15 votes

The pathetic state of Youtube advertising

20 comments

  1. FishFingus
    Link
    The internet without an ad blocker is an absolutely cancerous maelstrom of bullshit and malware. I'm not going to be turning it off until YT sorts themselves out to the point that I don't risk...

    The internet without an ad blocker is an absolutely cancerous maelstrom of bullshit and malware. I'm not going to be turning it off until YT sorts themselves out to the point that I don't risk giving money to hateful little alt-Reich creeps because their adverts show up before a video they have nothing to do with. For most others sites it's the malware. I'm occasionally pretty stunned to see the kind of clickbait, porn and blatantly stolen content that gets shown to me in banner ads on supposedly classy sites. Only occasionally, though, because online advertising has been a fartparade long enough for this to be normality.

    7 votes
  2. [17]
    joplin
    Link
    He claims that YouTube is circling the drain at this point. He's not the only one who thinks so. But they're pretty well funded, so I don't think they're going anywhere any time soon, and it seems...

    He claims that YouTube is circling the drain at this point. He's not the only one who thinks so. But they're pretty well funded, so I don't think they're going anywhere any time soon, and it seems unlikely that anyone else will be able to unseat them. It will be interesting to see if users get fed up with these problems and leave or not. I tend to avoid going to YouTube already, but most people don't.

    4 votes
    1. [2]
      KapteinB
      Link Parent
      Users use YouTube because that's where the content is. Videos like this annoy me a bit. He spends 11 minutes complaining about YouTube, and most of the complaints sound reasonable to me. And his...

      It will be interesting to see if users get fed up with these problems and leave or not.

      Users use YouTube because that's where the content is.

      Videos like this annoy me a bit. He spends 11 minutes complaining about YouTube, and most of the complaints sound reasonable to me. And his claim that if he stopped uploading his videos to YouTube and upload to a competitor instead he would probably lose 90% of his audience sounds about right. But here's an idea; how about you upload your videos to YouTube and also their competitors? That way you keep your viewers and your ad revenue, while simultaneously weakening YouTube's monopoly, which will help creators in the long run!

      12 votes
      1. joplin
        Link Parent
        Agreed! Honestly, to me, I don't care if a video is on YouTube or Vimeo or Facebook, or whatever. If it's good content, I'll go wherever to watch it. I'm sure most of their discovery comes from...

        Agreed! Honestly, to me, I don't care if a video is on YouTube or Vimeo or Facebook, or whatever. If it's good content, I'll go wherever to watch it. I'm sure most of their discovery comes from YouTube, but not everyone finds videos that way. Given that there's no exclusivity required when using YouTube, why not post it to everything?

    2. [15]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. [14]
        MimicSquid
        Link Parent
        With uBlock Origin it's a lovely and easy experience, ad free and great to use, though I use it for a fairly narrow band of video game streamers and let's players. Trying to stream it from my...

        With uBlock Origin it's a lovely and easy experience, ad free and great to use, though I use it for a fairly narrow band of video game streamers and let's players. Trying to stream it from my phone lets me see exactly how bad the ads are, and it's horrific. I would use it very rarely if I had to deal with the ads.

        19 votes
        1. nothis
          Link Parent
          I have no idea how uBlock Origin manages to block those video ads so efficiently. It almost feels a bit dirty.

          I have no idea how uBlock Origin manages to block those video ads so efficiently. It almost feels a bit dirty.

          2 votes
        2. [6]
          JXM
          Link Parent
          That only solves the problem on desktops/laptops. On TV-based boxes (like Roku or Apple TV), it's almost impossible to block ads without some sort of network-wide solution. Not sure how easy it is...

          That only solves the problem on desktops/laptops. On TV-based boxes (like Roku or Apple TV), it's almost impossible to block ads without some sort of network-wide solution. Not sure how easy it is to bock YouTube ads on mobile devices.

          1 vote
          1. [2]
            smores
            Link Parent
            Even with something like a pihole, it’s nearly impossible to block YouTube ads on smart TVs like Roku, because YouTube serves its ads from the same domain names as its actual video content! :(...

            Even with something like a pihole, it’s nearly impossible to block YouTube ads on smart TVs like Roku, because YouTube serves its ads from the same domain names as its actual video content! :( there are years-long forum threads in the pihole forums about exactly this problem

            7 votes
            1. JXM
              Link Parent
              Smart on their part, annoying for everyone else.

              Smart on their part, annoying for everyone else.

              2 votes
          2. [3]
            TheJorro
            Link Parent
            On Android, it's as simple as downloading YouTube Vanced (and MicroG if not rooted).

            On Android, it's as simple as downloading YouTube Vanced (and MicroG if not rooted).

            4 votes
            1. [2]
              ohyran
              Link Parent
              OOoooooh ok ok ok you NEED to check out Newpipe! Seriously! It is the BEST android open source Youtube app with an eye to security. (Sry for sounding so excited but really it was awesome for me...

              OOoooooh ok ok ok you NEED to check out Newpipe! Seriously! It is the BEST android open source Youtube app with an eye to security.

              (Sry for sounding so excited but really it was awesome for me when I found it)

              Edit2: https://newpipe.schabi.org/

              7 votes
              1. TheJorro
                Link Parent
                Oh this is interesting. Thanks, I'll check it out! YouTube Vanced seems to be exactly like the YouTube app but with a couple of extra features added on, in case someone is okay with the overall...

                Oh this is interesting. Thanks, I'll check it out!

                YouTube Vanced seems to be exactly like the YouTube app but with a couple of extra features added on, in case someone is okay with the overall design and UI of the official app but want to remove the ads, play videos in the background, or have an incognito mode.

        3. [6]
          cfabbro
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          Speaking of uBlock and YouTube... by any chance are you getting the issue where ever so often the ad being blocked results in a grey screen with a "Playback Error" message? It's not a huge deal...

          Speaking of uBlock and YouTube... by any chance are you getting the issue where ever so often the ad being blocked results in a grey screen with a "Playback Error" message? It's not a huge deal since after a few seconds it goes right back to playing the video, but it is pretty obnoxious and I can't figure out how to stop it from doing that.

          1 vote
          1. [4]
            MimicSquid
            Link Parent
            I've never had that happen for me, sorry.

            I've never had that happen for me, sorry.

            1 vote
            1. [3]
              cfabbro
              Link Parent
              Hmmm... it may just be one of my filter lists doing it then. Have you modified yours at all, or are you just using the default ones?

              Hmmm... it may just be one of my filter lists doing it then. Have you modified yours at all, or are you just using the default ones?

              1. [2]
                MimicSquid
                Link Parent
                The defaults.

                The defaults.

                1 vote
                1. cfabbro
                  Link Parent
                  Yeah, it looks like it was my non-default filters. The Adguard ones seem to be what's causing the error. Thanks!

                  Yeah, it looks like it was my non-default filters. The Adguard ones seem to be what's causing the error. Thanks!

                  2 votes
          2. nothis
            Link Parent
            Literally never seen that happening.

            Literally never seen that happening.

  3. [3]
    Comment removed by site admin
    Link
    1. [2]
      Sand
      Link Parent
      Eh, there's some other video sharing websites, like vimeo and dailymotion. They don't provide any competition to YouTube, but I don't know if that makes it a monopoly.

      Eh, there's some other video sharing websites, like vimeo and dailymotion. They don't provide any competition to YouTube, but I don't know if that makes it a monopoly.

      1. Kuromantis
        Link Parent
        It's not a monopoly but thanks to Google owning YouTube since 2006 they likely either receive huge subsidies from Google and have been reported to be a "roughly break-even company" (Google has...

        It's not a monopoly but thanks to Google owning YouTube since 2006 they likely either receive huge subsidies from Google and have been reported to be a "roughly break-even company" (Google has never actually disclosed such information) so it's definitely a "loss leader" type company and given online video is the "aeroplane industry" of online content, it's pretty much a monopoly.

        1 vote