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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

#351

I'm not angry at Youtube for blocking ads; I'm angry for Youtube existing at all. It shouldn't have to. AV content is pretty important to humanity. I want my government to tax me and spend the money on a public video repository. When some garbage for-profit outfit like Alphabet is in charge of the world's video, I expect ads and garbage content.

I'm with you, man. I run an ad blocker and I sure would hate to pay Google another dime. But I have to say objectively, govt ownership ought to be reserved for services that either practically cannot make a profit or morally should not make a profit. Things like police, fire, medical, education, etc.. The entertainment sector though has been making a profit for hundreds of years. Radio was funded entirely by commercialism from the beginning, as was television, and thus far the Internet has followed. So I gotta disagree with you as much as it pains me to admit. There may be a way to get some things funded like purely educational, or the arts, but the vast majority of YouTube is really just pure entertainment and ought to remain profit driven.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#352
I mean if YouTube wants to block ad blockers, that's unfortunate, but I also understand the motivation. But here's the rub. Youtube premium is still not available globally. I had a weird workaround that I used a long time ago through google play but when my current credit card expires, I won't be able to use that method again and all the benefits of my membership will go away. That really sucks because I actually enjoy the ads free experience and the fact that I can pay for it.

I don't understand how a giant company like Google hasn't figured out global availability of a service like this. Especially given that videos can be geo locked if needed.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#353
post #352

I mean if YouTube wants to block ad blockers, that's unfortunate, but I also understand the motivation. But here's the rub. Youtube premium is still not available globally. I had a weird workaround that I used a long time ago through google play but when my current credit card expires, I won't be able to use that method again and all the benefits of my membership will go away. That really sucks because I actually enj…

> don't understand how a giant company like Google hasn't figured out global availability of a service like this

Running a user-generated content business has become exponentially more complicated in the last decade. Compliance and moderation is hard. It's also difficult to scale across jurisdictions.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#354
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have YT premium and it is easily the best money I spend most months. I'll just play devil's advocate. Maybe people are imagining a pay per view type of experience?

+1 on this. YT premium is easily worth 4x its price, it's an amazing deal. It's the largest media catalog in the world, and unlimited ad-free access for $12 is a steal. There is no digital subscription that comes close in value.

Question, how do content creators get paid if the platform has no ads? I thought they get paid when I watch an ad, and even more if I engage with those ads? In fact, I maliciously (is this the right word) clicked on scam ads (youtube sends me lots of those).

And is it really worth 4x its price? I mean its just ads getting removed. I can tolerate ads easily.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#356
post #183

Other than driving a mass exodus to Firefox, I don’t see this having any real impact. Unless you own the whole software stack adblock is a game of cat and mouse. Let’s say worst case scenario google embeds ads into the video itself, and refuses to stream the actual video packets until the length of the ad has elapsed. The repetitive nature of advertising makes if trivial to detect when the served video is an ad and w…

You are not their target TBH, it is just a trade-off.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work in adtech, we're getting into eye tracking for verifying ad viewership on smart TVs. So.. yeah.

Thank you for your honesty, but do you really wish you were working on something less predatory?

From my experience: yes, all the time.

Also don't work in insurance, it can be real depressing.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#359

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). Vime…

> 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 There's also a factor of quality and trust. I don't trust YouTube Premium enough to even try it. This is mostly colored by their constant, invasive disruption of my YouTube experience (particularly apparent on mobile) with YT Premium a…

So YT is too greedy and shows you a lot of ads and loses trust, but if they were to play it cool and stop showing ads you’d sign up for premium?

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#360

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). Vime…

People would buy two cups of boba tea, other than paying 12 per month.

Ain't nothing wrong with this, once it went free, it is hard to go back.

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