4

YouTube expanded a “test” that threatens to cut off users who don't turn off their ad blocker. Developers of the tools are scrambling to respond.

all 12 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Pons_Aelius@kbin.social 29 points 1 year ago

Nice astroturfing article by wired...

While android authority has a dissenting opinion.

YouTube's plan backfires, people are installing better ad blockers

[-] LollerCorleone@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago

Oh yes, this one is much better written

[-] FaceDeer@kbin.social 16 points 1 year ago

It also spurred record installs of ad blockers. What we're seeing is people swapping which adblocker they're using, looking for ones that work better.

[-] lemonflavoured@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago

The sheer amount of ads on youtube is what's making people use ad blockers. Two unskippable 15 second ads after one minute of a ten minute video is ridiculous.

[-] arquebus_x@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Honestly that's the uploader's fault. They're too lazy to manage their ad locations and let Google do it for them. Google always adds way too many. I make sure my videos never have more than 3 in 30 minutes, and I craft the videos so that they have precise break points like old school television. You'll (almost) never see an ad on my videos that interrupts something important. It takes so little effort to do this.

[-] Lalaz4@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

No, let's not shift the blame away from the ad provider setting the enormously high ad rate.

[-] parpol@programming.dev 10 points 1 year ago

"In the worst case, come next year’s industry conference, ad blockers could be the ones conceding to Google."

Stay tuned for more on Things That Will Never Happen.

[-] lemonflavoured@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Was going to say, that seems very unlikely.

[-] Gordon_Freeman@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago

Meanwhile I did nothing and everything is working

[-] palordrolap@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

I think they've been A-B testing and slowly moving more people into the "disable your adblocker" group to see how it goes. You might be one of the lucky ones who haven't been pestered yet. ~~I have one low usage (if that's relevant) account that hasn't been warned yet.~~ Proofreading edit: See below.

My main account got the warning a while back, and I thought I was getting away with it until they did a whole "you get three more videos and then we're blocking you" and things became somewhat more difficult to work around after the third one.

Of course, they don't seem to have started counter-blocking people who aren't logged in to their platform (admittedly this conclusion isn't based on much. It worked for me and I've seen at least one other comment online that implied it also worked for them), so an incognito/private window might work if you really need to watch that one video.

Proofreading edit: My memory is faulty and the account referenced in the struck-out sentence might not have been logged in for a while. It was logged out when I checked and I remember deleting cookies some time ago. Logging into it reminds me that they won't even show suggestions to logged in accounts if they have their Watch history disabled.

Seems like their current model is to lure people in with (subjectively) entertaining videos, presumably convincing viewers to create an account and/or log in so that they can comment on videos, etc., and in return YT get lots of lovely ad views and targetad adalytics.

It will be interesting to see if they take another leaf out of Elon's book and make the whole site login only. That would be monumentally stupid, of course, but money.

[-] EmptyRadar@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

They tested that on me months ago and I downloaded FreeTube in response. Haven't looked back. Fuck them for trying to tell me what I can and can't do.

this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2023
4 points (100.0% liked)

Technology

30 readers
1 users here now

This magazine is dedicated to discussions on the latest developments, trends, and innovations in the world of technology. Whether you are a tech enthusiast, a developer, or simply curious about the latest gadgets and software, this is the place for you. Here you can share your knowledge, ask questions, and engage in discussions on topics such as artificial intelligence, robotics, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and more. From the impact of technology on society to the ethical considerations of new technologies, this category covers a wide range of topics related to technology. Join the conversation and let's explore the ever-evolving world of technology together!

founded 2 years ago