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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

#482

If you're on iOS, I highly recommend Yattee[1], a free Youtube app with no ads, background playback and sponsor block built-in. The way they get around App Store restrictions is by claiming that they aren't a Youtube app. They're technically a video-watching app which is supposed to be used with your own personal server. The server API they require, however, is supported by Invidious[2], an open-source, privacy-prese…

Or just pay for YouTube Premium?

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

#486
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Spotify announced that it would start to crack down on adblockers in 2019 [1], but I've been using ublock origin on their web player since then and haven't noticed any issues (apart from the odd glitch when the blocker is trying to skip the ad). Did they get cold feet or was it mostly a PR move?

https://gizmodo.com/spotify-may-suspend-your-account-if-it-c...

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

#490

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…

>Web advertisers seem like a classic case of taking miles when given an inch.

I think there's a distinction between that and the tragedy of the commons. Advertisers face a game theory scenario where they can increase the obnoxiousness of their individual ad, which will enrich themselves, but it hurts the industry as a whole because users are marginally more likely to figure out a way to block ads altogether after seeing an obnoxious ad.

But it is only fitting since advertising is an arms race regardless of the nature of online advertising or the ability to be obnoxious. All companies would be better off if they collectively decreased their marketing budgets, but that would require coordination and a way to guarantee no one defects.

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