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SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

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61–70 of 412 posts

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#61

As a YouTuber, I’m conflicted about this. My main channel (non-tech) is small, but is monetised, and YouTube see fit to throw me a _very_ variable amount of money every month. CPMs are down right now so revenue has tanked along with it, it’ll pick back up at some point, but the variability is itself the pain point. My videos are relatively expensive and time consuming to make, but people seem to find them useful, and…

I think we need to rethink the whole "advertising as a way to support creators" model. Support comes in many forms, and decoupling knowledge of a thing from being paid for good work would likely result in higher quality outcomes.

It's possible there's something to the Nostr model (https://nostr.com/) that could be of use here. A key part of Nostr is the "zap" system. In addition to allowing users to just merely upvote posts, users can also choose to zap a post, which is just a method of sending Bitcoin to the poster's wallet.

Think of it like a tip system, as it directly and concretely rewards users for good content, by exchanging a token of direct value (money).

With a system like this, advertising is something you do to get recognized, while the zaps are something you receive as a reward for valuable work (by whatever metric your audience appreciates).

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#63

As a YouTuber, I’m conflicted about this. My main channel (non-tech) is small, but is monetised, and YouTube see fit to throw me a _very_ variable amount of money every month. CPMs are down right now so revenue has tanked along with it, it’ll pick back up at some point, but the variability is itself the pain point. My videos are relatively expensive and time consuming to make, but people seem to find them useful, and…

I will either block/skip ads or not use youtube instead of having a "sponsored" segment where you talk about some product (basically an ad) you could just make the whole video about that product, and thus sponsorblock wouldnt really be used - i mean, sorta like product reviews

"I will either block/skip ads or not use youtube"

I agree. But to add, if youtube went all out and made ad blocking sufficiently difficult I probably would pay for it.

I fixed my dryer some time back. Watching a youtube video on how to probably saved me multiple hours then figuring it out all on my own. I use it to fix cars.

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#65

i have been using sponsor block firefox extension for some time. It's incredible. Youtubers I watch (LTT, marcushouse) are typically shilling crap like vpn or those stupid ray bud things. Youtube is not usable without adblocker and annoying without sponsorblock

Those channels are essentially informercials with brand deals. Rather than skipping sponsors, I dumped them altogether. LTT content especially has become far more vacuous over time. It's as if the videos are a vessel around which to place ads.

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#66
post #42
post #4

[flagged]

It is not a free web if the creators I watch are being paid off to promote and never criticize corpos in their industry. Block all ads of all kinds. I do not want to watch advertizer os sponsor friendly creators. I want people talking to me honestly like they might off camera. We must switch to micro transaction pay-per-view model like LBRY to eliminate all ads and ensure creators get paid better without having their…

Microtransactions won't fix this, for the same reason that paid cable channels and newspapers still show ads. The temptation to double-dip is too great.

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#67
Related:

iSponsorBlockTV v2: SponsorBlock for TVs and game consoles - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37873749 - Oct 2023 (115 comments)

SponsorBlock – Skip sponsor, filler, intro, outro, like/sub reminders on YouTube - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35733993 - April 2023 (4 comments)

SponsorBlock – Skip over sponsorship segments on YouTube - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26886275 - April 2021 (174 comments)

An open-source browser extension to auto-skip sponsored segments on YouTube - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21743196 - Dec 2019 (101 comments)

Show HN: SponsorBlock – Skip sponsorship segments of YouTube videos - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20778926 - Aug 2019 (137 comments)

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#68

Sponsorblock is not as blunt a tool as people make it here. You can only block specific type of ads and you can whitelist whole channels which I do for some niche channels I subscribe to. In Android, I use Tubular [1], the NewPipe fork that integrates Sponsorblock and ReturnYoutube Dislike. My only additional request in this awesome app is if we can download the video after snipping out the sponsor block sections. [1…

That sounds useful, thanks! Odd that it's not on any of the stores (eg F-droid).

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#69
post #65

i have been using sponsor block firefox extension for some time. It's incredible. Youtubers I watch (LTT, marcushouse) are typically shilling crap like vpn or those stupid ray bud things. Youtube is not usable without adblocker and annoying without sponsorblock

Those channels are essentially informercials with brand deals. Rather than skipping sponsors, I dumped them altogether. LTT content especially has become far more vacuous over time. It's as if the videos are a vessel around which to place ads.

Hard agree.

I used to watch LMG all the time, then it felt like the content turned to infomercials.

Then that whole drama thing went on and the fact that (in a leaked video) they had a manager say "you gonna get up on that table and dance for me" at the end of a HR meeting with zero reactions aside from laughing led me to fully block all of their channels.

To me it's clear they have an internal culture problem that came along with the money.

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#70

As a YouTuber, I’m conflicted about this. My main channel (non-tech) is small, but is monetised, and YouTube see fit to throw me a _very_ variable amount of money every month. CPMs are down right now so revenue has tanked along with it, it’ll pick back up at some point, but the variability is itself the pain point. My videos are relatively expensive and time consuming to make, but people seem to find them useful, and…

Obviously these sponsored segments are effective marketing otherwise no one would pay for them, but I'm sure they're far less effective with users who seek out tools like sponsorblock.

One thing I've always wondered is do sponsors request watchtime data for their sponsored segments? I'm under the impression that they don't, which is wild to me.

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