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YouTube is testing a more aggressive approach against ad blockers

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Re: YouTube is testing a more aggressive approach against ad blockers

#241

Post by gochi »

o_m wrote: post #216

I don't have a Youtube/Google account and I don't use any of their apps, so how are they going to block me, go for my IP address? I don't see a reason to have an account, RSS works just fine for subscriptions.

From other articles, it wouldn't be an account ban but rather at the video level. So you use a browser with adblock and try to watch 3 different videos, then the video player will stop loading at all, changing browsers or clearing cookies/data would likely reset the count but apply again after 3 detections. Although I do assume they would use a combination of other data like your IP to be more aggressive with detection blocks.

Re: YouTube is testing a more aggressive approach against ad blockers

#242

Post by EA-3167 »

kitsunesoba wrote: post #226

This doesn't really affect me since I subscribe to premium, but something that a lot of ad-based services don't seem to grasp is why people block ads. It's because they've become increasingly obnoxious. Nobody blocked ads when they were a simple column of links in the gutter or maybe an animated GIF banner with 3 frames. No, adblockers became popular because ads kept getting more loud (both visually and audibly), in…

Some ads also contain(ed) crypto miners and malware in general, in addition to all of what you said. My feeling is that Google should be free to do what they feel they have to, and ad-blockers should feel free to engage in an arms race with them.

The worst that happens is Google drives away a chunk of its user base, opening the door for competition.

Re: YouTube is testing a more aggressive approach against ad blockers

#243

Post by flir »

mikro2nd wrote: post #208
downrightmike wrote: post #203

My Browser My Rights. I don't allow ads because no matter how good you are, someone will figure out how to get malware into ads. Once a system is compromised, best to burn it and start over. And now there are UEFI viruses that can reinstall malware even after the OS is wiped. And then there is the recent Gigabyte Motherboard discovery they were loading EXEs silently without approval. So no, I will not lower my protec…

"I don't allow ads" because ads are malware for the human brain. An ad is explicitly designed to hack our minds/emotions, and I, for one, won't go there (as far as I am able).

Same applies to an awful lot of youtube's actual content.

(If you enjoyed this comment, please like and subscribe. It really helps me create more great content like this.)

Re: YouTube is testing a more aggressive approach against ad blockers

#244

Post by vanilla_nut »

mikro2nd wrote: post #208
downrightmike wrote: post #203

My Browser My Rights. I don't allow ads because no matter how good you are, someone will figure out how to get malware into ads. Once a system is compromised, best to burn it and start over. And now there are UEFI viruses that can reinstall malware even after the OS is wiped. And then there is the recent Gigabyte Motherboard discovery they were loading EXEs silently without approval. So no, I will not lower my protec…

"I don't allow ads" because ads are malware for the human brain. An ad is explicitly designed to hack our minds/emotions, and I, for one, won't go there (as far as I am able).

Exactly. Snow Crash explores the idea of a "mind virus", which seemed a little silly when I originally read the book. But nowadays, it's clear that most ad campaigns are exactly that: hacks of the brain.

Just think about the ad strategies of, say, Coca-cola and Pepsi. They don't tell you about a new product. They don't inform you about any benefits of their product, or advantages relative to the competition. They purely exist to keep the brand names in your head, and associate the brand names with images of people having fun. And the saddest part is, it works! We desperately need regulation to prevent companies from hacking consumer's brains into zombies who grab products on the shelf based on how many times they've heard the name spewed out of their television in the last 24 hours.

On the flip side, I would be happy to allow purely informative, contextual, non-tracking ads in my browser. Objective statements about new products I'm actually interested in? Sure! Privacy invading, mind manipulating mental malware? No thanks.

Re: YouTube is testing a more aggressive approach against ad blockers

#245

Post by nine_zeros »

nness wrote: post #224
nine_zeros wrote: post #204

Large companies have become money sucking dinosaurs. Much like IBM, Oracle, Microsoft of the 90s. Can't wait to see some competition eating them.

Until a competitor devices a revenue stream that is just as profitable as advertising and data capture (obviously it won't be a subscription model) then we're stuck in the perpetual cycle of "enshittification" as companies move to protect their revenue.

The ads business is certainly one of enshittification. But, it becomes too shitty when the incumbents start milking every possible inch of the screen for as many seconds as they can. This happened with tv, cable, newspapers, and now streaming services.

There is a always a chance that the next generation gets hooked on to a different platform. That phase where an emerging competition is eating the incumbent's lunch is the best time to be there.

Re: YouTube is testing a more aggressive approach against ad blockers

#246

Post by TeMPOraL »

mikro2nd wrote: post #208
downrightmike wrote: post #203

My Browser My Rights. I don't allow ads because no matter how good you are, someone will figure out how to get malware into ads. Once a system is compromised, best to burn it and start over. And now there are UEFI viruses that can reinstall malware even after the OS is wiped. And then there is the recent Gigabyte Motherboard discovery they were loading EXEs silently without approval. So no, I will not lower my protec…

"I don't allow ads" because ads are malware for the human brain. An ad is explicitly designed to hack our minds/emotions, and I, for one, won't go there (as far as I am able).

Exactly.

Recently, this has been reminding me of all the hand wringing about "prompt injection vulnerabilities" - like e.g. when you have an LLM summarizing articles for you, or going over your inbox, and a malicious actor sneaks in a well-crafted bit of text that makes that LLM return you false information, or forward all your e-mails to attacker's address, etc.

Well guess what, ads are exactly such prompt injection attacks, but on humans.

Re: YouTube is testing a more aggressive approach against ad blockers

#247

Post by throw9away6 »

nine_zeros wrote: post #204

Large companies have become money sucking dinosaurs. Much like IBM, Oracle, Microsoft of the 90s. Can't wait to see some competition eating them.

Competition has been banned and legislated away. Remember YouTube only became big because it mostly served copyrighted content in the early days. If you tried that now you would get sued into oblivion

Re: YouTube is testing a more aggressive approach against ad blockers

#248

Post by xnx »

user3939382 wrote: post #230

If Google had the power to implement a device that forced your eyelids open to look at ads they would do it. Their company is user hostile and we should move as far as possible away from their services.

This is true of every advertiser. With regards to advertising, in most cases, Google is very admiral compared to its peers.

Re: YouTube is testing a more aggressive approach against ad blockers

#249

Post by vanilla_nut »

drcongo wrote: post #205

Doubt I watch as many as 3 videos per month on YouTube. I hate everything about it, it's cesspool of scamming, racism, conspiracy nutters and people debasing themselves for clicks. I hope this kills it.

Doubtful that it will kill it. But if it can jumpstart some alternatives and normalize video hosting outside of YouTube, we'll get a healthier market of options for watching videos. Like you, I probably watch a single-digit number of videos per month on YouTube. But there's no other option for the folks who I follow, who are simply following the path of least resistance to "get people to watch my videos on the internet." Paying for YouTube Premium isn't even a real option for me because I'd end up paying multiple dollars per video based on my viewing habits. Strange that YouTube seems to want to incentivize heavy viewership per user, even for paid accounts -- I suppose that tells you that the user data is actually the most valuable part of your account!

Re: YouTube is testing a more aggressive approach against ad blockers

#250

Post by jvolkman »

RamblingCTO wrote: post #215

You know, if YouTube wouldn't insist on absolutely annoying the living shit out of me with unskippable, bad, long, and frequent ads I wouldn't mind that much. But YouTube with ads is one of the worst things there are.

There are no ads if you pay
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