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YouTube's Ad Blocker Crackdown Spurs Record Uninstalls

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Re: YouTube's Ad Blocker Crackdown Spurs Record Uninstalls

#111

The thing the gets me the most, maybe, about this situation is that there can't be that many of us using ad blockers, eh? As big and as profitable as Youtube is, do they really need to come after such a small segment? It seems so petty and venal.

The average user has seen an enormous increase in the # of ads on YouTube in the past few years. Multiple, unskippable pre-roll ads before a 3 minute video. They’re downloading the blockers in enormous volumes nowadays.

Re: YouTube's Ad Blocker Crackdown Spurs Record Uninstalls

#112

I wonder if this will increase subs to nebula? I have ubo and sponsor block installed but I still prefer to watch people over on nebula vs youtube, not only for the lack of ads, but also sponsor spots (sb doesn't always detect them) and the massive amount of begs for patreon, subs, etc. Honestly, if I have to pay $14 / mo or watch ads? I'm just going to focus on other hobbies like reading.

I hope so, Nebula is great. +1 to reading, also. I used to spend way to much time on "junk food" articles & podcasts on the internet, but switched to reading more books & audiobooks about 5-10 years ago. Much better content-to-fluff ratio.

I used to read a LOT as a kid, but it gradually wound down in adulthood for some reason. Then I tried audio books and man, they're fantastic, esp for non fiction.

Re: YouTube's Ad Blocker Crackdown Spurs Record Uninstalls

#116

I took off adblocking on Youtube just to see if I could get along with continuing to use Youtube in a frictionless way. The answer is no, because Youtube's current crop of ads is full of outright scams and conspiracy theory stuff. Content that would probably be massively de-emphasized by the youtube algorithm or even outright banned is apparently okay to show as long as you pay Google a few thousand dollars to run it…

Remember when people were voluntarily allowing Google ads through their ad blockers, because they were text-only, clearly marked as ads, mostly for legit products/businesses, and often had some relevance to the site you were looking at?

Those were the days.

Re: YouTube's Ad Blocker Crackdown Spurs Record Uninstalls

#117

I took off adblocking on Youtube just to see if I could get along with continuing to use Youtube in a frictionless way. The answer is no, because Youtube's current crop of ads is full of outright scams and conspiracy theory stuff. Content that would probably be massively de-emphasized by the youtube algorithm or even outright banned is apparently okay to show as long as you pay Google a few thousand dollars to run it…

Same experience. The ads weren't just things I didn't want to see, I found it viscerally disturbing that some of the scams I saw are getting pushed in front of kids and teens. Have the ads always been this way on youtube?

Re: YouTube's Ad Blocker Crackdown Spurs Record Uninstalls

#118

I took off adblocking on Youtube just to see if I could get along with continuing to use Youtube in a frictionless way. The answer is no, because Youtube's current crop of ads is full of outright scams and conspiracy theory stuff. Content that would probably be massively de-emphasized by the youtube algorithm or even outright banned is apparently okay to show as long as you pay Google a few thousand dollars to run it…

Online advertising is insidious because it isn't monitored or regulated to nearly the same extent as TV, radio and print ads.

Back in the mid-2000s, Google was rife with ads for:

- 'cheap RX meds from Canada',

- 'free iPod' (if you sign up w CC for 12 random services)

- 'mail order brides from [war torn country]'

- 'legal grow at home indica buds'

Those are just the ones I remember. I'm sure the modern ads aren't any better, I just don't see them thanks to Adblock.

Re: YouTube's Ad Blocker Crackdown Spurs Record Uninstalls

#119
My first thought was, "There is no way that's true. Most people would just toggle it off for YouTube. Most of them give you a big on/off button." Sure enough, the headline is a technically-true lie (emphasis mine):

> Previously unreported figures from ad blocking companies indicate that YouTube’s crackdown is working, with hundreds of thousands of people uninstalling ad blockers in October. The available data suggests last month saw a record number of adblockers uninstalled—and also a record for new ad blocker installs as people sought alternatives that wouldn’t trigger YouTube’s dreaded popup.

Re: YouTube's Ad Blocker Crackdown Spurs Record Uninstalls

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a stretch. Even if Google, an entirely metrics driven company, decided to destroy their metrics, there isn't any good alternatives to Youtube. At best you'll be going to TikTok, but most YouTube channels can't be sustained on TikTok's revenue model.

They don't have to destroy their own metrics as a whole to drive away your niche audience as an individual creator. I can certainly imagine scenarios that would increase Google's metrics, user base, and ad revenue while causing problems for some existing creators. The push towards non-youtube channels like Nebula and Patreon signals that some creators are at least worried about their entire audience being delivered v…

This is massive cope. These are second or third order effects that will likely impact a very small segment of the population, if they will impact any at all. This is not like when Youtube killed short form content a decade ago. Show me a Youtuber that has been affected by this. Ping me in a year too.

And no, going to these other sites is not a signal. Creators use these sites as additional revenue sources by posting early and exclusive content. They funnel their audience to them through other sites. No one discovers new content on these sites.

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