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YouTube gets more aggressive in pushing adblock warnings with countdown timer

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Re: YouTube gets more aggressive in pushing adblock warnings with countdown timer

#81

Post by Roark66 »

jsnell wrote: post #72
Roark66 wrote: post #53

I wonder how are they "detecting adblock". Let's say I have an alternative youtube client like smartyoutubetv. What will they do? Check if ads are loaded? Fine, the software can be written to load the ads, but not display them. Will they check the timing info? (that you pull a part of the video, then pull the ad for 30s,then the rest?). Will they encode the ad right into the video stream? The app can be coded with a…

> There is no way youtube can win this battle using "brute force". The only way they can win this is by offering a new better service, not deteriorating existing ones. What could that new service be? How about recommendations that don't suck? It seems like you're saying that people are mainly using adblockers because the recommendations aren't good enough, and if the recommendations were improved they'd respond by tu…

>It seems like you're saying that people are mainly using adblockers because the recommendations aren't good enough, and if the recommendations were improved they'd respond by turning off the adblock?

I can see how what I said could be understood this way, but that's not what I meant. Yes people use adblockers to block ads, but if there was a better recommendation mechanism one could pay for and that paid service also blocked ads people like myself might pay for it.

>Oh, no! The people who are not willing to pay for the service and who are blocking ads are going elsewhere! How can the platform and the creators possibly survive without that $0 in revenue?

The value of a person's attention is not zero, even if that person blocks ads. First if people use your service for free, they aren't using the competition. You aren't making much money, but at the same time you're taking away potential revenue from the competition.

Imagine all these people that use ad block would get up and go somewhere else? More people that watch ads would follow in short order.

Then there are other things these people do. Patron payments, even just popularising certain creators has value to these creators, finally simple engagement like comments etc have value that they create data that can be used to improve the service and so on.

Re: YouTube gets more aggressive in pushing adblock warnings with countdown timer

#82

Post by matheusmoreira »

Even their language is offensive. "Ad blockers are not allowed". Who are they to "allow" anything? It's my computer. They get exactly zero say in the matter. Their assumption of authority only ensured I will go out of my way to block the ads just to prove them wrong.

Re: YouTube gets more aggressive in pushing adblock warnings with countdown timer

#83

Post by matheusmoreira »

CSMastermind wrote: post #46

How long do you think until they start adding in ads for Premium subscriber? I'd put the under/over at about 5 years from now.

Premium subscribers already have ads in the form of sponsored segments hard coded into the videos. They are paying to watch ads.

Re: YouTube gets more aggressive in pushing adblock warnings with countdown timer

#84

Post by matheusmoreira »

ghusto wrote: post #65

The first day my adblocker stops working is the last day I'll be on that site. No big loss for me.

Same here. If uBlock Origin stops working, I might switch to downloading the videos with yt-dlp instead. If that stops working, I'll just drop YouTube like I dropped Twitter when they screwed with Nitter.

Re: YouTube gets more aggressive in pushing adblock warnings with countdown timer

#85

Post by matheusmoreira »

Simulacra wrote: post #57

I absolutely will not watch advertisements. Am I unique in this regard? I consciously block out advertisements, mute them, and use every method available to block them.

You're not alone. Nobody wants to see this garbage. I install uBlock Origin on every browser I come across and people always comment on how the web has suddenly become much nicer. They know. Even when they can't explain why, they know.

I too mute my TV and pick up my phone when obnoxious ads start playing. Who wants to listen to this crap? Can you imagine TV companies pushing for technology that disables the mute, change channel and even on/off buttons while ads start playing? Magazines setting themselves on fire if you rip out the ad pages and throw them in the trash?

If it seems like people are accepting of ads, it's really because they think it can't be helped. They think there's nothing they can do to prevent the unending flurry of corporate spam from grabbing their attention. If you show them a better world, I guarantee they'll like it.

Re: YouTube gets more aggressive in pushing adblock warnings with countdown timer

#86

Post by jsnell »

Roark66 wrote: post #81
jsnell wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no way youtube can win this battle using "brute force". The only way they can win this is by offering a new better service, not deteriorating existing ones. What could that new service be? How about recommendations that don't suck? It seems like you're saying that people are mainly using adblockers because the recommendations aren't good enough, and if the recommendations were improved they'd respond by tu…

>It seems like you're saying that people are mainly using adblockers because the recommendations aren't good enough, and if the recommendations were improved they'd respond by turning off the adblock? I can see how what I said could be understood this way, but that's not what I meant. Yes people use adblockers to block ads, but if there was a better recommendation mechanism one could pay for and that paid service als…

> I can see how what I said could be understood this way, but that's not what I meant. Yes people use adblockers to block ads, but if there was a better recommendation mechanism one could pay for and that paid service also blocked ads people like myself might pay for it.

Fair enough, sorry for misunderstanding!

The problem I see with that idea is that whenever YouTube tries to differentiate Premium via features (e.g. background play, downloads, better video quality) people complain about that too. You can see an example of this as the top voted comments of this submission, about "[making] the original product so awful deliberately only so they can shove subscription down your throat".

> The value of a person's attention is not zero, even if that person blocks ads. First if people use your service for free, they aren't using the competition. You aren't making much money, but at the same time you're taking away potential revenue from the competition.

They're people who aren't willing to pay or watch ads: they'd generate no revenue for another service either. There's a limit to how much "data to improve services" one can use before running into diminishing returns.

Network effects are of course a possibility, but I don't know that viewers would follow other viewers to a new platform that directly. This is a two-sided marketplace so in principle you'd expect a feedback cycle: viewers go where the creators are, the creators go where the viewers are. Except here it's not the case that all viewers are equal. Some of them won't be generating any revenue for the creators. Why would the creators chase that audience?

Re: YouTube gets more aggressive in pushing adblock warnings with countdown timer

#89

Post by utucuro »

mPReDiToR wrote: post #52
phito wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about stopping using Gmail then?

Aside from the issue here, and the PRIVACY mess, it's the best thing since email was invented. Availability, universally accepted, free (to the product: you), large storage, easy to use. There is no serious competition, and I say this as a Hotmail user since well before Larry and Sergey opened their doors. I have a vanity domain which MX's to Gmail so I can move it to another service _when_ they bumrush me, but I don…

AS far as I'm concerned, the best thing since email was invented is Fastmail. The non-monetary costs of using gmail over a longer period are far higher than paying money for Fastmail. Most importantly, I know I can rely on my email.

Re: YouTube gets more aggressive in pushing adblock warnings with countdown timer

#90

Post by dxdm »

_V_ wrote: post #63
dxdm wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if it's true, but what you're writing makes it sound like you feel entitled to use their product for free. Not a compelling argument.

I don't. That's why I explicitly wrote that I don't mind paying for a service and also gave an example of another service I'm paying for... See the very last sentence in my post. edit: To make it really clear, Odysee is not the only thing I'm paying for. I'm also paying for example for Apple Family, HBO GO, Spotify, mailhosting etc. I'm also sponsoring SponsorBlock extension. As I said: I don't have a problem with pa…

I'm sorry, but it doesn't matter that you're paying for other services, or your taxes, or for your groceries. If you're using that particular service for free in a manner that's not intended, and you justify it by saying that you don't like the way they run things... then that's a questionable moral position, and not a compelling argument.

I'm not a big fan of everything YouTube does either, but this stance of yours bothers me, too.

> I have a big problem when someone deliberately and needlesly cripples a product just so they can sell you a solution to the (unnecessary) problem they artificially created

The whole of YouTube is artificially created. It wouldn't be there without the people who run it, and they get to decide how they want to monetize. You can take it or leave it, or say "screw your rules, I'm using this anyway". Just realize that this is not necessarily read as some form of rebellion against the man or whatever, but instead as a neat excuse to help yourself to some free content.

The content on YouTube you're watching also would not exist without the people who create it. It would be nice if you gave back to at least some of them, somehow, in a way that's independent from YouTube. That would be a more interesting and constructive position to take.

(edited spelling)

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