Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Anti-Anti-Adblocker uBlock filter to get rid of the annoying YouTube message

twitter.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

371–380 of 433 posts

Re: Anti-Anti-Adblocker uBlock filter to get rid of the annoying YouTube message

#371

Post by Triphibian »

ThrowawayTestr wrote: post #266
Triphibian wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Content on YouTube is shaped by the incentives Google sets on the platform. So what we get, mostly, is junk that best sells ads, best gets clicks, eyes, attention etc. etc. Just like TV was before pay cable came along. Notice how TV got better when you just paid HBO to show you good shows? Paying Google to watch YouTube without ads is like paying ABC to watch The Bachelor without ads. The content is still trash.

If the only content you find on YouTube is trash that sounds like a you problem. My feed is filled with high effort content.

I have found quality content. Notice how the people who work hard to make content outside YouTube's incentives need an external Patreon to fund their work? Why should I pay to fund the Mr. Beasts while the quality creators have to find funding outside the system? Also: I am sure you've seen it -- a creator you like or admire starts succumbing to the incentives, making sillier and sillier thumbnails or "experimenting" with shorter content. Of course there's great stuff on YouTube, but they exist on YouTube despite Google's best efforts to coarsen them.

Re: Anti-Anti-Adblocker uBlock filter to get rid of the annoying YouTube message

#372

Post by afroboy »

olegious wrote: post #231
inetknght wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only happy ending for everyone is zero ads.

Then subscribe and pay for the service. One way or another someone has to pay for the content.

Even if i pay for the service i still get ads, with apps supporting SponsorBlock Youtube will become 100% clear from ads.

Re: Anti-Anti-Adblocker uBlock filter to get rid of the annoying YouTube message

#373

Post by hkt »

acdha wrote: post #363
hkt wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or use it in a way that doesn't give up your data quite so easily. I recommend Minitube for Linux desktop and NewPipe for android.

It’s wishful thinking to hope that they can’t mine that. If you connect to a Google server, they’re analyzing your activity. Not running their JavaScript disrupts ads but they still get information about what type of videos you like, when and where you watch them, and what kind of devices you use.

True enough. I've thought before it'd be good to cache and mirror YouTube videos as they're watched, and then provide them through IPFS with an index that's shipped around so people can pre-filter their searches and page hits against that index first. Lots of work, obviously. More than I have time for, alas. But I'm confident that'll happen eventually.

Re: Anti-Anti-Adblocker uBlock filter to get rid of the annoying YouTube message

#374

Post by Brian_K_White »

acdha wrote: post #365
Brian_K_White wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Youtube offers a service to advertisers. The users are both the content providers as well as the content consumers, which cancels out. Youtube sells something which is essentially parasitical on the uploaders, who actually create the value that they get to sell to advertisers, but you can say symbiotic instead of parasitic as long as the uploading and downloading are free. The mail example is great. The post office h…

So why do you still use their service if you don’t like them so much? Whether or not you approve of the rules someone sets for use of their private property doesn’t affect their legal rights, so it seems you shouldn’t be helping them.

I use many things that aren't perfect, lacking any better option.

I didn't have time this week to become Jeff Bezos and buy Google and fix Youtube.

Re: Anti-Anti-Adblocker uBlock filter to get rid of the annoying YouTube message

#375

Post by lacrimacida »

MBCook wrote: post #315
lacrimacida wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much from youtube premium goes to creators?

More than the $0 ad blocking gives them? There are anecdotes from creators in this thread explaining they get a lot more from premium than from ads. I hate ads. I like supporting creators. And I like paying for services I use. YouTube premium is absolutely worth it. The number of people I know with very good salaries who refuse to pay a small amount a month for something they use constantly (this or other examples) n…

How much is it going to creators though? If the number is reasonable I’ll sign up for youtube premium now. I doubt it though. And ads for creators don’t do much, especially small channels I follow on youtube.

At this point I prefer to support the creators directly through patreon or other ways than google, who doesn’t care about either users, content makers nor anybody else except their own bottom line.

Re: Anti-Anti-Adblocker uBlock filter to get rid of the annoying YouTube message

#376

Post by mistercheph »

acdha wrote: post #154
Brian_K_White wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Youtube are the ones stealing. I pay for premium, but people who don't and still block ads are not wrong.

YouTube offers their service under specific terms: watch ads or pay directly. If you don’t like it, your only ethical option is not using it. It’s not a basic need and anyone can live a happy and full life without it, there’s no need to pretend that not keeping your side of the agreement is somehow just if you squint hard enough.

I will write down my ethical obligation to Google on a piece of paper and wipe my arse with it. The only ethical obligation that exists is on American legislators and regulators to bring down the hammer of justice, smashing Alphabet and co-conspirators into one hundred thousand grains of sand and blow them into the wind.

And thanks for the life advice acdha, but I'm quite happy to continue 'stealing' every single second of content that I want from Google and pointing out that the platform is filled with trash, incentivizes trash, and we would all be better off if it was gone.

Re: Anti-Anti-Adblocker uBlock filter to get rid of the annoying YouTube message

#377

Post by mistercheph »

cjmcqueen wrote: post #240

I like YouTube Premium. It's worth it. For a bunch of tech people... Wouldn't we see more people wanting to pay for software, a service and intellectual property?

Yes, from an authentic service provider, YouTube Premium is just a donation to Google, who will continue to monetize you in the same way that they have for the last decade, while thanking you greatly for a few extra bones they can throw into the coal-engine of Bard.

Re: Anti-Anti-Adblocker uBlock filter to get rid of the annoying YouTube message

#378

Post by mistercheph »

Google is scared, and desperate to fund it's ML products. This is not an isolated incident, they will continue to burn goodwill across their entire product lineup (Gmail, Maps, Search, Drive) in an effort to liquidate as much as possible to fund an ML war chest.

Re: Anti-Anti-Adblocker uBlock filter to get rid of the annoying YouTube message

#379

Post by inetknght »

olegious wrote: post #231
inetknght wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only happy ending for everyone is zero ads.

Then subscribe and pay for the service. One way or another someone has to pay for the content.

> Then subscribe and pay for the service.

No thanks. Not so long as the service is owned by a corporation who does not respect users.

If I pay for something then I own it. Therefore I should receive a copy of it and can view it as many times as I like on any device I like. Youtube does not do this, so I won't pay for it. I see no value in paying for a delivery mechanism when the mechanism itself is hostile to owning the content.

I'll pay for the content by paying the producers directly if I see value in the content. I have done exactly this.

Re: Anti-Anti-Adblocker uBlock filter to get rid of the annoying YouTube message

#380

Post by olegious »

inetknght wrote: post #379
olegious wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then subscribe and pay for the service. One way or another someone has to pay for the content.

> Then subscribe and pay for the service. No thanks. Not so long as the service is owned by a corporation who does not respect users. If I pay for something then I own it. Therefore I should receive a copy of it and can view it as many times as I like on any device I like. Youtube does not do this, so I won't pay for it. I see no value in paying for a delivery mechanism when the mechanism itself is hostile to owning…

That limits content to the producers that have their own distribution mechanisms, which tend to be larger content creators. the small creator that uses Youtube, Twitch, etc for distribution will be the most hurt by such a policy.

Do you apply the same "If I pay for something then I own it" rule to content you consume via TV subscription services? What about if you pay to view a movie in a theater?

Post reply on HN