- cross-posted to:
- technology@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- technology@beehaw.org
Youtube has ads? Since when.
What rock have you been hiding under?
Duck player bro
The ones labeled “NewPipe” and “SponsorBlock”
I think he means native sponsored segment when you’re the first person to watch with sponsor blocks. But that’s mostly only videos realeased under 5 minutes ago.
I dont see ads a since 2 years, for FREE. Android https://github.com/polymorphicshade/Tubular Android TV https://smarttubeapp.github.io/ For others Brave browser, or Firefox based with uBlock extension.
Stop. Using. Youtube.
And replace it with what?
Freetube, and what I use, Newpipe. There are better experiences out there. All one needs to do is search for them. Happy hunting.
Isn’t that still using YouTube? Just a different interface.
Eh, I would argue you’re only using the servers to access the content creators data. Youtube is the interface, algorithm, advertisement, comments, etc. If it’s just the creators data being accessed with no additional contribution from youtube then I would just treat it as any ol’ host server.
For watching YT videos: NewPipe or Tubular for phone app. FreeTube on Pc. Invidious in browser.
Just a few examples, there is loads more alternatives.
Including different platforms all together. Too much to choose from.
I use an alternative frontend for actually watching stuff, just google and find one with a public instance, no ads, can do pip on your phone for free
also easy to host for yourself
Deez nutz
Pornhub?
At least use an adblocker
You have a point it’s a monopoly but most YouTube videos I watch now the creators are always suggesting viewing on patreon because of all the YouTube copyright stuff.
I’ve noticed quite a few have vanished from YouTube so maybe there’s some signs YouTube is starting to get to annoying for creators.
I’ve never used Patreon, but are the videos not hosted there from YouTube?
I think they can pretty much post whatever they want but I’ve never used it myself as it’s all pay walled. But yeah I think reactors are all jumping over to it as it gets harder to post anything on YouTube without someone else trying to claim the ad money.
Patreon has it’s own internal hosting, yes. But is it still leaning on Azure/AWS? shrug Probably.
Touching grass
Many people responded with helpful advice. You decided to add rudeness to that. Why?
It was supposed to be a joke
Yes. A rude joke.
It’s not that deep
Butt stuff
Literally any other form of entertainment.
Though the statement was to stop using it, not replace it.
Youtube is not just entertainment tho - the catch is that Google has way too much actually useful info hostage, like lectures, guides or documentaries.
It’s somewhat of a catch, that’s generally how monopolistic moats work but you really shouldn’t be relying on google as a backup service for obscure videos you wish to keep.
I’ve no idea of the amount of lectures, guides, documentaries and other non-entertainment media that is available exclusively on youtube, but again it isn’t an archiving service.
They can, will and have deleted whole channels for various reasons, most of which were bullshit, if you find something you absolutely have to keep, download it.
That being said, the process of downloading, archiving and curating content on anything more than a trivial scale can be much more involved than it seems, especially if you want backups/redundancy.
I’ve never been a big youtube user so my opinion on this is coloured by the fact that i don’t have that much invested in the platform.
I am now downloading everything I personally need or like. Wish there was, say, a torrent index of Youtube videos)
Not sure how versed/willing you are to selfhost but I’ve heard good things about tube archivist.
There are also a bunch of ui’s for yt-dlp, though i can’t vouch for quality.
Neat finds) That was not my point though. I just use yt-dlp and don’t feel the need to have a server for my multiple files. I just was wondering if I could help share the preserved content somewhere. I could just link to the torrents on my website, but that wouldn’t be of much use because no one ever would think of searching there…
@EngineerGaming @Senal tbf a lot of the creators I watch on YouTube are now on nebula and/or patreon. I ought to explore alternatives.
True. But I am not even talking about dedicated content creators (for whom it is indeed an option!). I am talking about, say, an old laptop disassembly guide that a random master uploaded and just forgot about it. People not actively managing their content are not going to bother.
And since they made so much while people are effectively using adblocker, there’s no need to fight them back, right?
Right?
It’s not about making money, it’s about making all the money. Stock holders will pressure to fire the guy that does that.
It’s not about making money, it’s about making all the money.
It’s probably also about sending a message.
I say this every time the topic comes up, and I’m always downvoted for it but here goes again:
YouTube is going to do this suit because YouTube CAN do this shit. It’s their company. They can enshitify it as much as they’d like. And they WILL enshitify it as much as they like as long as people continue to use it.
How long have they been in existence now? 18-19 years? And with every year they gets worse and worse, while growing bigger and bigger. Why do you think that is?
Could it be because they know that although everyone will bitch about them, complain about them, and write scathing tech articles about them- people will still gobble their shit up regardless.
Don’t like what YouTube is doing? Maybe think about not using it. Because as long as you’re participating- either by creating content or viewing it- you are a big part of the reason they’re getting away with doing this shit.
Downvote away.
I’m very surprised you got downvoted for saying that
Me too. I never try to come off as pushy on the topic. Just suggesting an option, but man… people haven’t responded well to it in the past.
Youtube started when hosting video’s was way easier. The files where smaller, the bandwidth of most people wasn’t that great either. Storage was more expensive though.
These days everybody wants 4K footage and everybody was 100-1000+ mbps internet and we have 4K screens so we can also watch it.
The competitors who host it are either paid up front or porn sites. Because there is no real way to start up a competitor to YouTube. I decided to accept that and I have RSSfeeds of all the creators I like to watch so I bypass the algorithm
Let’s just say, unless YouTube crosses people’s bottom lines and there’s an alternative being actively advertised, people won’t move.
Otherwise, they push that bottom line further.
The lack of alternatives where creators actually get paid for people watching their videos is the biggest problem.
Even youtube doesn’t pay the creators that much. Lois Rossman in a recent video showed some of his video in YT that had over 200k views and generated ~100 USD of income.
And that’s probably what will kill them as payouts get worse and worse making other platforms more attractive as you’re not losing as much. A lot of YouTubers I follow seem to becoming more and more reliant on Patreon as ad revenue goes down.
On a related note. Why would creators add sponsored segments/other sponsoring/patreon etc if YT pays them enough?
spoiler
YT doesn’t pay them enough. Unless your some kind of super star.
Nebula pays creators, and you pay to Nebula.
I have nebula, but still pay also for YT subscriptions
Agreed. Seems there no floor to what people will put up with from them. I can’t understand it. I’ve tried products and services I found that I absolutely hated. I don’t have those products or services anymore.
It’s pretty easy to not do something.
They get away with it because they don’t have serious competition and the reason for that is that allowing anyone to upload videos for free, to be viewed by anyone else for free, is by itself not a viable business model.
It’s the size really. As with most social media platforms, often they are fairly easy to create (YouTube definitely isn’t, but many could). Problem is that it’s impossible to compete with, because people expect the activity you get from hundreds of millions of users.
Same goes for Twitter, Reddit and whatnot. Since capitalism took over the internet completely, basically none of the large plattforms have been outcompeted really.
To big to fail isn’t the banks nowadays, well then to, but it’s IT as well.
People well not pay for anything. I mean you can get YouTube premium without ads. But the vast majority don’t want it. And since no one well pay for anything how does a computer to YouTube make money?
Shit tons of people are paying for it. And the ones that aren’t, are viewing ads- both of these things are a profit for YouTube.
The only option you have is to not use the services at all. This is how you hurt them.
Nope. I don’t pay for it, and I don’t get ads.
For now.
The day I’m forced to watch YouTube ads is the day I never use it again
@aeternum @technology Adguard blocks all advertisements on there. I’ve installed that, and I’ve never received a single one. As much as I wish I could simply mix YouTube for my life, I can’t, because too many of the folks who produce content up there use it as their only means of sharing that content with the world, so I’ve sort of struck a balancing act between watching the things I want to watch, Will still remaining conscientious of what the companies behind it are doing.
At the end of the day, we’d all be better off if everyone just never used it again, because as long as people put up with what they do- the more they’ll do it.
does it count as viewing if every time I just download the videos with yt-dlp, and watch in a good media player?
I have no issue in paying creators with my YouTube Premium subscription. What annoys me is seeing creators feed the algorithm with “regular posts” or create filler videos for sponsors when they have nothing to say.
That and seeing explainer videos from someone who learned something five minutes before recording… the number of copycats and regurgitating the same news content is depressing.
The same goes for the epidemic of faceless AI videos narrating generic content… horrible. The “don’t recommend channel” must be worn off by now, from me alone. :-)
Fantastic exceptions from talented creators make it worth it, so I am happy.
Still need a good strategy for blocking ads on my TV. Mostly watching YouTube through a Chromecast so I can control it from my phone
PiHole can mostly block ads on propetiary software
Not YouTube because the ads come from the same “source”, so blocking that DNS would mean blocking the actual video, too. That’s my week understanding of it, at least.
Subbed to find out what your month understanding will be
My true fans will hang around for my year understanding.
Can’t weight!
Android TV https://smarttubeapp.github.io/
Same but I don’t use YouTube I tend to use it for TV. Cast and forget cable TV for free.
I hate edge but edge also let’s you stream from your PC to TV with no ads.
GrayJay seems to work for that.
SmartTube
You need an android TV or an android box similar to a Roku to use that? Not super familiar. Any recommendations to be compatible with my current non-smart TV?
Android streaming boxes are the most flexible. Replace the stock launcher with projectivy once set up.
Inexpensive/basic: Onn
Best for multi-speaker theaters and video upscaling: Nvidia Shield Pro
I pay for a YouTube premium family plan. It’s probably a rip off but my kids enjoy content on YouTube more than any other platform but YouTube is not safe for children with ads enabled (and YouTube kids is a joke)
Soggy cereal made a video about how YouTube ads are unsafe a few weeks ago and that was exactly my experience before I started paying for yt premium, look that up if you are curious
I’ll just share with you my experience:
I was also paying for a YouTube Premium family plan, but still got ads. What made me cancel was the fact that they’re still using trackers, so they were making money off me three times (subscription, ads, and selling my data)!
Coupled with the fact that “content creators” don’t really make content for the love of making it. It’s all created “for the algorithm”, especially the “watch to the end”, clickbait titles and thumbnails, “like and subscribe” begging, “only 15% of you are subscribers”, sponsored content disguised as education, etc… Videos today are nothing like they were 15 years ago, because it became solely about making money.
Google is one of the pioneers of the enshittification movement!
It’s not just ads on Youtube. It’s also all the sponsor crap and filler content to get to 10 minute videos.
I use it with an adblocker and sponsorblock but it’s still shit.
Why ten mins? Do they only paid if they make it ten mins or longer?
For sure. YouTube creators shilling for honey while Honey stole their affiliation money shows how little time they spend vetting their sponsors. The stuff they peddle is usually a few ticks away from scam, pretty much always overpriced. The day sponsorblock stops working, is the day I stop paying for YouTube premium and using youtube. It’s a pity, because there is a lot of good content on there.
There’s literally porn ads on yt. Recently an acquaintance of mine got one of those “Look what she said when she saw the size of his dick. You can have a bigger dick if you just buy our product”, with plenty of suggestive imagery. And scam ads. My mother got scammed because of a youtube ad pretending to sell products in the name of a famous brand of supermarkets in my region.
Tinfoil hat time:
YouTube allows/endorses/pushes ads not suitable for kids because they know parents, of all people, have no time to curate their kids’ ad experience and will just fork over the cash.
And youtube. Kids sucks so much because they don’t really want anyone to use it… Sadly though, they don’t have to plan to do these things. They just don’t invest in making them kid safe.
I think your theory is plausible. On the YT smart TV app, the ads seem to be increasingly about unpleasant things like dick pills, period pads, and constipation treatments. I think they literally serve up unsavory ad content as a way of punishing you into shelling out for a subscription. Jokes on them, I just switched to SmartTube.
Can confirm. As soon as I turn off personalized ads, I get nothing but “find hot ladies in your area” and “play this hentai game” ads across all Google products. It’s ridiculous.
Ads?
Yeah, what the fuck is the article talking about? I haven’t seen an ad on YouTube in years.
Did u mean “tax for the poor and stupid”?
Fortunately LibreTube and NewPipe exist 👍
Yeah. What ads?
I use Firefox with uBlock Origin and SponsorBlock. I never see any ads on youtube.
Reminder that Firefox on mobile also has ublock origin and other add ons that improve the experience.
Safari in itself also blocks a lot of ads, but if that is not enough IOS users can also install Firefox. There is no reason to watch ads anymore
As far as I know, Firefox doesn’t have ad blocking or extensions on iOS. Safari with AdGuard does pretty well though, and there’s Vinegar for YouTube specifically.
Does Firefox on iOS have extensions? I have to use Orion by Kagi to get extensions on iOS.
It does not. If you don’t want to sideload, consider AdGuard and/or Vinegar. Only works with Safari, though.
Look into Sideloadly and uYouPlus by qnblackcat . I’ve been using it for years now, and while a hassle to sign the apps every week, it’s the best we have unfortunately.
Yeah extensions on Firefox mobile is fucking awesome
I find using it in a browser clunky. Much prefer a dedicated app (now I use Tubular), which gives some extra functions like downloads, history and playlists.
This is the way. Just make sure to disable the YouTube app on your phone so links people send you don’t open in the app.
And yet they aggressively demonitize channels.
I mean they don’t want to pay the creators thats abundantly clear.
Line go up
Firefox + Ublock Origin
also works on android
Yep, this works! No ads.
What if you only use the apps?
Use a third party app like New Pipe, if your on a fruit phone… you unfortunatly cant side load apps, I dont have an answer…
I’m using newpipe but the anybility to find content with youtubr’s content discovery algorithm or a locally running one makes for a lot yif very annoying tab switching and scrolling to the bottom of newpipe thousand item playlist. I’m going to try this rvx!
RVX, a fork of ReVanced, works well on Android. You’ll have to side load it yourself, but it’s got very good ad blocking and sponsor block if you don’t want to hear shilling during a video.
No idea for iPhone.
Why not just use the original ReVanced?
It had stopped working for me
Lookup Grayjay
Can’t say I’ve seen them.
Tbh YT premium is well worth the asking price though I wish it subsidized the free experience as that’s much more important for the platform.
Only on Lemmy you get downvoted for saying you pay for a service you like…
The problem is yt premium is not able to sustain google’s platform. Only google’s synergic monopolies make youtube possible and alternative financially unviable. Youtube, very literally, must die. As long as youtube exists it will maintain critical mass and kill everything else judt by existing. To fund youtube is to reinfotce this entrenchment. Both paying or watching ads and arguably just watching it, empowers google momooly position and its capture of the zeitgeist.
Nope. I was well into negative on Reddit for the same.
There are tools that let you do what YT Premium provides for free unless you’re hooked on the music.
Musify exists.
I know all the tools but I’d rather support Youtube which has ben an incredible service for me and I think it’s a net good for the society so it should remain sustainable.
“Support YouTube” lol… You mean give money to Google. I think they’ll be fine.
Let me explain my point of view - it’s not about giving money to Google but showing the business that there’s a viable monetization strategy that isn’t locking down content or fighting ad blockers.
Let’s say there is no Youtube premium and everyone has an adblocker then google has no choice but to fight ad blocking harder or lock down the content because Youtube starts to bleed money. Now some lazy people pay for Premium and we have this little golden mean where everyone can kinda use the platform kinda freely which is a pretty good compromise if you ask me.
Alphabet (the parent company of Google) made over 100 billion dollars in NET income. For those that don’t know, net income = total revenue - total expenses.
ALL expenses are already accounted for.
I don’t think we need to care about a billion dollar company making record breaking amounts of money. Sure, YouTube is great & has brought lots of great content but the company behind it is not struggling whatsoever. Your average American is struggling to make ends meet. I’d rather use any tool the community creates to make it as difficult as possible for them to take my data & give me ads. Their whole ad industry is a multi billion dollar business model. I don’t even make a six figure salary. I can’t even imagine a couple hundred thousand dollars let alone several hundred thousand, 1 million, or beyond.
Sadly I haven’t found a tool that works on smart TVs, so I just pay for it
Sadly I have Roku TVs
Yeah, if anybody figures out a solution for Roku… please tell me. I’m set everywhere except one Roku stick in my basement, hooked up to my projector. The best place to watch movies in the house, the only place with ads.
I stuck with Roku because it works if I block their ads on my pihole, and I can pay or steal everything else
I am hooked on the music.
There are tools for the music side as well
RVX Music works quite well for me on Android
RVX Music requires manual compilation, right? Also, does it properly play album version of songs? (YT Music ReVanced plays the video version of songs instead).
I don’t remember having to compile it and there’s a setting to prefer the album version of songs
I guess I will give it a try someday. I originally had a Google Play Music subscription back in the day when it had a cleaner UI(and then Google killed it). I recently switched back to YT Music since ReVanced would usually play video variants.
I don’t have much love for YT Premium since the official YouTube app is worse than NewPipe, say. Even after paying, you are shown adverts for purchasing say, merchandise from creators (that counts as an ad in my book).
I will probably give RVX a try once my current subscription ends.
Honestly, the service is worth it for me. I need the easiest process possible for my luddite wife and kindergartener’s Amazon fire tablet. I put my mom on the account too.
But for everything else, yarrrrr.
A kindergarteners amazon fire tablet is a sentence i hope i never have to hear again