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Dark pattern: how YouTube makes sure you don’t always “skip ad”

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Re: Dark pattern: how YouTube makes sure you don’t always “skip ad”

#161

Post by r00fus »

gonzo41 wrote: post #64
ghoomketu wrote: post #43

People complain a lot about Youtube ads and how awful they are but as a thought experiment I once tried to imagine the amount of storage and bandwidth Youtube must need everyday to operate. So after some basic research it looks like they need to add almost 1 petabytes of storage and I couldn't find much info on the bandwidth and servers it uses. As much as I don't like Google for their shady business practices, I cou…

I often feel that the 90's child me would slap me across the face in disgust at how casually I take for granted the age of magic we live in now.

We had books in the pre-internet era warning us of the corporate dystopia we potentially faced. Well, we're here. Massive benefits, but all control by massive multi-trillion dollar megacorps - easily corrupted.

It's like that scene in Spirited Away where Chihiro's parents start "pigging out".

Re: Dark pattern: how YouTube makes sure you don’t always “skip ad”

#162

Post by ufmace »

paulpauper wrote: post #74
ghoomketu wrote: post #43

People complain a lot about Youtube ads and how awful they are but as a thought experiment I once tried to imagine the amount of storage and bandwidth Youtube must need everyday to operate. So after some basic research it looks like they need to add almost 1 petabytes of storage and I couldn't find much info on the bandwidth and servers it uses. As much as I don't like Google for their shady business practices, I cou…

google and YouTube generate insane profits. they could show fewer ads and it would not impair the functionality of YouTube

If they're really generating "insane profits", how do I invest in them and get myself a chunk of those "insane profits"?

Re: Dark pattern: how YouTube makes sure you don’t always “skip ad”

#163

Post by JulianWasTaken »

gadrev wrote: post #139
phh wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI, several alternative youtube frontend apps are available for "Chromecast with Google TV" (which is just an Android TV device), for instance the opensource Newpipe. (Though this is piracy, and you shouldn't do piracy, because piracy hurts Google and content creators - who will gladly take donations -)

But you can't "cast" from Newpipe (you'd have cast the phone's screen and play stuff in Newpipe in your phone). Which anyways is what I do when I start getting too many ads (typically I just shutdown the TV and try to time turning it back on so the ad is finishing. it's something of a mini-game). EDIT: I'm referring to the original chromecast, not the new "Chromecast with Google TV"

You can use the regular YouTube app from your phone purely as a remote, and cast from it to SmartTubeNext on your TV.

Re: Dark pattern: how YouTube makes sure you don’t always “skip ad”

#164

Post by josteink »

dec0dedab0de wrote: post #157

I think the biggest dark pattern is allowing skipable ads to be long. Sometimes over an hour. I spent some time in the hospital not too long ago, and it was physically painful for me to move enough to skip an ad. I would have been fine watching 30-60 second ads without skipping, but they just put infomercials in the middle of the video you're watching. it is outrageous.

And you never once considered going premium to remove the ads?

Surely someone must have been able to help you out with that if you couldn’t do it yourself?

The answer exists, it’s right there with buttons for clicking given to you by Google, but people here on HN so often seem so entirely blindsided and insist there’s no such thing as ad-free Youtube.

What gives? I just don't get it.

Re: Dark pattern: how YouTube makes sure you don’t always “skip ad”

#165

Post by gniv »

dec0dedab0de wrote: post #157

I think the biggest dark pattern is allowing skipable ads to be long. Sometimes over an hour. I spent some time in the hospital not too long ago, and it was physically painful for me to move enough to skip an ad. I would have been fine watching 30-60 second ads without skipping, but they just put infomercials in the middle of the video you're watching. it is outrageous.

My theory is that showing those ads is a bit of a check: "Are you still there or just letting it play unattended to make money for your favorite creator?"

Re: Dark pattern: how YouTube makes sure you don’t always “skip ad”

#166

Post by sophacles »

josteink wrote: post #164
dec0dedab0de wrote: post #157

I think the biggest dark pattern is allowing skipable ads to be long. Sometimes over an hour. I spent some time in the hospital not too long ago, and it was physically painful for me to move enough to skip an ad. I would have been fine watching 30-60 second ads without skipping, but they just put infomercials in the middle of the video you're watching. it is outrageous.

And you never once considered going premium to remove the ads? Surely someone must have been able to help you out with that if you couldn’t do it yourself? The answer exists, it’s right there with buttons for clicking given to you by Google, but people here on HN so often seem so entirely blindsided and insist there’s no such thing as ad-free Youtube. What gives? I just don't get it.

Ad-free youtube doesn't get rid of "paid content" in videos. "paid content" is just ads. So if you pay for youtube premium you get rid of some ads, not all the ads.

Re: Dark pattern: how YouTube makes sure you don’t always “skip ad”

#167

Post by cpeterso »

jrootabega wrote: post #85
nemacol wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main reason I don't want to pay is it cannot remove the ads the content creators put in themselves. I could see paying if it was a totally clean experience but to pay and get rid of part/half of the ads I would see does not seem worth it to me.

Even setting aside the explicit ads, there's also the fact that the vast majority of YouTube content has been diluted and corrupted to be a vehicle for YouTube ads.

For example, I read that so many YouTube videos are stretched out to ten minutes because that's the minimum duration to get two ads on your videos.

Re: Dark pattern: how YouTube makes sure you don’t always “skip ad”

#168

Post by cpeterso »

hundchenkatze wrote: post #95
rocqua wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found a youtube premium-lite option. It removes adds, but does not allow background play and a few other perks. But it only costs 6 euros. I found it a better deal than premium so I downgraded.

This would be great, exactly what I need. But they don't seem to offer it everywhere. I get the message "This offer is not available" when I go to https://www.youtube.com/premiumlite

Looks like YouTube Premium Lite is only available in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/2/22605455/youtube-premium-l...

Re: Dark pattern: how YouTube makes sure you don’t always “skip ad”

#169

Post by Retric »

ufmace wrote: post #162
paulpauper wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

google and YouTube generate insane profits. they could show fewer ads and it would not impair the functionality of YouTube

If they're really generating "insane profits", how do I invest in them and get myself a chunk of those "insane profits"?

Get a time machine. Those profits are already baked into the stock price.

Re: Dark pattern: how YouTube makes sure you don’t always “skip ad”

#170

Post by dghughes »

I watch a lot of YouTube on my smart TV even an old Roku but after the changes to the frequency of ads it was unbearable. It was to the point where I would mute the TV and put my hand up to block the ad from my eyes. I would also press back a few times to exit out of the ad and most times if done twice no ad plays.

Ads always cut off the first 5 seconds of the videos, and ads were popping up seconds after the initial two ads, and then ads cut in mid sentence. No thought of the content presented like a TV ad would do just stuff in as many as possible.

Eventually I gave in an paid the $10/moth. YouTube is broken and unwatchable without doing it that way at least on a smart TV or a Roku.

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