YouTube isn't happy you're using ad blockers — and it's doing something about it

L4sBot@lemmy.worldmod to Technology@lemmy.world – 673 points –
YouTube isn't happy you're using ad blockers — and it's doing something about it
mashable.com

YouTube isn't happy you're using ad blockers — and it's doing something about it::undefined

296

You are viewing a single comment

What is it with the number of people "happy" to pay for Youtube Premium? Like "why yes, I'm glad I can give a company that spies on me day and night for the privilege!"

What kinda bothers me is that I recognize that something like YouTube is expensive to run and just switching to an alternative isn't super feasible. I would be more than happy to pay for a service like YouTube that I use everyday. HOWEVER, not with their bullshit double dipping. If I am paying a company like Google to use their services, I don't think it's unreasonable that their should be an expectation or mechanism where that means I am not just no longer served ads, but that all tracking and data collection about my account(s) are stopped.

That's never going to happen though :/

You mean like cable that we paid for and got ads or like your cell phone/ISP provider charging you while selling your data simultaneously?

Yeah, I never said I thought it was tennable or that any system like I described has ever actually existed. Wishes and dreams, ya know?

That's a fair criticism. I personally don't care about it because I gave up on the idea of having any privacy ages ago but I get that people may not be happy with that.

If I were to play devil's advocate, I can say that the data they collect is important for serving you the right videos but let's be real here, Google definitely uses it to serve you ads everywhere else

Because their "spying" doesn't really seem to have any down sides for me, and I get better, more useful, products from it. I don't really care if they know what woodworking videos my boring ass watches.

They don't just keep track of what videos you watch, they also keep track of what parts of those videos, as well as everything you search for and everything you begin to search for but never actually do. They also keep track of where you are when you watch the video and what device you are watching it on.

And?

Its weird that you are okay with some company doing this.

When if it was some stalker you'd be freeking out and going to the police and begging for help.

Because a stalker might actually cause you physical harm, while Google/YouTube just wants money, and not necessarily your money. I have no love for the ad supported business model, I'm definitely not defending it, but you're not going to convince someone who doesn't value privacy to care about it.

People who don't value privacy, are always the ones that cry the loudest and say such iconic phrases like "WHO LET THIS HAPPEN" when their privacy inevitably gets violated.

Its weird that you are okay with some company doing this. When if it was some stalker you’d be freeking out and going to the police and begging for help.

ATTENTION STALKERS!!!!
This morning I watched a video of a guy making a 5 drawer cabinet out of plywood on my Pixel 6 XL from my home. I skipped the last 30 seconds of the video because I got bored.

I get it that marketing doesn't bother you, but several tech companies have been found to give direct access to users' data to their employees, who used it in all sorts of creepy ways.

GPS location please.

Obviously I don't want to know it but be sure there's hundreds of Google employees that can freely access it.

on my Pixel 6 XL

Congrats, you've already made hacking your phone 10x easier by telling a potential attacker what model you use.

And if you are ever in a spot of trouble, they can and will hand that over to the cops to burn you with. Trouble you dont even need to be guilty of, mind you, so long as the data implies you could be.

Like how facebook had records of a girl searching for abortion treatments, and slipped those into uncle sams pockets to put her in jail for daring to want the right of bodily autonomy.

What thing do you do today that will incriminate you tomorrow?

They don't just keep track of what videos you watch, they also keep track of what parts of those videos, as well as everything you search for and everything you begin to search for but never actually do. They also keep track of where you are when you watch the video and what device you are watching it on.

OMG, the horror...

It is for those of us who care about our privacy. I for one don't want nebulous corporations with questionable ethics and data security policies knowing and tracking my every movement. And while yes, I recognize that to a certain extent that is unavoidable in this day and age, I don't condone it nor do I want it to be easy for them.

People today are just too comfortable with the death of privacy and corporations spying what you do day in and day out.

Everything about us is up for grabs but god forbid anyone watches a meme without monetization.

Give me your current location, list of immediate interests and last 100 searched queries, if you're so okay with that.

Of course, I don't expect an obvious corporate shill to have any intellectual honesty.

What are you offering in return? Google gives me what I consider to be valuable services in exchange for that information.

I.e. you do care, so your position is bullshit.

My reply is consistent with every other comment I've made in this thread. Google offers me useful services in exchange for my information. You offer nothing.