YouTube isn’t happy you’re using ad blockers — and it’s doing something about it::undefined
I’m torn because fuck ads, but also YouTube is probably the most expensive website on earth to run (just the website itself, obviously a shipping company with a website will cost more.) Video is just obscenely expensive to store and they let free accounts upload 4k and keep it private.
I honestly don’t know the solution here because YouTube being free is amazing, but they’ve literally never made money. I think a business model like nebula is more sustainable, but it sucks for those that can’t afford it.
(To head off any arguments, I’m pro piracy, I just can’t blame YouTube to trying to stop people)
Another sane take. Seriously, a breath of fresh air after seeing people on both Reddit and Lemmy talking about this with the entitlement of the average r/ChoosingBeggars post
Meh, YouTube has been profitable for years now despite all the people using adblockers. They aren’t hurting for money anymore. I pay for it but I wish they’d separate out YouTube music from the sub because YTM sucks ass.
So if they stop people from skipping ads and the people then stop watching altogether, what’s the difference? They’d save on some bandwidth but look less inviting to advertisers since they have less viewers.
We need a new internet, one free from corporations.
If the ads weren’t so intrusive I wouldn’t mind nearly as much. As it is, if you don’t block them, you’re watching ads as much as you’re watching content. In-line ads would be better I think, but forcing an ad before the video is annoying as hell.
True. Back in 2011 they didn’t bother me at all. I think the issue is once everyone started using ad blockers they had to start squeezing the schmucks that weren’t.
That and they started allowing unrestricted 4k uploads. That imo is their main issue with money.
I understand where the “everyone using adblockers, makes it worse for those who don’t” argument comes from, and it generally makes sense. But I also have my suspicions that the expectations of infinite growth in publicly traded companies would probably have made it happen, even if nobody used adblockers. That being said, as someone who is giving YouTube money every month to not have ads, there’s a reasonable argument that I’m enabling their bad behavior.
Fully agree on the 4k uploads thing though, and it also seems to be hurting the bitrate of lower resolutions. Up until around 2021 I primarily watched and preferred 480p when watching on tablets and sometimes even lower on my phone, for me it was a good balance of lower data usage and acceptable image quality. They’ve cut the bitrate so much at the low end though now, that sometimes even on a small phone screen I have to watch at 720p just to keep things from looking like they were recorded off a video conference from the early 2010s. Maybe 720p just is the new 480p and it’s using a similar amount of bandwidth, but it feels like they’re chasing the “bigger number better” crowd, rather than just defaulting to a reasonable resolution, with a high enough bitrate that most people won’t feel the need to adjust it.
It feels like we should have solved this issue a decade ago with bittorrent.
A website is just a frontend for a fileserver, so why are we not distributing these files across the globe, where we all volunteer a bit of storage and bandwidth to services we want to use.
Websites really need be nothing more than indexes and trackers which serve up a list of peers who are hosting the files we want.
I doubt a p2p network would be able to match YouTube:s current performance.
Because have you ever stumbled upon dead torrents? I see this more as a backup method to relieve the load rather than the only one.
(Wish I had a perma-online SBC to seed my torrents btw)
How would the content creators get rewarded in that system? Some of the YouTube ad money goes to the channel the ad is shown on.
It’s harder to profit from that, so obviously that’s not the direction things went.
To be fair, they aren’t exactly profiting from the current strategy.
Youtube itself might not be making a profit, but I double Google as a whole isn’t by having YouTube. They keep you in their ecosystem longer, and that’s good for them regardless of if you’re watching ads.
The day I can’t get around youtube ads is the day I stop using youtube. I already refuse to use it on my mobile device or my TV, due to the ads.
YouTube ReVanced gets you completely adfree, configurably de-shittified Youtube with sponsorblock on your phone. (And Youtube Music ReVanced is premium YT music, for free, of course also without ads.)
And Smarttube Next does the same thing on Android TVs, FireTV, and probably some others I haven’t used.
Smart tube is fucking amazing
I thought newpipe was dead now?
Still works for me without any issues
Newpipe’s last git commit was two days ago
On Android the Firefox app allows the use of extensions including all the adblock options you would find on PC. Works great and for YouTube as well.
My guy there are like 34 different ways to get around YT ads on mobile and TV.
NewPipe is a YouTube app alternative that blocks ads
It doesn’t block it, it doesn’t even download them or even request them. There is no concept of ad in NewPipe.
Which one? There are 3 newpipe apps in the app store all by different developers, and all “contain ads”
Thanks!
The official newpipe isn’t on the play store because it breaks their terms of service, which makes sense considering 2 of the 3 “newpipes” on there are just completely different apps using the name and logo of newpipe. The third is actually newpipe but with loads of ads added, not sure how long it’ll last before Google nukes it.
But yeah for newpipe just get the offical ad free and open source version from TeamNewPipe on GitHub or on F-Droid in the main repo. Or if you want newpipe with no ads and also with sponsorblock, you want to get it from polymorphicshade on GitHub or through F-Droid with the Izzyondroid repo.
On the subject of newpipe, if you also view a lot of videos on NicoNico, Japanese yt, I recommend the pipepipe fork since it allows you to play both yt videos along with videos from NicoNico without ads. Also works with BiliBili in case you like listening to Chinese vocaloid songs or other Chinese content without ads.
The real version is on F-Droid
Smarttube is even more gooder.
SmartTubeNext for TV, ReVanced for mobile.
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These days I skip all, self-promotion and in-video sponsors included.
Sounds like you probably use it but if not, get the SponsorBlock extension to do exactly this.
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Yeah, my experience with youtube ads
Buy a Chromebook
PragerU
Right wing Youtubers
Don’t vote to make abortion a protected right by the state constitution
Buy a ford
Here’s a pornographic/semi pornographic anime game we are paid to show you
BUY A CHROME BOOK!
Hey, check out this person’s scam! They paid us to force this scam on you!
Look at these cable news channels’ youtube channels
Listen to this mom who is totally concerned about some bill that will kill or save all the children
BUY
A
CHROMEBOOK!
buy a jeep
Listen to this prepper try to hock you “survival” gear and shelf stable food
Don’t you remember when families did things? wasn’t that fun? Families, doing things?
Soon it will also be flooded with THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WILL EAT YOUR CHILDREN!
I am interested in none of these things
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I mean, I just get ads for drain cleaner, dog dewormer and metamucil.
I must be boring.
You could always spice it up and see what you get.
I use VPNs and ad blockers where I can / when they work. I also have an extension that makes my Internet traffic useless by sending random data. When I need to go to the official YouTube app and get ads I get a smorgasbord. Right now they seem to think I’m either a recently divorced middle aged man with ED who just discovered they are actually a balding gay man or a teenaged girl with period problems and a desperate need for a social media following. Neither of these even come close but it’s always entertaining to see what I get.
My 6yo gets a ton of ads for insurance, about the same amount as for toys. It’s weird.
I used to get these all the time. Haven’t seen one in almost a year now. I wonder what happened for them to so strongly disassociate something with me? I wish I knew so that I could weaponize it.
Liberty Liberty liiiberty…liiiberteeeee.
Looks like the ads worked
That thing, you know that thing that you already buy? Here’s an ad for it! Now we get to lie and say we were the reason you bought it!
It’s so fucking weird how I got way more ads for runescape when I played runescape, and it’s not like I watch less runescape content today. They also seem to think I’m a girl because whenever I do get something unique it’s always for purses, make up, fashion and hygiene products; all of which I have a below-zero chance of ever buying.
I have never gotten an ad for a game I was currently playing. For me it’s always these mobile games, namely ones that use hentai art to sell the game, I have found out some of these are not actually porn games, or the most recent offering from the biggest studios.
Oh you reminded me, hygiene products, all sorts of hygiene products that have been branded to assure me I am not gay, or a woman, for wanting bathe and groom myself. There is also the one where some douche tells me I am not a dish.
I never get fashion ones, however my feed is periodically bombarded with videos to people who make subculture fashion for women. like lolita dresses. I have no idea why. The only thing I can think of is that I show an interest in music with associated subcultures and they just do not know how to get them right. Hey, this guy listened to Lingua Ignota, let’s send him 20 channels discussing pastel colored lolita clothes and kawaii culture.
They show those 3 minute ads because they get paid a lot for them. My favorite are the 30 minute documentary ads.
Continues not using ad block anyway.
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I really don’t give a fuck what Youtube is happy about
WON’T SOMEONE THINK OF THE TRILLION DOLLAR SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM APPARATUS !?!
THE DYSTOPIAN 1984 OCEANIA SUPPRESSION SYSTEM THAT CONTROLS THE TRUTH ALONGSIDE THE BIG BROTHER HAS FEELINGS TOO, YOU KNOW ?!?!?
I’m not happy about YouTube and I’m doing something about it too.
I heard about their plans maybe a month ago and i deleted all my stuff there and left youtube forever. I also already had deleted my gmail before that. I now use freetube on my pc and libretube on my phone.
It’s tiring to have to take measures to make sure you can use the internet as it used to be, though. I feel like i have a digital armor with ghostery, encrypted email, foss software, etc, etc…
If people don’t want to engage with your business, maybe you need a better business
Me, using Piped: what?
Noob question: do I have to run my own piped server to use it?
No, you don’t have to. They have a list of public instances.
Or Revanced, or SmartTube or NewPipe etc etc. Fortunately and thanks to some great devs out there, we’re still able to give Google the big middle finger.
I don’t mind tasteful, well paced ads. That said, I use New pipe and Firefox with Ublock Origin because no one seems to remember what those are.
uBlock won’t block the new popups. You can remove them, but it will still pause the video at the moment.
That sucks.
I’ve found revanced to stop playing the video after a minute or two unless you frequently update it (which is a manual process)… I no longer listen to lectures while I run errands, because there’s now no convenient way to do it. Ads are out of the question, and finding a video I want to watch only to have it cut out as I get on the road has killed the experience for me
I’m on Android, and open to suggestions
Okay. Explain something to me. I’ve tried to use piped, but it’s just so dogshit slow. Unusably so.
What am I doing wrong?
Nothing. It’s dogshit.
I am not sure… are you using a shared instance or self-hosting? I self-host my own instance and have no issue since my deployment
! 2023-10-06 https://www.youtube.com www.youtube.com##tp-yt-paper-dialog.ytd-popup-container.style-scopeOh no, anyway.
Is this a rule for an adblock extension? What does it pick out?
It gets rid of the nag screen so you can just watch the video. For uBlock Origin, it’s a bit crude, may affect other bits of interface, I also use the Enhancer for YouTube plug-in for Firefox which is really useful.
It’ll work until they get annoyed and do what Hulu and Twitch does and bake it into the player. Then we’re kinda fucked.
I quite easily removed it with uBlock using block element, but the video is still paused.
I guess this is a similar solution?
Cool, thanks for the explanation!
I’d give up YouTube before ad blockers.
I’m considering giving up Youtube right now with how many times it tries to fuck up my recommendations by sneaking far right BS into my watch history. Especially you, shorts.
Try using third party clients like newpipe or piped
True, holy shit if they wouldn’t completely bomb you with ads everywhere it might change something, but I accidentally used the official app on my smartphone and I can’t even make out content between the ads in the UI.
Not to speak of the 50s ads for a 20s video, nah won’t ever go back to the official experience.
It reminds me back when ad blockers came around, nobody cared for the one banner or some pictures on the site, but they ripped your arm out and cried when there were finally solutions for solving that harassment.
Revanced stonks
I used the official app up until we got two ads before every video and the first one is always unstoppable. Now it’s unbearable to use so I use an adblock.
Advertising is just legal targeted harassment
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THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!
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There are four candles. https://piped.video/watch?v=CNTM9iM1eVw
I think it’s it’s own thing.
The danger of advertising is not that it is able to brainwash you into changing your opinions. The danger is that repeated exposure to inauthentic stories changes your expectations, and plants paying advertisers in your memory.
This in turn allows your behavior to be controlled, especially in aggregate. You will remember company X sells a thing you want and go buy it, or you will think other people think company Y is environmentally friendly so you will pick them for your vegan barbecue party, or you will have heard of company Z and not automatically skip over their offering in a store. But since it all operates by tampering with your heuristics instead of trying to bowl over your adopted, explicit opinions, it doesn’t trigger any of your protective responses.
And that’s why you should never view an advertisement.
Youtube can go fuck itself. I was one of the few people who was committed to not using an adblocker - corporate assholes or not, I recognized that advertising was why Youtube exists for free.
3 unskippable ads on every fucking video broke me. Youtube can burn, I’m just burning bandwidth until it does.
I don’t give a single fuck what they are Happy about.
Ironically unreadable article, littered with ads.
I don’t know what you mean, I’m blocking all of them.
My pihole prevents me from knowing what you’re talking about.
