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YouTube's Anti-Adblock and uBlock Origin

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Re: YouTube's Anti-Adblock and uBlock Origin

#441

Post by daveevad »

ohhnoodont wrote: post #423
garciansmith wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree to an extent, to me the larger issue is that Youtube has become the default video hosting platform with no real competition. I adblock everything but I am sympathetic to the idea that video hosting costs money. But I watch, on average, less than 1 hour of Youtube videos a month, so paying for Youtube makes no sense. Plus I have issues with privacy (part of the reason I've never created a Youtube account…

Especially when youtube's early success was built on piracy. That continued for a long time even after Google's acquisition. Arguably still is a major contributor regardless of Content ID.

Between Youtube and PirateBay, who do you think has distributed more unauthorized copyrighted works?

Re: YouTube's Anti-Adblock and uBlock Origin

#442

Post by Zuiii »

Youtube is entitled to the technical shenanigans it uses to force people to watch ads and I am entitled to the technical shenanigans I use to avoid them on my own device.

If youtube blocks off access completely, people will stop considering it a reliable video host and another "default" website will take its place.

Re: YouTube's Anti-Adblock and uBlock Origin

#443

Post by garciansmith »

belltaco wrote: post #431
garciansmith wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree to an extent, to me the larger issue is that Youtube has become the default video hosting platform with no real competition. I adblock everything but I am sympathetic to the idea that video hosting costs money. But I watch, on average, less than 1 hour of Youtube videos a month, so paying for Youtube makes no sense. Plus I have issues with privacy (part of the reason I've never created a Youtube account…

> But I watch, on average, less than 1 hour of Youtube videos a month, so paying for Youtube makes no sense What's your issue with having to watch ads if you watch less than 1 hour of video content a month? > I wish there was a free and open video platform that had a funding model like Wikipedia, where people could upload things that they had no intention of "monetizing" There's a lot of content on YouTube that peopl…

> What's your issue with having to watch ads if you watch less than 1 hour of video content a month?

Moral issues, security issues, etc. These have been discussed in pretty much every thread about adblocking ever, really. I get that you might disagree with them, of course, but no need to rehash the here. I don't even like company logos displayed on my clothing, so you can guess which side of the "how much do you hate ads?" spectrum I'm on.

> There's a lot of content on YouTube that people upload that they have no intention of monetizing.

So on those you never see ads? Hilariously I don't actually know how Youtube works since the only time I've seen ads is when someone who doesn't use an adblocker shows me something (i.e., extremely rarely). Firefox + uBlock Origin (and Adblock Plus before that) has been enough to guard me for as long as I can remember.

> Why don't you or someone else try starting one?

Well, I can't speak for anyone else but I'm a middle-aged historian, so starting a video hosting platform is far beyond my expertise. Though in general asking someone "why don't you just go build it yourself" in response to a complaint about a service, software, or hardware item is a bit trite.

Re: YouTube's Anti-Adblock and uBlock Origin

#444

Post by perryizgr8 »

plutoh28 wrote: post #290

Ads are the unfortunate trade off we make to keep things free. I hate ads. I hate the idea of ads. Tailored propaganda to manipulate you into purchasing product just sounds awful… especially when it’s targeted at children (a demographic where advertising is especially effective). I think YouTube’s current system is a fair deal. You either watch the content and pay by watching ads, or you pay by purchasing YouTube pre…

> You either watch the content and pay by watching ads, or you pay by purchasing YouTube premium and still get shown ads.

Fixed that for you.

Re: YouTube's Anti-Adblock and uBlock Origin

#445

Post by screamingninja »

belltaco wrote: post #431
garciansmith wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree to an extent, to me the larger issue is that Youtube has become the default video hosting platform with no real competition. I adblock everything but I am sympathetic to the idea that video hosting costs money. But I watch, on average, less than 1 hour of Youtube videos a month, so paying for Youtube makes no sense. Plus I have issues with privacy (part of the reason I've never created a Youtube account…

> But I watch, on average, less than 1 hour of Youtube videos a month, so paying for Youtube makes no sense What's your issue with having to watch ads if you watch less than 1 hour of video content a month? > I wish there was a free and open video platform that had a funding model like Wikipedia, where people could upload things that they had no intention of "monetizing" There's a lot of content on YouTube that peopl…

> Why don't you or someone else try starting one?

https://joinpeertube.org/

There are several instances, but that is not the solution to what the parent comment is pointing out. Videos are being published on YouTube because of network effect; it has become the defacto platform.

Re: YouTube's Anti-Adblock and uBlock Origin

#446

Post by [deleted] »

olig15 wrote: post #321
ExMachina73 wrote: post #75

There is an adblocker for Youtube. It's called Youtube Premium for $13.99 a month. Youtube is a business pure and simple. You either pay with your attention/time (ads) or cash money. I think its hard for people to realize they are like any other streaming service like Netflix, Disney+ or Hulu.

They’re not the same though. YouTube doesn’t make the content.

[deleted]

Re: YouTube's Anti-Adblock and uBlock Origin

#447

Post by caconym_ »

matheusmoreira wrote: post #429
caconym_ wrote: post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not really sure what you're getting at here. By all accounts, YouTube is implementing countermeasures that block adblock users from watching videos on their site. What is functionally different between that and returning a 402, especially since you can in fact pay for ad-free YouTube?

Nope. Still free, they just managed to circumvent my browser extension. They're not even supposed to know I have it installed. They need to either start charging everyone for access or stop complaining. I pay for access to a lot of things but I'm not paying money to avoid ads. I sure as hell am not gonna pay money to watch videos with hard coded ads.

> Nope.

What part of my comment, specifically, is this responding to?

> They need to either start charging everyone for access or stop complaining.

Why?

Re: YouTube's Anti-Adblock and uBlock Origin

#448

Post by briHass »

fennecbutt wrote: post #343

Fucking hell, if you don't like ads then just don't use YouTube. Everyone bitches about this sort of stuff and then refuses to boycott. Look at the fucking shitshow Twitter has become under ol Musky...and have people left? Yeah, some for sure, but not very many at all. The problem isn't just these companies, we can't act like the problem isn't us as well. Pay for their services, or stop using them. If enough people d…

I don't care about YT and would happily use anything else. However, I do care about the content placed there exclusively. Much of that older video may not be available elsewhere, and it was probably uploaded at the time under the assumption that it would remain freely available. I'm usually not watching videos popular enough to make any money for the creators. They certainly didn't have any exclusivity arrangement.

Re: YouTube's Anti-Adblock and uBlock Origin

#449

Post by boredpeter »

eqvinox wrote: post #427

This is of course bringing up the discussion on the "morality" of Adblocking. I'd like to point out something that I don't think is getting enough attention. There was a point in the past where video platforms were competing, and by no means was it clear that YouTube would end up dominating this area to the point of being close to a monopoly. When YouTube won that race, they won it with a given set of parameters, inc…

This reminds me of the concept of predatory pricing which is when a business lowers their prices to below cost in order to drive out all its competitors and create a monopoly. https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance/gui...

I do wonder if it could be argued (maybe even in the current monopoly case against google) whether youtube engaged in predatory or below-cost pricing in order to drive out all of its competitors, establish a monopoly, and now use that monopoly in order to "raise prices" i.e. increase the amount of ads on its service in order to maximize its profit margins.

Although this does seem to be the business plan of basically every startup out there. Get VC funding, run at a loss and burn through money but gain a monopoly market share, and once you've done that you can raise your prices and have a profit margin that far exceeds what should be normal.

Re: YouTube's Anti-Adblock and uBlock Origin

#450

Post by codeTired »

wdb wrote: post #288
deadmutex wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have seen this becoming more and more common on open source projects and totally free services, where people act as if they are entitled to something as if it is their god given right. Do you count YouTube as a "free service" (with ads) in this case? I wonder if there is an overlap with people that expect free stuff and people that use uBO on YouTube. YT does offer most users YT premium, which gives users an ad f…

YT Premium costs more than Netflix or Disney+. Quite pricey to get ad free Youtube videos and not as much content than normal streaming sites.

You are still served ads in videos. It sucks paying for premium and your content creators use 3 minutes of 15 minute video to promote “nordVpn”.
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