here. I don't believe I deserve access to free content, and there's _nothing_ wrong with any site blocking access if you don't want to see ads. I've done a lot of digital curtailing in my life, but Youtube has been hard to avoid. It's both good and bad, as they have some of the most amazing content in the whole world, but also some of the most addictive trash that I can't stop watching. Because the se…

[deleted]

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#123

Is it weird that this makes me want to subscribe to YouTube premium less than before? Feels like I've been poised to give them money for a while, since so many people seem to like the service. Now I feel like they're challenging me to a duel.

I looked into subscribing because I don't mind paying to avoid the ads. I don't like the spying that will go along with paying, given that it is Alphabet/Google. If they offered a plan to pay without the spying I would have signed up years ago. I didn't try so I could be wrong but my guess is your payment will be tied directly to your login and so you need to have that login on the browser at all times to view the vi…

How does subscribing increase their spying? Beyond the obvious that they now have your billing address.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#124

Is it weird that this makes me want to subscribe to YouTube premium less than before? Feels like I've been poised to give them money for a while, since so many people seem to like the service. Now I feel like they're challenging me to a duel.

i don’t think it’s weird, but i signed up for the premium trial a few weeks ago and it is simply astounding how much more enjoyable it makes things. i didn’t realize just how awful things had become until i tried youtube without ads.

i know some other folks are complaining about still getting tracked or whatever, but i think the simple truth is that youtube without ads is a vastly superior experience.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#126
YouTube premium perfectly showcases why ads dominate the internet, because even when there is a paid option for a service much cheaper than any alternative, people do not want to pay (And I am not talking about too broke to pay cases). Serving an infinite video catalog is very expensive in terms of all resources (And yes Netflix is not comparable, unlike YouTube, Netflix can highly leverage cache boxes at ISPs). Vimeo is one alternative for video hosting, and HN is surely not gonna like that model (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28547578).

So what is the alternative? (Peer to Peer for streaming doesn't seem a reasonable alternative at any scale, since most people own phones and then laptops, and much fewer desktops).

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#127

I'm pretty torn here. I don't believe I deserve access to free content, and there's _nothing_ wrong with any site blocking access if you don't want to see ads. I've done a lot of digital curtailing in my life, but Youtube has been hard to avoid. It's both good and bad, as they have some of the most amazing content in the whole world, but also some of the most addictive trash that I can't stop watching. Because the se…

Can you list some of the amazing content you like?

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#128

I don’t block ads - I block YouTube trying to monetise things that are built into the internet and my phone - eg. Video that plays in the background when I close the website It is just offensive that they want me to pay for something that is my phones feature not theirs. Sadly I expect this to get blocked just the same

> I block YouTube trying to monetise things that are built into the internet and my phone - eg. Video that plays in the background Sounds like the situation is unchanged for you then?

Well, I expect they will block this too…

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#129
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it possible to get YouTube Premium without a credit-card? That is what stopped me from subscribing before.

If you don't pay with a card then what would you pay with?

Local payment solutions like iDEAL, Bancontact, Prezelewy24, PayU, AliPay, Klarna or something like PayPal. Or through your mobile phone bill.

Credit-cards are not that common here in Euro-land.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#130

I'm pretty torn here. I don't believe I deserve access to free content, and there's _nothing_ wrong with any site blocking access if you don't want to see ads. I've done a lot of digital curtailing in my life, but Youtube has been hard to avoid. It's both good and bad, as they have some of the most amazing content in the whole world, but also some of the most addictive trash that I can't stop watching. Because the se…

consuming content for free where creators expect to get paid is polite way of stealing if you really think about it

No, if you really think about it, that’s not remotely true here. A creator — myself included — is paid by Google for their content, which Google uses to attract the eyeballs that the advertisers are paying them to serve ads to… the creator doesn’t actually have any interest (financial or otherwise) in whether or not those ads are actually being watched (as opposed to being served). Since virtually all creators rely on non-Google-served advertising income streams (PayPal, merch, sponsorships, etc) for their real income, and invasive ads merely impede that, anything that Google does to drive people to ad blockers really just hurts creators. No stealing is occurring.
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