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YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads

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Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads

#361

Post by GuB-42 »

BobaFloutist wrote: post #312
GuB-42 wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then, it there is no incentive to police the platform, there should be sexual content in ads, and yet, I don't even remember seeing ads for vibrators or other "soft" adult stuff. I don't remember seeing ads for weapons either. There are scams, but not many obvious counterfeits. To be fair, I block ads, so I don't see many, but the few times I don't have them blocked, they are usually the kind you see on TV: big b…

There are ads for sports betting though, which is absolutely "adult", it's just less likely to trigger culture-war arguments.

That's actually what I mean, YouTube polices ads based on how controversial it may be, it means they care. Probably because it may hurt their viewership, or drive off other advertisers.

And they don't seem to do it to comply with some laws, or making it more kid friendly since, as you said, sports betting gets a pass, even if it is absolutely "adult" and maybe even illegal in some countries. Obviously, scams are illegal too.

It just mean they think scams don't give them enough of a bad reputation to police against, which is weird do me, one would think that reputable brands wouldn't want to appear next to scammers.

Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads

#362

Post by throw310822 »

marbu wrote: post #360
throw310822 wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Obviously nothing is forcing Google to deal with this in any way Really? I mean, they're getting paid by a scammer who uses provably fake and deceptive content to prey on its victims; they have been alerted to the situation, they claim they reviewed it, and that they think it's fine. What could go wrong?

Yeah. This is why I doubt it's a good strategy for Google in the long term. Sooner or later, someone will be finally pissed off enough to go after this practice (either a government or another big US company). That said, there seems to be no legal way for a big Czech company to go neither against Google or the scammers, otherwise this would have been already resolved. CEZ (one of the companies being impersonated by t…

Thanks. I still don't understand how is it possible that suing youtube doesn't work after having reported the ads and having been told that they're fine. You basically have a written statement from the company that incriminates them.

Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads

#363

Post by juanpicardo »

passwordoops wrote: post #5

They're all like that. A whole back I reported an obvious real estate scam using Wayne Gretzky and some Blue Jays player (I'm in Canada). The reply was it didn't break any policy. When ads are the primary source of revenue, there's zero incentive to police the platform

Last time I reported one the replied said that even thought the ad broke their policies, they wouldn't remove it

Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads

#364

Post by johny115 »

That explains everything. In my country Czechia, there are ongoing scam ads on YouTube and Instagram where the president of our country supposedly passed some law to give every citizen free money, if they invest via some broker into our biggest energy producer.

It links to fake news site (copy of the biggest news site in the country), with fake news detailing our president just passed and to rush to get your free money. It's absolutely insane. I reported it multiple times and always just get "it doesnt break any policices". What? :D

It's pure cancer. I only saw this because of the recent YouTube adblock drama after disabling my uBlock after years. YouTube wants me hard to get back to watch ads, these ads, yea thanks no. At least some ads on Instagram are relevant.

Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads

#365

Post by tivert »

raphman wrote: post #314
tivert wrote: post #163

I love scam youtube ads. Some of them are so bad, they're good. I especially like the ones that layer in a totally fake creation story, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRl2aGUlu04 .

Hah, these magic-heater ads seems to be more common than I thought. In another comment in this thread, I just linked to a different one (in German): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WorrpfjAYdc Yours is much more interesting though. Here's Big Clive doing a teardown on the device in your video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPnLnk35XsY

Thanks!

> Yours is much more interesting though.

Yeah, it's absurd in so many different ways. My favorite bit is the idea that "big heating" can get a kid expelled from school. It really is a piece of found art.

Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads

#366

Post by LocalH »

carlosjobim wrote: post #334
throwawayffffas wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are two issues. On youtube the content was uploaded by creators on the understanding it would be freely accessible to everyone. Additionally it's a matter of user control and rights. They don't get to tell the user what their user agent does and what content it should fetch or display to the user or what code it should run. It's their website, but it's my device. The next step is for youtube to require you to w…

> On youtube the content was uploaded by creators on the understanding it would be freely accessible to everyone. A lot of YouTube creators make their content for money. YouTube in this case is the layer between creator and watcher, making sure they get paid. Wether that is by ad money or subscription money. Before that, things were much more difficult for video creators. > The next step is for youtube to require you…

Google is an advertising company first and foremost, so I doubt that'll happen.

But, this kind of stuff is a big reason they want remote attestation so badly.

Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads

#367

Post by SZJX »

This has been my experience for a while. The rate of scammy ads has been on the rise recently (I mostly only see them from within my Gmail app) and reporting does nothing. Not a good look for Google though not sure they’ll care as long as money keeps flowing.

Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads

#368

Post by carlosjobim »

LocalH wrote: post #366
carlosjobim wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On youtube the content was uploaded by creators on the understanding it would be freely accessible to everyone. A lot of YouTube creators make their content for money. YouTube in this case is the layer between creator and watcher, making sure they get paid. Wether that is by ad money or subscription money. Before that, things were much more difficult for video creators. > The next step is for youtube to require you…

Google is an advertising company first and foremost, so I doubt that'll happen. But, this kind of stuff is a big reason they want remote attestation so badly.

Video creators can also move to other platforms, or make other platforms that are subscribe only. It only takes a very small percentage of channels currently on YouTube to make for a high quality streaming platform that covers the interests and needs of a large part of potential subscribers.

Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads

#369

Post by ASalazarMX »

mavamaarten wrote: post #192
dspillett wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They're all like that. Yep. I stopped bothering to report obvious scams on Facebook as any response I got was they didn't breach any standards (for others I got no response at all), yet I've had a comment removed because calling someone a numbskull was unduly rude/aggressive/whatever (I forget the exact complaint given). For a while I added comments details why it was so obvious the scam posts were scams, but this…

For Facebook though, I understand why they want the scammers to continue using their platform. Every scammer that uses facebook is an active user, which is a KPI they very much want to keep high.

Twitter is the same. As an exercise in atrition, I've reported dozens of evidently fake accounts pushing the same scam ads (miracle cures and crypto investments mainly), not a single response aside from "We received your report".

In my experience, Twitter was more responsive to reports (even if still wanting) before Elon Musk bought it.

Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads

#370

Post by calamari4065 »

caskstrength wrote: post #358
calamari4065 wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah except the real situation is that you have the "choice" of going to the one and only shop that sells and you are given the "choice" of paying extra, or be forced to sit through a timeshare pitch before you can even pick the thing off the shelf. Except the timeshare pitch is hyper-personalized specifically for you based on your entire internet history everywhere and is designed to yield the maximum chance of mani…

It is not the only shop in town. Vimeo, Twitch, TikTok, Instagram Stories exist and compete with Youtube where their target audiences intersect. Just because you reeeeealy want to watch that particular video that is only on Youtube and you reeeeealy don't want to pay for Premium doesn't change that fact (same as if you wanted some Amazon Essentials shoes that are only available from Amazon and have a very good price…

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