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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

#791
post #367

Man, the amount of misunderstanding present in the comments here is astonishing. 1. YT doesn't decide how many ads to show. The creator of the video gets to choose exactly how many ads are shown and when and where they are shown. If you see too many ads on your videos, get pissed off at the creators you're watching, not YT. 2. Ad revenue is a very large portion of income for most creators. It's definitely not as larg…

> 2. Ad revenue is a very large portion of income for most creators.

Maybe we're moving past the societal stage where being a content creator is a real job.

Maybe people aren't meant to make a living from putting videos on the internet.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#792
Google is just the middle man here, creators can turn off ads on videos if they want to but a lot of them need revenue or at least want revenue so the question becomes what's the best way to reward creators for their work? There are multiple models that I can think of but there will be much less people on yt if it would cost even a few cents. Once you're used to free stuff, even with bloated content as now it takes a while to get used to paying. The current model works because 3rd parties pay and not the actual consumer.

I'm curious how does yt share profit with creators for views from paying subscribers.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#793
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…

Apart from the excellent points raised by u/12907835202 in a sibling comment, another important consideration is that YT premium consumers are disproportionately rich compared to the entire YT consumer base. So if you are taking averages, you have to multiply them by at least 3x (i.e. 300%) to account for higher CPMs due to higher conversion values expected from such demographics.

You can still sell those users' more valuable usage data and they've even coughed up a bunch of personal information to setup payment and have signaled that they have money and are willing to pay for things. So in return for paying they get no ads on this particular platform while getting a target painted on their back.

And if you need more money later you can just convert youtube premium from a no ads platform to a less ads platform. You just have to do it slowly so not to many people bail at once because the pot got to hot to fast

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#794

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,…

Ad-blocking also gives you similar if not more extra security to anti-virus software, with fewer downsides (faster not slower). I'm afraid the ad ecosystem is so big that occasionally, threats slip through.

Performance and security may be my primary reasons for using an ad-blocker, but I must also admit that I would not remove the blocker even if those issues were addressed. On the rare occasion that I have used a computer without an ad blocker, I have found that advertising is so intrusive that I would rather not use the web.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#795

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 whole internet is bloated with ads right now

Internet? I think you mean everything. The whole everything is bloated with ads right now. Look around you, I bet you can see at least a dozen brand names without even leaving your chair.

People who work in marketing and ads should quit their jobs if they care at all about society, but of course they don't or they wouldn't be in marketing and advertising. Alternatively, we should just stop putting up with their bullshit because they have a long history of abusing every inch they are given.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#796

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.

Exactly this.

The only point i would add is the long ads that require an action to skip (30+ minutes).

More recently I have also been getting clear scams as ads and no amount of reporting can get rid of them.

These are the reasons I spent the time blocking the ads on all devices. Maybe Google should fix their ads to make them less awful instead of starting the death of Youtube.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#797
post #678

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

- Ads crank up the volume to 11. We were watching Eurovision singing contest the other day from YT and my gawd was that annoying. Adds in the middle of every song, volume being cranked up for the adds, and as a icing on the cake, probably due to bug somewhere, the playback went to pause after each ad (iPhone airplaying to AppleTV).

You know, if someone would constantly burst into rooms shouting at the top of their lungs for you to give them money, we'd beat them with a wrench. Yet this same behavior is not only tolerated and excused, but encouraged, when done in the name of business profits.

And we wonder why society is so fucked up.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#798
My beef with Youtube is that it keeps showing me the same suggestions over and over. I do use an ad blocker, originally installed for security reasons.

I have found a lot of good content on YT, but lately, the suggestions are just terrible and the "hunt" is taking longer and getting frustrating - sort of like Netflix, which I cancelled. I'm guessing they keep suggesting videos that make the most money for Google, even if I don't want to watch it. If the content suggestions on YT were better, I might consider subscribing to it, but with the way it is now, ads will definitely push me to leave.

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#799
post #744
post #666

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least for YT there's a solution: YT Vanced Or other YouTube clients with ads disabled :) There is even a SmartTV YouTube App that works like a charm. It even skips as blocks in the video itself. Only casting then uses the original app with ads. Edit:// as long as I would need 2 premium accounts for all my active devices I don't accept that as a real solution

The smart TV YouTube all you're mentioning also allows you to link up your phone's YouTube app with a code in the settings, and then cast without ads

If that works thank you soooo much!

Re: YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

#800
post #514

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…

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…

Not to derail you but Premium costs $16/month when I view the option from the YouTube app on my phone. Not sure why this is the case.

EDIT: Never mind it’s just the apple tax. I had forgotten about it.

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