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Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

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Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#491
post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YouTube sounds replaceable or unimportant in an ethical sense but in a practical sense it's certainly not that simple from the POV of someone trying to build an audience for their videography or even the audience itself.

Total chicken and egg scenario. That's often the case with monopolies. However, to my knowledge Youtube doesn't force its content creators into exclusivity deals (like, say, Amazon with Kindle Direct) so there may be some leeway there seeing as posting your content on another platform isn't a major risk.

I don't have a definite view on this, but my intuition tells me that there is more to it than just the monopoly effect. If YouTube had developed with additional competitors, it might not necessarily have lead to a better market/space for videographers since having a single platform has its own advantages for the development of the medium/culture/etc.

YouTube is getting more heavy-handed as time goes on, but one reason for this is that they were operating at a loss for so long, and in doing so provided extra utility that we might take for granted.

GP comment mentioned Netflix, but that is in fact a good example of what I mean. They started to struggle because competitors moved into the space. Unlike YouTube, they did not have an unassailable position. Unlike Spotify, they did not have a market that allowed sharing catalogues across platforms.

In a sense, what we interpreted as Netflix showing a viable business model was rather Netflix showing early mover advantage on borrowed time. Having an ecosystem with multiple mediocre services such as what streaming is becoming now would not necessarily have been in the advantage of videographers if it had happened to video-sharing platforms. It would almost certainly have lead to a smaller and less engaged overall audience.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#492
post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

95% of users have no idea what any of this is.

Developer wages would crash through the floor and all the way down to the centre of the Earth if ad blockers really took off without users also accepting micropayments or subscriptions for web services at the same time. Maybe we should be a little bit glad that the main thing keeping massive amounts of money in tech is accepted by users. The key thing that most people in tech don't appear to grok very easily is that…

... and it would still be a great thing for mankind, especially long term.

Google et al in adspace winning is mankind losing. Not hugely, but its clearly there. But the amount of mental gymnastics elite devs have to go through every day to keep feeling OK about their jobs just because of huge paycheck or working on 'cool' problems' is staggering (ignoring how screwing fellow human beings isn't cool in any way for now).

A little sidenote - not an expert on psychology, but it seems to me practically every human being, including psychopathic mass murderers have this desperate desire to feel OK with their actions, the need to justify them so they are at peace with themselves. If I kill, I follow the word of god. If I burn jews and minorities alive in concentration camps, I am just following orders and doing it for greater good of my nation. If I work in amoral company, 1 man doesn't matter anyway, there are tons of others that would happily pick up the job, and look at what open source and cool free apps we give to the world for this little cost of privacy and annoyment. Or I just do it so my kids have better starting position, I am great parent and that s above anything else. Whatever the mental tool, always aiming for the same destination.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#493

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Developer wages would crash through the floor and all the way down to the centre of the Earth if ad blockers really took off without users also accepting micropayments or subscriptions for web services at the same time. Maybe we should be a little bit glad that the main thing keeping massive amounts of money in tech is accepted by users. The key thing that most people in tech don't appear to grok very easily is that…

"The key thing that most people in tech don't appear to grok very easily is that the overwhelming majority of web services like search engines, social media, ad-driven news websites, etc are all things that users place practically zero value on." Then why did we build them? This seems like a massive waste of effort.

Because of scale. A few bucks value per user adds up when there are billions of users.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#494

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't you still hear them?

Technically yes. If you block them through your system volume settings, then YouTube will be none the wiser. If you mute them through YouTube, then they'll probably save that into analytics.

It will still be time and bandwidth lost.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#495
post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Within the context of people who know what uBlock origin is, given that was the original comparison, 'most' sounds accurate.

That was not the context. 4 posts up: "I really don't understand how most people can stand to browse with all the ads "

It would be great if threaded conversation was normalized to anchoring on the original context. Using every reply as a partially-yours-partially-new starting point makes the conversations treacherously convoluted until many points are concurrently true; only if you focus on the right parts.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#496

Uhh what exactly is Google cracking down on if Blokada has always been distributed as an apk precisely because Google has never allowed this sort of thing on Google Play?

Nothing. This post seems to be just a promo with the intention to cause some stir and publicity for Blokada.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#497

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The experience is so awful when I browse on my iPad, instead of my Android phone with Firefox+UBlock. I really don't understand how most people can stand to browse with all the ads. The modern web is so much worse than the pop up ads of the old web.

> The experience is so awful when I browse on my iPad, instead of my Android phone with Firefox+UBlock. I really don't understand how most people can stand to browse with all the ads. Most people don’t. Most people who use anything for iOS tend to use things like: - 1Blocker - super full featured, including custom script and css rules. business model is paid software, not ‘acceptable ads’ paying them for placement or…

Your comment applies to people who would use Firefox+uBlock if they were ok Android (e.g. I use 1Blocker).

GP’s comment was asking about normal people who browse the internet without adblockers on any device.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#498

I categorically reject ads. I want them completely abolished. I will do everything that's in my power to get them out of my machines. If I had just a little bit more courage I would go out at night with cans of spray paint and deface billboards.

> I want them completely abolished.

hmm... you do know this is the reason companies like Google + Meta make lots of money, right?

I know you don't like ads but... a lot of people obviously are ok with them (otherwise businesses wouldn't find it worth it to advertise on those platforms, in hopes of capturing customers/increasing sales)

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#499

I categorically reject ads. I want them completely abolished. I will do everything that's in my power to get them out of my machines. If I had just a little bit more courage I would go out at night with cans of spray paint and deface billboards.

Prepare for a world of ad-free paid subscriptions to everything Google Maps and Youtube. Everything free becomes Netflix, if every advertiser signs up.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#500
post #488
post #471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The key thing that most people in tech don't appear to grok very easily is that the overwhelming majority of web services like search engines, social media, ad-driven news websites, etc are all things that users place practically zero value on. People accept ads because they're a way of paying for things without really thinking about it. If you start asking users for actual money they suddenly decide that all these…

> Imagine a human-curated web. The OG Yahoo! was ahead of its time?

It actually kinda was, Yahoo just kinda got destroyed by going public and endlessly acquiring random tech companies chasing quarterly earnings. But it's core product was actually solid.
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