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YouTube's new anti-adblock measures

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Re: YouTube's new anti-adblock measures

#701

Post by dandanua »

dkga wrote: post #624

Dear YouTube, It’s not so much that I don’t want to see ads - nobody does, but very very often the ad breaks the vibe of what I am watching and it displeases me to the point I will invest my soul and energy to block ads. Some real-life examples: - watching a video about coding where the creator has a monotonic, calm voice that keeps me engaged, and VS Code in dark mode which is easy on my eyes in my dark room at 2am,…

But you have remembered those ads, YouTube's main objective has been achieved.

Re: YouTube's new anti-adblock measures

#702

Post by vntok »

BobbyTables2 wrote: post #422
lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote: post #414

The primary thing that makes advertisements disagreeable is their irrelevance. That’s not to say whether or not the advertisement is for a product or service for which the viewer is interested in purchasing but how it relates to the context in which it is viewed. People complain about billboards next to a countryside highway because it is entirely irrelevant to driving through the countryside. Actual complaints may b…

Imagine if the tire advertisement at Costco stood in front of you for 30 seconds and wouldn’t let you pass or turn around until a minimum amount of time passed.

What would Costco offer you in exchange, like a rebate on the tire itself or on anything bought at Costco maybe? Then surely a lot of people would stay.

Youtube is offering access to entertainment in exchange for 30s ads, that's a valuable proposition to many.

Re: YouTube's new anti-adblock measures

#703

Post by chongli »

dxdm wrote: post #673
vprcic wrote: post #661

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is a simple way to stop watching ads: pay for premium. It's 100% effective and works right now. For now. With the ever increasing number of "premium" services that promised no ads, but slowly start introducing them, it is just a matter of time before YouTube does the same.

At which point, if it ever gets to that, you're free to stop paying them. I do not understand what point you're making here.

Yeah the problem for YouTube is that they bundle a bunch of other services with the premium package. They occasionally conduct surveys to gauge user awareness of these features. I myself don’t use any of them, just the ad-free experience.

Thus trying to reintroduce ads to the premium users will remove the only reason I’m paying for it in the first place.

Re: YouTube's new anti-adblock measures

#705

Post by ptero »

dxdm wrote: post #673
vprcic wrote: post #661

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is a simple way to stop watching ads: pay for premium. It's 100% effective and works right now. For now. With the ever increasing number of "premium" services that promised no ads, but slowly start introducing them, it is just a matter of time before YouTube does the same.

At which point, if it ever gets to that, you're free to stop paying them. I do not understand what point you're making here.

Not the poster, but the point I think that Google is engaging in a clear-cut bait and switch. First, "free email, good UX", "free video hosting, minimal ads". Then, once the dependency sets in, use a standard playbook of degrading the lower tiers and charging for removing the inconveniences.

I am not claiming that Google is the only company doing that; it is not. But there is a reason that bait and switch is illegal in most places. My 2c.

Re: YouTube's new anti-adblock measures

#706

Post by mensetmanusman »

dkga wrote: post #624

Dear YouTube, It’s not so much that I don’t want to see ads - nobody does, but very very often the ad breaks the vibe of what I am watching and it displeases me to the point I will invest my soul and energy to block ads. Some real-life examples: - watching a video about coding where the creator has a monotonic, calm voice that keeps me engaged, and VS Code in dark mode which is easy on my eyes in my dark room at 2am,…

I will raise you an ad about politicians loudly accusing each other of rape while watching a black and white Christmas cartoon with the family around a fireplace.

Re: YouTube's new anti-adblock measures

#707

Post by malfist »

a2128 wrote: post #665
dkga wrote: post #624

Dear YouTube, It’s not so much that I don’t want to see ads - nobody does, but very very often the ad breaks the vibe of what I am watching and it displeases me to the point I will invest my soul and energy to block ads. Some real-life examples: - watching a video about coding where the creator has a monotonic, calm voice that keeps me engaged, and VS Code in dark mode which is easy on my eyes in my dark room at 2am,…

And videos like this one really shouldn't ever have ads, they shouldn't try to block playback for having an adblocker installed, and they shouldn't tell you to "sign in to confirm you're not a bot"[0], and it feels like YouTube should be liable for negligent manslaughter when they do all of the above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtYSTrjKonU [0] https://i.imgur.com/8SDKRkZ.png

I'm anti ads as much as the next person, but negligent manslaughter for showing ads? That isn't reasonable.

Re: YouTube's new anti-adblock measures

#708

Post by [deleted] »

jay_kyburz wrote: post #623
layer8 wrote: post #554

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Injecting the ads directly would make them skippable. Unskippable ads are inherently detectable (because the unskippability has to be communicated to the client-side player controls), so there’s no easy way out.

The server can just ignore the player and send the bytes for the ad until its finished.

[deleted]

Re: YouTube's new anti-adblock measures

#709

Post by sltkr »

NewEntryHN wrote: post #650
dkga wrote: post #624

Dear YouTube, It’s not so much that I don’t want to see ads - nobody does, but very very often the ad breaks the vibe of what I am watching and it displeases me to the point I will invest my soul and energy to block ads. Some real-life examples: - watching a video about coding where the creator has a monotonic, calm voice that keeps me engaged, and VS Code in dark mode which is easy on my eyes in my dark room at 2am,…

Any business model where ads can be paid off has no incentive to make good ads. Ads are meant to be annoying enough so that people prefer paying. Hence the war on ad-blockers.

This is too simplistic. Youtube started as an ad-supported service and today ads still generate the lion share of Youtube's revenue. Youtube ads are some of the most expensive to buy; Google has no incentive to push viewers off the ad-supported tier.

Google wants you to watch ads OR pay for a subscription, but it doesn't necessarily care which; they make money off you either way.

The reason Youtube offers a premium tier at all is to cater to the minority market of time-poor money-rich users who would rather pay than watch ads, which is just a smart move to broaden their audience and diversify their revenue streams. But it's not the primary way Youtube makes money and likely never will be.

Re: YouTube's new anti-adblock measures

#710

Post by gizmodo59 »

mcdeltat wrote: post #234

I recently stopped watching youtube altogether and surprisingly haven't been missing it. And I used to watch a LOT (like hours per day) of youtube, mostly quality educational/scientific content. But ultimately you'd be surprised how much you don't need in your life. And side effect is no more ads. If someone sends me an occasional youtube video to watch, I'll take a look, but otherwise no engagement with the platform…

Same! It has gotten a lot more expensive and even if I pay for premium, content creators show sponsored ads. I don’t know what I’m paying for.
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