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Aside from what is already mentioned in other posts, there would be logistic concerns to enable downloading in a large scale. By assuming the content will be w
by ralmeida 9y ago
Aside from what is already mentioned in other posts, there would be logistic concerns to enable downloading in a large scale.
By assuming the content will be watched by a human, they can throttle buffering to transfer only what's needed for human consumption, thus spreading out the network load.
- stouset 9y agoThat's much more easily done client-side. And having downloaded videos from them at full speed, this appears to be how it's implemented as well.
- ralmeida 9y agoThe throttling is done client-side, yes. But it's a numbers game - if you enable "official" direct unthrottled downloading, this would bypass the client throttling, effectively increasing network requirements. Of course, this is just a side point - the strongest reason is likely to be either that YT has a strong incentive to keep users in the site/apps for ad display and engagement (related videos, etc), or that they are unable to do so due to some sort of business deal. My opinion is that - even if they're not bound by any deal that would forbid them to do so - they would not officially support (much less encourage at any level) direct downloading, because the ads/engagement reason alone is strong enough.