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SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

sponsor.ajay.app

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Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#91
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But another reason why sponsor reads annoy me is that it breaks the youtube premium deal. I totally get that, and I feel the same way when I see yet another read as a viewer and premium subscriber. I don’t really have an answer (and if I did, I’d be doing it already), but I will say that my (subjective, based on my ad placement strategy and viewer profile) experience is that premium views are worth less than non-pr…

Linus Sebastian has said the exact opposite of that whenever he's discussed the breakdown of where the money that Linus Media Group makes comes from. Premium views are worth more than free views.

A game streamer I sometimes watch also said something similar - that "youtube premium" views are tracked separately and worth significant multiples per view compared to those that get ads.

They also said it isn't variable in the same way for what ads can get assigned to your content, or for "limited monetization" content (which apparently pretty much sets the ad income to zero).

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#92
post #8

The creator of this extension also makes DeArrow [1]. It replaces the clickbait thumbnails and titles with less annoying ones. I highly recommend it. [1] https://dearrow.ajay.app/

Oh my god, what a difference it made. Thanks for sharing this. I do wish this could have just been a feature tacked on the Sponsor Block extension, especially considering it has features which rely on that data, but otherwise it's perfect.

For those that haven't watched the demo video: for videos that don't have community thumbnails or titles it has options allowing it to automatically pick a random (non-sponsor segment) screenshot and automatically clean up the title (remove emoji, fix capitalization).

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#93
post #8

The creator of this extension also makes DeArrow [1]. It replaces the clickbait thumbnails and titles with less annoying ones. I highly recommend it. [1] https://dearrow.ajay.app/

I used to use it, unfortunately it doesn't work so well with titles. It lowercases unknown acronyms and initcaps all words even in languages which Do Not Use This Capitalization For Titles.

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#94
post #4

[flagged]

I wasn’t gonna buy the thing being advertised to me, so why not save us all some bandwidth and time? Or if you think that I was gonna buy it but I didn’t know it, then you’re admitting you want to manipulate me, which only strengthens my argument for my right to block it. Advertising is creating consensus without consent. It’s information warefare, propaganda, psychological manipulation… whatever you want to call it,…

Even without such a hardline stance on advertising: there is simply no other way to avoid sponsored YouTube segments despite being a YouTube Premium subscriber and sponsoring a channel directly. Maybe not everyone agrees with the former but I've not seen a single debate against the latter.

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same feeling here. It's gotten twice as expensive, which is insane by itself. But worse is the jarring rotation of sponsored advertisers. it's reminiscent of NASCAR. Or, like being a kid forced to watch advertising during TV breaks, wondering why the TV screen istrying to sell me cigarettes. It's maybe a bit social-media-toxic to say that some youtubers are my "favorite people" in that i look forward to their takes o…

I always wondered why YouTube themselves didn't start restricting sponsored segments. I don't necessarily agree with the idea (not a big fan of how restrictive youtube already is) but I always thought it was odd they were ok with their premium offering being devalued by sponsored segments.

They could stop sponsored segments, but they couldn't stop creators and users from going to other platforms where they allow sponsored segments. They have far less control than e.g. Apple with the app store (where they literally can stop other app stores from ever coming into being, barring regulation that changes that).

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#96
post #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).

It is in the Izzyondroid repo: https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/org.polymorphicshad...

I can also highly recommend the app sponsored by Louis Rossmann: Grayjay. It can do everything that Tubular does and much, much more. It also uses a plugin architecture so you don't have to wait for an update of the app when Youtube blocks it again. https://grayjay.app/

It's also on the Play Store but without any plugins due to Google policy.

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#97

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…

The thing that sucks is I pay for YouTube Premium to remove ads then youtubers always have sponsored segments. It makes my $20/mo useless because I'm spending time watching ads still. I don't have a solution I'm just stating my perspective on it. That said, SponsorBlock has been around for years. I've been using it for as long as I can remember. Basically any decent-sized channel's videos already have the sponsored s…

Exactly why I instantly stopped paying for Spotify. They even went so far as to have regular advertising before podcasts.

Not paying for shit like that, only because they put a clause in the TOS that says ad free only means ad free music.

I have no qualms using any ad blocking option available. And I am happily paying for creators using patreon or other means they provide.

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#98

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

The same dude (Ajay) also made a "clickbait title and thumbnail fix": DeArrow https://dearrow.ajay.app/

It's not as well known but also really great once you get used to it.

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? As a HN-er/content creator, I don't see why it would be taken for granted that people need to be paid for their hobbies. In fact many people post online for enjoyment.

I’m sort of amazed this has to be explicitly stated: Because most YouTube creators (even the hobbyists) are at least partially motivated by money, and if you take away all the money they will likely make less content or stop altogether. I understand that it’s fun to get things for free, but that’s usually not sustainable.

If they want to make money, they are totally free to have a website hosting their content behind a paywall.

Than I can decide if their content is worth money to me (let me tell you: in 999 out of 1000 "creators" it isn't).

But I already pay for a few select content creators. And happily shell out more than I would pay YT for an adfree experience.

Re: SponsorBlock – skip sponsor segments on YouTube

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, I totally get that. I’m no fan of being advertised to myself and as a premium subscriber I do find sponsor segments - especially poorly-places ones - just as annoying as everyone else when watching YouTube - which is why I said I was conflicted in my earlier comment. However as I mentioned in another reply in this thread, removing routes to monetisation and devaluing content in general (by making it be effectiv…

I'm not trying to be offensive or hostile but, as much as I value the higher-quality content on youtube, if youtube went back to being just a place people posted videos of themselves doing stuff instead of what effectively amounts to studios making youtube content, I'd consider that a win. Again, not that your content isn't likely appreciated by your audience and valuable. I just miss the days of youtube just being a…

D'accord
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