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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

#651

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.

If you weren’t a paying customer, refuse to become a paying customer, and refuse to watch the ads, they don’t gain anything by having you as a user. It only costs them to retain you. If doing something as simple as asking you to hold up your end of the deal of using their website (letting ads load for the ad-supported content) is too much to ask but paying for the website is also too much to ask, you have to be hones…

>you have to be honest that you just want a free experience.

yes.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#652

It is not just about youtube. The whole internet is bloated with ads right now, and the vast majority of them quite the opposite of discrete. I just cannot browse the internet without adblocker, it is too slow, but more importantly too distracting. I could count the times that I have found an internet ad interesting in my lifetime using half the fingers of one hand. Personalised or not, the vast majority is useless,…

> I believe it is my right to adjust my browsing experience by affecting how websites are rendered in my browser to a degree I find reasonable, as well as from my side what data tracking I allow, which is already a huge compromise for me (I would rather not allow js by default in most websites). Agree completely. I know people who are fine with watching ads to support the content creators and I agree. The creators sh…

You also use swype style keyboard input?

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#653

It is not just about youtube. The whole internet is bloated with ads right now, and the vast majority of them quite the opposite of discrete. I just cannot browse the internet without adblocker, it is too slow, but more importantly too distracting. I could count the times that I have found an internet ad interesting in my lifetime using half the fingers of one hand. Personalised or not, the vast majority is useless,…

I totally agree on this!

Some websites just keep throwing an enormous number of ads into your face to the the extent you start losing consciousness why you came here in the first place.

On computer, you still able to use an AdBlock but on mobile, I suffer terribly, not only because I could not disable ads but because on some sites while you are reading an article a random ad video that took about half of the screen keeps playing and scrolling down with you, even clicking the X doesn’t work most of the time but generally triggers an external link. At the bottom of the page, you start reading “best job offers in XYZ” where this XYZ is your city name deduced from your IP address, the thumbnail, as you might expect, is a “s_x_” girl lying on a bed :(

I know, free content should be supported by ads but I believe this is not the way to do it.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#654

It is not just about youtube. The whole internet is bloated with ads right now, and the vast majority of them quite the opposite of discrete. I just cannot browse the internet without adblocker, it is too slow, but more importantly too distracting. I could count the times that I have found an internet ad interesting in my lifetime using half the fingers of one hand. Personalised or not, the vast majority is useless,…

The problem with YT is:

- I start the video, an ad is shown within 30 secs.

- I fast forward a few minutes, the SAME ad is shown again.

- I jump to anywhere on the timeline, the SAME ad is shown again.

At least show me something that is relevant, like facebook does. The ads there reflect what I usually look for. On YT, none of the ads are relevant to me, ever.

It's just ridiculous.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#655

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I believe it is my right to adjust my browsing experience by affecting how websites are rendered in my browser to a degree I find reasonable, as well as from my side what data tracking I allow, which is already a huge compromise for me (I would rather not allow js by default in most websites). Agree completely. I know people who are fine with watching ads to support the content creators and I agree. The creators sh…

You also use swype style keyboard input?

I don't but I am on my phone. I'll clean up the grammar shortly!

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#657
post #514

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it perfectly showcases that people do not want to pay 1000% more money for the privilege of paying a monthly subscription. Youtube Premium costs $12/month [1]. Ads average something like $2 per 1000 views to the creators (in some of the most common categories) [2]. Youtube takes a ~45% cut, so Youtube makes ~$4 per 1000 views from ads. So, to reach $12/month, you would need to average 3000 views per month. At a a…

I don't think you're taking everything into consideration here. For one it's not only creators who make money. You also have to pay for hosting/development as well as Google's own profit. So the cost to buy ads is clearly greater than $2 per 1000. I just looked and apparently the cost to buy 1000 views is about $20. So your off by 1000% yourself. At that rate premium is priced equivalent to 600 views a month or 20 a…

Also, if you look at content creators who share their revenue, they actually make more money from Premium subscribers than they do from ads. So if people want to really support content creators, then subscribing to Premium is the best option.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#658

It is not just about youtube. The whole internet is bloated with ads right now, and the vast majority of them quite the opposite of discrete. I just cannot browse the internet without adblocker, it is too slow, but more importantly too distracting. I could count the times that I have found an internet ad interesting in my lifetime using half the fingers of one hand. Personalised or not, the vast majority is useless,…

The problem with YT is: - I start the video, an ad is shown within 30 secs. - I fast forward a few minutes, the SAME ad is shown again. - I jump to anywhere on the timeline, the SAME ad is shown again. At least show me something that is relevant, like facebook does. The ads there reflect what I usually look for. On YT, none of the ads are relevant to me, ever. It's just ridiculous.

At least for YT there's a solution: YT Premium.

Sure, as other comments have said, it doesn't scale to all websites, but youtube isn't just any website.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#659

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You also get YouTube Music, which is not as great as Spotify, but nonetheless worth something. In fact, that’s the primary reason everyone I know who has YouTube Premium subscribes: music steaming + ad-free YouTube. That needs to be factored into your calculation, no?

Great, then it shouldn't be a problem to offer a cheaper price for people who only want YouTube, right?

After you pay for the music rights for a subscription video service the cost base is identical. As you could use YouTube as a music streaming replacement service (and literally millions of people do) then the labels charge for the same license.
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