YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers

Talos@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.ml – 12 points –
YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers
bleepingcomputer.com
36

They have really gone all out on the whole enshittification process during the past couple of years, haven’t they?

Just wait until they figure out how much more $$$$ they can make by putting all content behind microtransactions:

Imagine a world where, instead of grappling with complex tokens and crypto jargon, you have a digital wallet connected to your Web browser. This wallet would automatically handle microtransactions as you browse and consume content, creating a seamless and simplified experience, reminiscent of exchanging tokens at a funfair or arcade

This transition to the Great Paywall isn't just about the monetization of content; it's about balancing the scales and recognizing the value of content creators in the digital ecosystem. In the next chapter of the Web, users aren't just passive consumers but active participants whose attention carries tangible value.

Let's not forget that, if we do go down the microtransaction hell of an internet path, we'd be screwing things up big-time for the coming generations...

When you have a goose that produces a reliable daily supply of golden eggs do you:

  1. keep collecting your daily egg
    or
  2. see if giving it a good kick or two gets you more eggs

YouTube is the only Google service I use on a regular basis. Happy to leave them behind if they continue with this type of behavior.

It would be less convenient, but it is what it is and if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s ads.

When will companies finally understand that some people won‘t watch ads no matter what tricks they employ. I‘d rather watch no video at all than a single ad. If that is their goal, fine.

And the percentage of people using ad blocking has to be crazy low. I've never seen another person in public with ad blocking. Every time I happen to see someone watching youtube, there's ads playing.

I'm surprised it took them this long

I really think that Brave will circumvent this. Btw, YouTube will sue Invidious if they don't stop offering the service in the following weeks. So I think YouTube is onto something here.

As fill-in ads are a vector for computer viruses and other malware I for one will NOT be disabling my ad blocker unless YouTube is willing to provide a lifetime subscription to something like Life Lock and make me whole for anything lost to whatever malware arrives as a part of an ad.

Where else can I watch sci-show, Linus-tech-tips, and all the other channels I subscribe to?

Just use newpipe. It's youtube without the ads. Doesn't have casting support, but it allows you to download the videos. You can also listen/download to the audio of videos, without fetching the video.

Newpipe will probably be blocked as well if youtube is doing this. Honestly not sure why youtube hasn't blocked yt-dlp and others already.

It's not easily block able as it scrapes the YouTube website. They'd have to stop having a website for that to happen.

Honestly curious if they'd ever consider that, considering how popular watching youtube on the phone is, so I could see them trying to get even desktop users to use an app to prevent 3rd party launchers

If they did though, it would probably cause at least a decent number of people to try to find alternatives

At the end of the day, the main way the fediverse gets new users is the big tech companies screwing up

Seems like it's profit squeezin season on every major platform.

oh boy, I wish youtube kills itself like reddit is doing right now so decentralized alternatives can become widely adopted

Yeah, good luck making me watch ads trough newpipe

The great thing about using free open-source software is the immunity from corporate shenanigans.

Well, all the open-source Reddit clients are pretty drastically affected by Reddit's shenanigans.

RedReader isn't actually

I actually do not understand the widespread hostility that people have toward this kind of thing. I watch a lot of content on YouTube, and I don't want to see ads, so I pay for premium. I watch a lot of content on Twitch, and I don't want to see ads, so I pay for turbo. Hosting a major video streaming website isn't cheap. It's not like these things are unreasonably priced. If you hate the ads so much, then why not pay for the service that the platform is offering you, and for the content that creators are providing on it? And if you don't watch often enough for ad-free viewing to be worth a few bucks a month to you, then why get so worked up about having to sit through an ad every now and then?

And if you don’t watch often enough for ad-free viewing to be worth a few bucks a month to you, then why get so worked up about having to sit through an ad every now and then?

There is an awkward gap where most services (not just YouTube) don't offer reasonable pricing for consuming small amounts of content. So if you consume a lot of YouTube, the subscription price is justified. If you consume very little YouTube, you can probably suffer through some ads. But if you're somewhere in the middle, there isn't a great option.

YouTube probably makes fractions of a cent off of ads on a single video it shows me, but I can't pay fractions of a cent to watch one video.

I'd consider this to actually be a pretty widespread problem across the internet, where it's frustratingly difficult to buy small amounts of content for a reasonable price. It's either the subscription or nothing for a ton of services.

I pay for a youtube premium family plan. Best money I spend monthly. I want to support the youtube creators that I watch, I don't have to see ads (I block them anyway), and I get a music service included.

revanue from yt premium views is like 1000x from ad views. that's probably only going to get larger.

if you dont believe in paying for your media then you give power to the advertisers.

I feel like extensions are pretty savvy for fixing this. If not, I will waste less time on YouTube. Hell, why not another big site getting over my limit for hoops that are worth jumping through vs value I get.

Yup, a lot of my time got wasted on YouTube.. I watched "educational" and "interesting" videos but I have to say that many of the creators got caught into enshittification process too.. I would do well with 95% reduction in watch time. However, if they start a real war against adblockers.. 100% reduction will it be.

We did the Twitter to Mastodon migration. Now we are doing the Reddit to Lemmy/kbin migration. When are we doing the YouTube to Peertube migration?

That's impossible or at least very difficult, right now. Video content is very expensive. LBRY is the only feasible option.

As irritating as it is. I do understand. The internet and things on the internet can’t just be free, and ads is how we pay.

I do highly disagree with how many ads they’ve been playing with implementing.