YouTube: 5 ads the norm now?
For context I'm in the US. The last time I used YouTube without an ad blocker, there were 2 ads back to back, and way too frequently. I tried watching on my PlayStation tonight, and not only are they more frequent, they've increased in quantity by 150%. It's also very common for the last ad to last 2 minutes to over an hour long. What the actual fuck, why would anyone watch YouTube without an ad blocker at this point? It's literally unwatchable
Edit: the amount of unsolicited advice in the comments is unreal. I don't get ads on my phone or on desktop, I'm very aware of how to block them. I simply won't watch YouTube on my PlayStation anymore. I'm not looking for suggestions, please stop with the recommendations.
Geez, so many entitled people in this thread. If Google didn't get their yearly revenue growth, their poor execs wouldn't be able to afford their 3rd yacht! Stop being selfish and subscribe to premium already! /s
Yeah yeah, can't afford rent and food, whatever. Have you tried not being poor? Give Google their money you selfish pricks
Wasn't that something Paris Hilton said? 😆 "Have they, like, tried not being poor?" I may have added the "like". But it's very plausible it was there!
What about the content creators? I don't care about Google, but I want the people who make the things I enjoy to get paid.
Sure, you can subscribe to patreons, but you can't subscribe to everyone's, and frankly, 99% of people don't subscribe to any.
I guess we can all just say ha doesn't matter I got mine and try to not think about it. I guess that is the plan.
It's not your responsibility to make up for Google's shortcomings. They're a ~5 trillion dollar company now. They could easily change their payment structure if they wanted to, but they don't because their shareholders are more important. If a company with >10^8 times more net worth than you isn't going to bother, then don't make it your responsibility.
It's sad, but unfortunately, the creators made a deal with the devil, and it's not regular people's responsibility to get them out.
And don't forget, there was a time when nobody made any money for posting things on youtube - it was just a site for sharing things people found novel and interesting, with no expectation of remuneration whatsoever. I would even argue that it was a much better time to be there than it is now - back before they had recommendation algorithms pushing people to all kinds of deplorable content and pushing the biddings of far-right dictators. Rewarding Google for this kind of behavior only makes it worse.
The majority of people that uploaded their video on youtube never see those ads money because they don't meet the criteria to receive ad revenue, and those that do, get so little and earn most of their income from other sources (endorsements, paid review, etc). Those minority who blocked ads don't really affect content creator's bottom line in a meaningful way. Subscription is another matter though because it pays higher rates, though still pretty low compared to other income stream.
If you truly care about a creator you can buy their some of their merch. The profit from that will out-value watching every one of their videos with ads for the foreseeable future.
An hour of YouTube ads is simply apocalyptic
OP, I know exactly what you're talking about.
I was visiting relatives this Christmas and wanted to watch some of my YouTube videos on their SmartTV. I have watched YouThe with ads on occasion throughout the years...usually when watching some video on a relative's device or school or work computer or something. They are annoying, but mostly fairly manageable. So I started up a 20 minute vid from a youtuber I like.
I shit you not...within the first 5 fucking minutes of the video, there were 5 separate ad breaks. And each ad was going to play for minutes on end if I never hit the skip button.
Yep, you read that right. One ad per minute. I am NOT exaggerating. I counted them and watched the video timestamps.
I almost could not believe what I was seeing. My mind was fucking blown. Never have I ever experienced that egregious level of ads. It made the content I was trying to view literally unwatchable and I switched off the video.
To OP, I'd highly recommend getting an Android tv device like a modern Chromecast (not the old models...needs to run android). They are relatively inexpensive and make viewing content on TVs a sane experience. I think I maybe got mine for $40 or something. Install SmartTube Next and you'll have no ads. Works fantastic. You set it up once and never worry about it again.
I really appreciate your response
I don't even use my tv for a tv. I just hook up my laptop to play games. If I wanna watch movies, shows, or videos I got my jellyfin client and youtube is ad free with ubo and firefox
This should go in "VeryInfuriating". I agree YouTube has become unwatchable without any kind of ad-block or cheap Premium
iOS: Video Lite Android: Vanced Android TV: Smart Tube
Stop watching YouTube ads. Use a third party player.
And for everything it works on: just use Firefox with ublock origin!
Add SponsorBlock for in-video sponsors while you're at it!
Oh yeah duh. I just sometimes disable it because it can be wonky and skip important pieces with how tagging works.
That takes actual money away from the actual creators though (instead of just the exec's fat bank accounts), so use with some consideration. Don't drain money from youtubers you enjoy.
No it doesn't; the creators have already been paid for their sponsorship. Sponsorblock just skips it the same as you would.
Actually that's not quite how it works from my understanding. Youtube is able to provide detailed metrics that can provide information like "how many people actually watched the sponsor segment?" and base the payouts on that. The payout will either be based on estimated views in advance (meaning if it's lower than expected they'll pay less next time) or they'll pay after the video has been live for some period of time.
Where are you getting this insight from exactly?
You...don't believe it works like that? Ultimately a sponsor isn't going to pay much if no one watches the spot. Advertising has always involved getting as much data as possible on how your ads are doing.
I don't have any one definitive link that will tell you "this is how it works", but I've picked up a few things from the various discussions I've seen some youtubers have.
Also, if you watch a video you like, do yourself a favor and download it. Save it. Archive it. It's only a matter of time before they either take it down or derank it because they want to push you to some other more profitable video stream. Bonus points because it doesn't give them analytics information on it when you go back to watch it again, or watch a specific part again.
I've started doing this for all kinds of content - technical videos, music, funny clips, games, etc.
Congrats, you didn't read anything I wrote!!
You answered your own question in the actual post I think? Or what is your question? Do you have a question? There's a question mark in your title. Do you want tips or to just rant?
Newpipe
Newpipe on phone
SmartTube on TV
Firefox with adblock on computer
Holy trinity of YouTube delivery.
Quick PSA: they don’t currently block VPNs, so you can sign up for an account in a cheap country (I picked Nigeria) and use a foreign currency debit card (I use Revolut) to get Premium for like £1.50 a month for my entire family.
If they close that loophole then I think I’ll be done with it, the ads make it basically unusable these days.
Firefox mobile has ad block and sponsor block now
Revanced for now until that gets shut down
Why would it get shut down?
ReVanced 👍. Or any other app that gets rid of them.
5+ ads each being 3-5 min long.
I was in India and the ads were straight up music videos.....
Won't someone think of the trickle down economics?? How will creators get paid!!
They creators already moved to patreon since YT doesn't pay off.
I have a theory that they want you to get so annoyed that you suck it up and pay for premium.
Instead, I decreased my YouTube consumption, turned on my adblocker for low-quality content, or content from an unmonetized creator, or content showing something technically illegal (game OSTs or a motorcycle review involving going 2x the speed limit), and donated to some patreons and purchased a year of Nebula.
Ad blocking for 20+ years (on PC and mobile). Ads are cancer. Ditched TV crap with 15-30 minute ads decades ago. Life is good.
I think YouTube is dying.
Already, I see many of my favourite channels being restricted (one Ukrainian blogger) whilst the completely moronic, yet dangerous conspiracy theory/Flat-Earthers flourish.
Meanwhile, the most common thing we see is the push to sign up and pay them - yet with all the censorship (not simply censored for non-paying customers to allow the advertisements) it is not a viable option.
Thankfully I still use a Desktop - with Firefox and decent extras the actual ads are still not affecting me at all, but YouTube's policies really are.
They are completely above the law - they don't need to respect their own TOS (the reasons many people are blocked is more related to some secret narrative, and it goes against their own stated terms).
There is no way to appeal outside YouTube, and good luck with any idea of taking them to court for removing your income stream, or censoring a very useful source of information whilst spamming you with algorithms that treat you like Spongebob, and expect you to watch completely moronic content.
I suggest YouTube is a conspiracy to destroy the world, starting with the world population's ability to think.
Convince me I'm wrong ;)
Source?
There seem to be many 'sources'. Youtube have a policy where you can show explosions, you can show guns shooting as long as you can't see the targets - it's clearly written. Yet several people are demonetised for showing clips related to Ukraine for a start - and YouTube doesn't respond to requests to explain, it's a secretive policy that doesn't follow the written policy.
It's also very easy to find other videos which would more clearly break the actual rules as they are written. Basically, they do have an agenda - it applies to many similar channels - and they keep very quiet about real reasons for doing so, instead quoting some bullshit rule which isn't true, and doesn't apply, both at the same time.
It could also be that their algorithm is shit.
Is that EeOneGuy? I haven't heard about the guy leading the Russian-speaking YouTube.
Revanced Extended.
I'm in Morocco, I keep getting actual music videos as my ads now. And they're all from the lamest artists that always appear on the radio anyway.
If you're very bothered by the ads, instead of an adblocker you can try out an Ad-blocking DNS. Personally, I use noads.libredns.gr
This will allow them to see all your data though, so I recommend using this method with a reputable VPN.
dns-based blockers do not work on youtube. google delivers ads from the same hostnames as the content.
Pihole doesn’t work on YouTube so this won’t either.
YouTube serves ads from their own domain, can’t be blocked this way.
It allows who to see what data?
Presumably they mean it allows the DNS provider to see your internet traffic, but I don't believe that's wholly accurate. I believe at most they'd be able to log timestamps of what domains you visited.
I too have moderate believes that what you say is in fact correct. +1
Never heard of LibreOps and checked them out; they seem legit. Thanks for the information, I will try them out!
Nope. DNS blocking will cover about 90% of ads, not YouTube or IMDb though, probably some others too. They're served from same domain.
You guys get ads?
I'm watching YouTube on my LG TV quite often. It's not unbearable yet. There's never more than 2 ads. Never more than 30 seconds in total, otherwise it's always skippable. Skippable ads now and then.
It's not great, but not terrible. I'm based in the EU for context.
Dunno, I haven’t watch a single add in the past 5 years or so.
I stream through Roku (great for plex but no way to block ads on YouTube) and the ads got so bad I paid for premium.
I hate it because I’m reinforcing their shitty business choices but it was like being bullied everyday. YouTube is all I really use for entertainment aside from plex so that’s been one silver lining.
Call me insane but I pay for youtube premium. People have NO problem paying for netflix/hulu/amazon/HBO and whatever else but theres a large amount of people who wont even consider paying for Youtube( presumably because the adblocking options are relatively easy to install and use, especially on desktop)
Youtube premium and it is BY FAR the best value in entertainment for me. I watch videos on it multiple hours a day sometimes (in the background while Im doing housework or whatever) No ads for me or my kids, more money to creators, Its like $12/month or something and with that I also get a music service thats - for me - better than spotify/apple/napster or anything else really.
Theres a reason theres no completely free tier on the other services, and its because supporting things with ads alone takes lots and lots of ads. If you arent paying a dime for the service its tough to take your complaints seriously about how many ads there are, becaus you are getting the content FREE, thus you pay with your time and attention
Because Netflix/Hulu/HBO/etc hosts TV shows that are expensive to make. YouTube hosts various types of content that is produced on shoestring budgets compared to TV shows.
Just because someone would pay to watch The Boys or Game of Thrones doesn't mean they'd pay to watch Let's Plays.
Thats an interesting point, but I think a very, very small percentage of people are actively thinking about how much the content they are enjoying costs to make when they are factoring in if its worth paying for. Enjoyment is the number 1 metric by a country mile.
If an expensive show is shit to watch or listen to, no one is going to pay for it. You couldnt pay me to watch Battlefield Earth again for example, I dont care how expensive it was to make.
True, but no one is going to pay for content with production values barely above tiktok videos - which is what most of YouTube's most famous content is.
There's also the fact that YouTube is more of a social media outlet than a content creator. Its content comes from people and organisations experimenting and assuming all risks for themselves. YouTube isn't commissioning works (bar one or two notable exceptions) and the biggest risks they assume is storage space holding dud content.
Streaming services actually create, or at least license, the content they host. That costs significant sums. Therefore it makes sense for them to be paid services. YouTube itself doesn't create or license shit.
Lots and lots and lots of people make bank "on youtube" because people sub to their patreons or buy their merch as a way to support the channel. I think you vastly underestimate what people are willing to spend on a creator whose community they feel apart of and whos content they like.
Is that creator YT? No?
Do they share most of premium’s revenue with said creators? I’m guessing the answer is “none”
If you want to support a relevant creator that’s your choice… but it’s highly unlikely that creator benefits from you going premium,
Thats why I added in the bit of patreon and merch. The persons argument was that no one was going to pay for content that was cheap to make, which is patently absurd given the amount of people making a living off of merch/patreon type deals
Youtube ad revenue is split 55% with the creators - presumably its the same for premium - so yes it actually is "most" depending on how you want to define that.
I don't think of it as paying for the content, as much as just paying for an ad-free experience that doesn't require maintenance on my end and still helps pay creators. I watch YouTube a lot, and on several devices that aren't easy to adblock on, so I just pay for a family plan and none of my family has to see ads on any of their devices, either. I don't think YouTube is really doing exclusive content anymore, so that's not really a huge reason to subscribe.
YTP is one of the few "quality of life" subscriptions that I think is genuinely worth it, IMO.
This is wild.. seeing someone in earnest putting hollywood on the same level as some dude in their garage. This is zero chance I would ever pay 1 cent for 100 video essays because they don't entertain me and they don't feel worth anything. On the other hand yes it makes full sense to me to pay under $10 a month to watch unlimited productions which clearly cost a lot to make. The costumes, writing, research, and everything else that go into an actually immersive experience cannot be compared to some dude reacting to Linus TT being shitty. I will never understand not appreciating the difference here. The shocking part is that your opinion isn't even that unpopular. Blows my fucking mind... For some of you, the only things in the world required to make video entertainment is an opinion and a cheap cell phone. 🤯
Main issue is logging in with my main Google account. I don't want my google data to be accessible in the house from the speaker or the tv or the tablet.
I could pay more by buying YouTube family (or whatever they call it today) and share it with a burner account but that would be ridiculous.
Also, I don't want to even consider supporting them when they're pushing their TikTok clone down my throat. Until the TikTok clone is baked in their app with their shitty videos mixed with regular content, then I'm forced to use alternative clients that remove all the short videos from my view.
That TikTok shit bothers me more than 1 minute of ads.
I've been paying for premium for a while now as I get a ton of value out of it as well, and want to support creators. I watch youtube pretty much exclusively these days, besides the occasional (heh) piracy.
That being said - I am absolutely at the point where I am considering backing up all my subs and switching fully to newpipe. I already use revanced just to deal with their absolute nightmare of a UI - YT, I don't EVER want to see your fucking shorts. Having to hear about them continually making it worse for everyone else makes me want to just leave for another platform.. but sadly 99% of long form content is exclusively hosted on youtube, so there isn't much of a choice.
I think one of the moral (?) objections to paying for YouTube versus paying for streaming services is that a streaming service actually creates (some) original content whereas YouTube merely hosts other people’s content. YouTube is only a facilitator and (ironically) not a creator. All of its content (both original and unoriginal) is produced by money that isn’t YouTube's. They take zero risk and expect maximum returns.
YouTube hosts millions upon millions upon millions of videos for free, and they set up and maintain the ad network that gets creators the money (55% of the ad revenue goes to them, 45% to youtube). That is the value they provide, not the content they create. They dont take a "risk" per se (anymore, that risk was taken in the beginning), but they are 100% outlaying resources to maintain the youtube network/experience at great expense so that people can create, host, and profit on their website with no risk to the creator except wasted time.
Obviously not a simple thing to do otherwise tons of websites would be doing the same thing and YouTube would have lots of competition, but they don't because its actually a very resource intensive process that literally - and I mean literally as in literally - no other company is willing to take on.
There is no moral objection, unless you find funding Google in any way immoral.
Its a mutually beneficial relationship with YouTube and the Creators. Youtube has reduced the risk of spending money on content creation but takes on all the work of maintaining everything youtube offers, and the creators have reduced the risk of financial/commerical resources needed to make money on their product. Neither could exist withou the other
I mean, yeah that’s mostly all true; but you’re kind of missing the point. Alphabet created the ad-soaked centralised monopoly you describe. They obviously shut down Google Video pretty quickly after buying YouTube. They bought-out or strangled competitors, leveraging their SE dominance, to get to where they are now, which is offering small pockets of content scattered about in an advertising platform. Alphabet knew what kind of monster they wanted to create and set about doing it. More adverts equals more profit. Profit must increase year on year. That’s how it works. I don’t begrudge Alphabet trying to fleece everybody - it’s how capitalism operates. I just don’t buy into the “good old Google letting me watch stuff for (almost) free” mantra.
Yeah just that one little tiny exception that literally no one could agree with /s
If you run a pihole, you can have it block youtube ads network-wide.
Did you try it?
From a technical point of view, YouTube ads are YouTube videos. So from a DNS point of view, you can't block one but still continue to watch the other
No you can’t, unless you block all of YouTube network wide.
Not on a tv you can’t. They host ads on the same domain the videos are on, so blocking ads blocks the actual content as well.
yes
Seems users get used to that shit and they don't think its too bad. I'm also shocked that people can get used to it, but it was the same in the 80s with cable TV having tons of ads. People actually thought it was fine to wait during 7 minute ad breaks several times through a TV show or movie. Because they increased the ads slowly, just like YouTube does.
No idea. I’ve almost completely stopped using the site. I won’t use it on my ps5 for the exact reason you mentioned.
Haven't had more than 2 ads per ad break yet but have seen the frequency go up on some videos. Some videos have only a beginning ad while some have 2 or 3+ ad breaks. The extremely popular youtubers usually get the 3+ ads from my experience.
The ad duration also went up to 20-30 seconds with 10 seconds sprinkled in. It doesn't matter if I back out of videos anymore, it seems that the beginning ads are fixed to whatever duration they are. All of this happened when they rolled out the buggy circle timer.
I have no doubt that this will get even worse next year. It's just on the tv I use the youtube app, so if push comes to shove I will go back to fully using newpipe.
I got a VPN and got YouTube premium for like $2.50 on an Ukraine server.
I would just try ublock but I watch in my tv a lot too
I run AdGuard on my iPhone and don’t see ads at all. No idea how it’s so effective, but it is.
Also have an old model/iOS version though. Idk if it’s no longer possible.
Worst case scenario you end up with a vacant piece of screen real estate with a failed to load asset.
Bruh, Adblock. Vanced.
There are ways.
Bruh. PlayStation.
No AdBlock, no vanced. There are no ways.
Pihole. It's a hardware device that plugs into your router and blocks traffic to known advert domains.
It works network-wide, so this works even on non-standard platforms like Playstation.
Like the above poster said, there are ways. Just not the ones they suggested.
Pihole doesn't do absolutely anything against YouTube ads as they use the same domains for ads and videos.
If you tell pihole to block the domain from where YouTube ads are served, then you effectively blocked all YouTube videos
Ah it doesn't work for YouTube? That's a bum :(
I think it's even by accident, wasn't carefully engineered to block the DNS ad blockers, but just that, since the beginning, all YouTube ads are just links to videos on the advertiser account.
It's also a reason why sometimes you get an irritating 5 minute trap video as an ad: that channel is inflating their view counter on their music video by just paying YouTube for extra views
Doesn't work when the ads and content are served from the same domain.
My dude are you browsing Lemmy on your PlayStation?
Grab a chromecast HDMI stick and just stream it from your phone. There are ways.