YouTube starts making everyone’s Skip button for ads smaller
    • helenslunch@feddit.nlEnglish
      183·
      10 months ago

      If you’re using an ad-blocker or skipping ads, yes, they absolutely don’t give a shit if you stop using it, because you provide zero value to them and are only consuming their resources.

      • ElectroNeutrino@lemmy.worldEnglish
        222·
        10 months ago

        Your metadata is still extremely valuable to them, and it’s not limited to just watch history and likes, but rather everything on how you engage in their services, including where your mouse cursor sits.

        • Moneo@lemmy.worldEnglish
          71·
          10 months ago

          Parroting the angry me Yorker whose name I forgot. If you use an ad blocker your likely privacy aware and they don’t get much/any meta data from you.

          Also YouTube is extremely costly to run. They are making it abundantly clear you are not valuable to them if you aren’t watching ads. You aren’t that important.

          • ElectroNeutrino@lemmy.worldEnglish
            41·
            10 months ago

            Yes and no. Metadata is more than just tracking info. I did mention watch history, likes, and mouse position, which are not things that can really be blocked. This also includes things such as how likely you are to click on a video based on thumbnail and screen position, how long you watch specific videos as well as how long your overall watch train is. They know what they’re showing you, where it is, and what you click and when; that’s enough to provide a hell of a lot if data. All in all, how you actually use the service is something that they pay very close attention to, and is still very valuable.

            Is it as valuable as tracking info and advertising, definitely not. But it’s far from worthless.

              • ElectroNeutrino@lemmy.worldEnglish
                2·
                10 months ago

                Because you aren’t an individual to them, you’re a statistic providing them with valuable market research on how their service is used.

                “People that watch this collection of video classifications are more likely to watch videos who’s thumbnails have these characteristics. Only 1% of them use ad blocking so we can improve our ad presentation rate if we present more videos with these thumbnails to this group.”

        • DacoTaco@lemmy.worldEnglish
          51·
          10 months ago

          ^ mostly this. Ad revenue from watched ads isnt all of their income, not even close

            • Womble@lemmy.worldEnglish
              3·
              10 months ago

              But the value per person they get from " use your data to tailor ads for those around you" a tiny amount and the amount they get from selling your eyeball space directly to paying customers is (comparatively) vast, I could easily see it being 1000x greater or even more. Youtube is going to war on adblockers for a reason.

  • makyo@lemmy.worldEnglish
    67·
    10 months ago

    They’re completely lost at this point I think. The ‘skip ad’ button is brilliant from a marketing perspective, if you ask me. One can get pretty used to tuning out ads but having that skip button keeps you actively interacting. So even if you didn’t see the whole ad, if the advertiser is smart you heard their name before you skipped. Plus the user gets to feel like the ad isn’t shoved down their throat, they have control.

    If I were running things I’d quit this dumb battle with the users they’ve declared and make ads extremely easy to skip - I feel like you’d have a lot fewer refugess from the site and a lot more people less motivated to install an ad blocker in the first place.

    • Peppycito@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      18·
      10 months ago

      I have the god damn chromecast with the remote thing and it’s totally bullshit, and handy! But mostly bullshit. I’m a mute nazi and mute every ad immediately to the point my wife makes fun of me. Although she does admit that it makes it more peaceful to watch. I’m wait to see how they enshittify it. I give it 3 months and then they pause ads if it’s muted.

      • MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        8·
        10 months ago

        Get tourself smart tube. It’s a million times better than the youtube tv app. I got a chromecast tv specifically so I could side load smart tube cause i was sick of the youtube app on my tv

        • Peppycito@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          2·
          10 months ago

          That’s seems more complex than I’m willing to attempt. I’ll keep it in mind, thanks for the suggestion!

          • MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            3·
            10 months ago

            I don’t remember it being that tricky, you just download the release from github and either put it on a usb to put into your Chromecast or send it from your phone via a myriad of apps and you just install it on your Chromecast like you would with your phone. You might have to enable developer mode but that’s just as easy on a phone to by just pressing ok on the version number in the settings a few times

            • Peppycito@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              3·
              10 months ago

              I just went through the steps and it seems like the menu no longer jives with the instructions. I’ll keep poking away at it. I did unlock developer mode so, progress.

              • Pwnmode@lemmy.worldEnglish
                3·
                10 months ago

                It’s worth it. You only have to.install it once and then you can update it from inside itself. I have YouTube premium so ads don’t pop anyway but sponsorblock awesome and the actual interface is better and doesn’t completely change randomly for the worse like YouTube app does Everytime they get an amazing idea for how to make the UX worse.

              • MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                3·
                10 months ago

                If you get it to work, I’d also look into getting the button remapper app so you can make the YouTube button on your remote open up smart tube instead.

                I also use it to map the double tap of Netflix to Disney+ and a hold to go to Amazon. It’s pretty handy.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldEnglish
        21·
        10 months ago

        I’m sticking with the Chromecast 2. No remote, but also no bullshit. Just cast from your phone or computer and send whatever you want from there to your TV.

        • Peppycito@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          2·
          10 months ago

          I kept mine and may go back to it. The remote one is only good because it let’s my family watch from my account without buying the family plan. We also have it linked to a couple leach accounts.

    • ArmokGoB@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      51·
      10 months ago

      No one is leaving YouTube because there is no alternative. You can go to a site like Vimeo, but no one uploads there. You can go to Nebula, but very few people want to pay for yet another subscription.

        • mriormro@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          10 months ago

          You could also pay the content creators that you enjoy watching directly. That way you can still have an ad free experience, mostly, while also supporting people making the things you like.

          • Peppycito@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            3·
            10 months ago

            I do support a couple. Patreon doesn’t let me cast, I have to click through to YT. Maybe if I got the patreon app? But fuck that too.

      • helenslunch@feddit.nlEnglish
        8·
        10 months ago

        Very rarely do I ever see a site that allows you to “reject all” cookies. Almost always they require you to consent to “strictly necessary” (but also completely unnecessary) cookies. It’s so fucked up.

    • MonkderZweite@feddit.chEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Allowing all scripts it works for me, blocking only third-party scripts it shows a popup ad, blocking scripts of the domain too and inline scripts it works and uses less cpu.

  • avater@lemmy.worldEnglish
    492·
    10 months ago

    easy fix: don’t use the app on your phone.

    instead use youtube via your browser with adblock (for instance safari + adblock pro) and create a shortcut on your homescreen. you can use youtube just like in the app, you won’t have any ads and you also can play videos with your screen turned off

    • CALIGVLA@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      161·
      10 months ago

      I wouldn’t be surprised if in the near future they make it so the only way to watch Youtube on mobile is through their app. It seems like they’re getting desperate, and that seems like the logical conclusion.

      • avater@lemmy.worldEnglish
        151·
        10 months ago

        I really hope not. Otherwise that would be the end for me. Same as reddit I simply would delete my account and uninstall everything related to it :)

      • avater@lemmy.worldEnglish
        67·
        10 months ago

        why installing something when you just can use your browser and get basically the same experience?

        • helenslunch@feddit.nlEnglish
          72·
          10 months ago

          why installing something when you just can use your browser and get basically the same experience?

          Because it’s absolutely not the same experience?

          Also those apps will be useless when they mess around with the api just like reddit did.

          They break all the time but they always fix them. LibreTube has been broken for the past few days but they’ll fix it soon enough.

          E: LibreTube is fixed temporarily by switching to HLS.

          • avater@lemmy.worldEnglish
            43·
            10 months ago

            Because it’s absolutely not the same experience?

            It looks pretty much like the app, I get recommendations like in the app, can watch my subscriptions like in the app, can see comments, video or fullscreen mode. Don’t know about you but for me this just feels like the app.

            They break all the time but they always fix them. LibreTube has been broken for the past few days but they’ll fix it soon enough

            That just sounds awful and would be a reason for me to stay far away from these apps

        • long_chicken_boat@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          4·
          10 months ago

          these apps do not use any official API. if they used it, they would be obliged to comply with the terms of services that most likely force them to show ads or track the users or some other bullshit.

          of course these unofficial viewers break from time to time, but in my experience they have been super quick releasing patches fixing it and the user experience is way way better than the official web or app. Fast UI without bloat, no ads, no algorithms, etc.

          • z3rOR0ne@lemmy.mlEnglish
            2·
            10 months ago

            I recently migrated to NewPipe/SponsorBlock from Libretube and can concur that once you migrate your old subs from the csv google is required to send you, the experience is incredible on either platform.

            This plus using invidious with rss feeds and yt-dlp/sponsorblock on desktop, and I’ve kept up with all my favorite creators without having visited the Youtube site, seen an ad, or heard a sponsor or a call to action in years.

            Oh, and on Android, iif you view this article using Mull with NoScript and Ublock on, content is visible wuth no ads.

            Add in a bypass paywalls filter list to ublock and yeah…internet is usable again, lol.

        • Vegoon@feddit.deEnglish
          3·
          10 months ago

          why installing something

          I don’t watch YT a lot on my phone, but Freetube for desktop and Newpipe for android (F-Droid) support offline subscriptions, playlists, history and downloads of video or audio, background playback and you can sync both apps.

        • selokichtli@lemmy.mlEnglish
          1·
          10 months ago

          It’s okay to have alternatives. I use NewPipe, Firefox+uBlock and sometimes a YouTube ReVanced app.

    • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      21·
      10 months ago

      Does that have the address bar taking up space on the top of the screen? That seems like the downside. I prefer revanced, but I can understand that some people don’t want to install anything.

  • Son_of_dad@lemmy.worldEnglish
    321·
    10 months ago

    They’ve also gone hard on those 10 minute ads that go on and on unless you press skip, which I often can’t cause I’m doing dishes or have my hands busy while watching videos.

    Also recently I’ve been getting the prompt to skip an ad, and when I press the skip button, it gives me two more unskipable ads

    • joemo@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      13·
      10 months ago

      That’s the most frustrating part. I don’t mind watching limited ads. I get you gotta pay for your shit somehow. But don’t give me 30 minute ads, and don’t haphazardly place the ads in the video so there’s no transition from an important part of the video to your ad.

      I typically use an adblocker but for some uses (smart TV) I’m too lazy to set up a workaround. It doesn’t bother me that much.

      • GiveMemes@jlai.luEnglish
        7·
        10 months ago

        Jsyk smart tube is incredibly easy to hook up on an android or firetv and provides adfree viewing and sponsor-block

    • schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      8·
      10 months ago

      At some point this has to be counterproductive to their profits. When YouTube had way fewer and shorter ads than now, I spent a lot more of my time there than I do now. They literally drove my eyeballs away by showing too many ads.

  • WheatleyInc@lemmy.worldEnglish
    26·
    10 months ago

    If you want people to disable content blockers on your website, it’s best not to treat the people who don’t have one on like shit YouTube.

  • burliman@lemm.eeEnglish
    251·
    10 months ago

    I wonder if they know the dollar figure in sales that ads, for all their expense, have gained out of me. I’d say it’s near zero. You may say I am subconsciously influenced and even if I don’t click the ad, I may buy the product at some other date due to recognition. Maybe. But that individual ad impression that someone paid for that I did not click (or blocked) does not know that. And it’s quite likely they don’t care, because ever missed click is still getting the word out so to speak.

    But what they should care about is the absolute dislike I have towards aggressive advertising. And I am not alone. When I face an unskippable or full page or pop up ad, I don’t subconsciously want that product then or later. I consciously hate the product just a little more and more with each impression.

    And now that it’s an arms race, the lines are being drawn, the hatred being cultivated, and the whole effort has lost its entire point: To make me friendly toward the product and to buy it. And I feel like sites like YouTube essentially don’t give a shit. They have the advertisers convinced through some great effort that ads are effective and worth it. All while doing everything that they can to keep us corralled and our eyes pried open to view them.

  • Supercritical@lemmy.worldEnglish
    243·
    10 months ago

    I would pay for YouTube Premium, like I had been when I was a student ($7.99/month), but I’m not a student anymore and they want $19 a month. Fuck no.

  • fluxxom@lemmy.worldEnglish
    20·
    10 months ago

    knocking on wood so far with firefox and ublock/noscript and disabled hardware acceleration, i will get audio but no video when these ads autoplay-- instead of pressing the skip button, i just hit f5 and poof, gone. still more work than i prefer but i hate advertising as much as anything

    • Moneo@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      10 months ago

      I tried using sunshine/moonlight to stream hockey from my PC to my tv and the stream was black (until I disabled hardware acceleration). Legit blew my fucking mind. I was 30% impressed and 70% angry. Once again paying customers are the ones with the shitty UX.

      I’m sure the average person doesn’t give a fuck but I am slowly but surely being driven away from any and all paid content. I can’t watch 40 dudes skate around in circles without being fucking bombarded with gambling ads from every fucking possible avenue. Because millions isn’t enough they need more millions.

      I’m getting so fucking jaded.

        • Johanno@feddit.deEnglish
          2·
          10 months ago

          Google is respecting already existing laws in the EU that prevent them from collecting information about your browser without your consent

          • ours@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            10 months ago

            Oh yeah, the EU has shown it actually has teeth hitting even the bigger companies where it hurts: fines that aren’t just “cost of business” but actually impact their revenue.