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YouTube's Latest Move Against Ad Blockers: Video Delays
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I don't have an issue with ads in a service I don't pay for, but when it's every two minutes or so in a 10 minute video it's ridiculous.
I'm astounded by the sheer number of ads for medicine, of all things. That's something I'd buy on advice from the health service or a chemist, not based on ads! But I guess enough people go out and buy this stuff anyway "just in case" that it's worth the advertising expense? Boggles the mind.
And the price is insane!
While I know ads are their way of doing business, they are totally out of hand. Way too long and multiple before the video and many times in the middle as well... Sometimes makes me click away from the video when seeing the amount of ad-time I need to use
I'm pretty sure the ad/content ratio should be illegal where I am. At least based on what I saw the last time I tried youtube without an ad blocker, which was ages ago.
I never was a video "content consumer" anyway (as in: paying for youtube is not worth it to me at any price), but I've stopped using youtube completely on all my iOS devices. I only very occasionally bring it up on my desktops where I run firefox+ublock origin.
If you want to know how it might end up, go look at a Reach local newspaper webbsite in the UK. Mostly adverts and those rubbish clickbait things like jumping toddlers in aeroplanes.
The problem with Youtube ad's is that is has got out of control. There are always 2 ads before a start of a video, then you get a channel sponsor ad and then you get ad's during the video and sometimes another channel sponsor ad at the end of the video. I've seen ad lengths (not channel sponsor ads) go from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. The first ad blitz through in 30 seconds but then the 2nd ad begins and I notice it is 1:30 mins for an ad for online databases or online spreadsheets or online insurance. I am not going to sit through a 1:30 min ad for online insurance.
It sucks that if I want to watch a 15min youtube video I have to suffer at least 6 to 7 mins of ad's (youtube ads and channel sponsor ad's).
It sucks that if I want to watch a 15min youtube video I have to suffer at least 6 to 7 mins of ad's (youtube ads and channel sponsor ad's).
Yes, it comes to my mind the comparison with WhatsApp. They also started without any competition, established themselves as quite the monopoly as the free alternative to SMS (especially in countries like mine where iPhone market penetration was low), then once they got their captive user base, they are now planning to start introducing ads. I’d much prefer paying 1 or 2 or 5€ per year to maintain their infrastructure instead of this.
However, ads on Meta’s service will probably start in low volume, unlike the abusive number and placement of ads on YouTube (also how annoying they usually are).
Same for other content platforms that have steadily increased their prices and now offer a paid, ad-supported plan. Let’s hope they don’t keep increasing the number of ads on this platforms.
I've been noticing this for the last couple of weeks, especially when watching a Mix of videos, when I have skipped from one video to the next. I thought it would be You Tube/Google related.
Well it isn't going to make me pay for your overpriced You Tube Premium **
Well it isn't going to make me pay for your overpriced You Tube Premium **
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Uhh, it is THE go to website for video content. Everyone from someone’s dog to the New York Times publishes there. It has many, MANY niche creators and videos. It’s actually very amazing, the worst apart about YouTube is Google, the people and the videos are amazing and many publish high quality content.
I don't see how this will solve anything to combat ads. I can't think of a single streaming service that doesn't have adds. There are plenty of genre specific streaming services that can compete with YouTube akready. Twitch for example in the "Gaming / Chatting" segment comes to mind.
I for one am already at max saturation for "streaming services". What I would really like is one service to rule them all. I'd pay thru the nose for it to be add free if I could get all my NetFlix, Hulu, YouTube, Max, Disney+ etc via one account and service. Before we know it, Internet will be like old school Cable rofl...
I agree. There’s a point where it makes the experience unbearable.
Are you still consuming YouTube content, as implied by your post? Seems a bit hypocritical, no? I'll consume your content but won't give you money because I disagree with the company that owns you?
Wow, is that the daylight between us you’re looking for?
Guilty as charged. When a friend sends me a link I watch it out of politeness.
If I support someone on Patreon who hosts on YouTube I still watch it.
I don’t go to YouTube to browse videos to watch.
Don’t let perfection be the enemy of the good.
hmm
It seems that I do; which leans the question:
Are you talking about "I'm bored." browsing, or "What's a good SFF case for my potential SFF build?"
This might be at least partially justifiable if Google was trying to raise the revenues for content creators, but they have been aggressively screwing them over for the last few years as well.
Says who? $10 billion in revenue doesn't mean YouTube is profitable alone. For all we know, YouTube is a net loss but Alphabet is using YouTube to train AI in hopes of making their Gemini profitable.
You think YouTube hasn't already been cutting costs here and there for the past decade?
That doesn't mean YouTube alone is profitable. We don't know this from financial reports they release.
Because most people are installing adblockers, making the problem worse already....
YouTube is deliberately slowing video loading for users with ad blockers enabled, in what appears to be an escalation in Google's campaign against ad-blocking extensions.
Multiple users across Reddit and the Brave browser forum report videos displaying black screens for the typical duration of pre-roll ads before content begins playing. The video player simultaneously shows a pop-up ("Experiencing interruptions? Find out why") with a link directing users to a Google support page about disabling ad-blocking extensions, suggesting the slowdowns are intentional.
The recent crackdown is a shift from YouTube's previous tactics of simply displaying warning messages or blocking video playback entirely. The new approach inserts artificial delays that mirror the time you would spend watching advertisements, basically forcing the same annoying time investment, whether ads are blocked or not.
It looks like specific user accounts previously flagged for ad-blocking behavior are being targeted, potentially bypassing detection methods that extension developers typically use to counter YouTube's measures. PCWorld confirmed the behavior using uBlock Origin Lite, while Brave browser users report similar experiences despite the browser's built-in ad-blocking capabilities.
Pop-up users see during delays (Image credit: PCWorld)
This latest move suggests YouTube is prepared to significantly degrade the user experience for non-paying users who refuse to view advertisements or subscribe to the $13.99 monthly YouTube Premium service, which offers an ad-free experience, offline downloads, and background playback.
For what it's worth, YouTube recently introduced a Premium Lite plan for $7.99/month that removes ads for most videos, excluding music content, Shorts, and when you search or browse.
Article Link: YouTube's Latest Move Against Ad Blockers: Video Delays
I'd gladly pay for ad-free and have had a subscription in the past. However, there's no way to pay and view anonymously. For example, I watch all sorts of videos and if I'm logged in (a prerequisite for getting the ad-free service I'm paying for), I don't necessarily want those videos to influence the YouTube suggestion algorithm nor inform what ads I'm served elsewhere. Without a doubt, my viewing history on YT gets reflected in ads serviced by Google Ads across the internet.
For example, a friend was thinking about getting a recreational vehicle (RV, caravan) and I was doing a little research to inform myself on them and whataknow- I see ads for RVs everywhere.
Big deal, I can still watch videos but no longer see an endless barrage of ugly ads or hear about how to poop. This company is shooting itself in the foot because there is nothing I’d pay them for now and I mean nothing. I don’t take surveys, don’t play Google Opinion Rewards, I’m done with how they do business and how they treat not only their content creators, but us viewers.
Since 10+ years I am de-googled.
See this list for Google alternatives: https://www.privacyguides.org/en/tools/
***** you Google
See this list for Google alternatives: https://www.privacyguides.org/en/tools/
***** you Google
It has been like this for several days now.
But Safari will play the video, if you view it in the search page