5 ms·

Are youtube ads that much worse than cable TV? I pay for youtube premium and don't watch cable TV anymore so I honestly can't say myself, but from what I rememb

by creato 7y ago

Are youtube ads that much worse than cable TV? I pay for youtube premium and don't watch cable TV anymore so I honestly can't say myself, but from what I remember of each, they both seemed about on the same level of garbage-ness.

ckastner 7y ago
About three months ago, I visited a friend and we looked up a 15-minute cooking recipe. We were shown three ads in the process. I subscribed to Premium quite early. They were showing me an IKEA bed ad multiple times a day, over a number of days. 3-4 different ads, but always the same product. The end result being that I will sleep on the ground before I ever purchase a Nordli bed.
- saiya-jin 7y ago
  This surprises me - from desktop with ublock origin and ghostery, I never, ever see any youtube ads. Just a regular free gmail account. When I see what crap is shown at friends places when they use TV to browse youtube, I want to run away (I am physically allergic to ads it seems). Is this due to some demographic algorithm or something else?
  - skinnymuch 7y ago
    What do you mean? You have ad blockers on. So you don’t see ads. That’s your base. When you do see ads. It’s extremely annoying because it’s way above your base. OTOH, friend watching YouTube on tv is used to seeing ads. That’s their base. So it’s not as bad. If all ad blockers stopped working right now forever. You would likely adapt and be more or less fine with (albeit more annoyed) in due time. Not like your friends relish the ads either.
- iamleppert 7y ago
  The very fact you remembered the bed at all is a huge win for that ad campaign and would be seen as a success, not a failure. And the fact that ad caused you to purchase something (doesn't matter if it wasn't the bed itself) is a huge win for Google's Youtube advertising strategy. The net result is still causing you to part with money.
  - ckastner 7y ago
    Ad remember: see the sibling comment. And yes, Google getting me to subscribe to YouTube Premium is obviously a win for Google. However, if the most attractive thing about your Product A is that it's "not Product B", that doesn't really build the kind of long-term relationship with your customer that you'd like. The end result being me currently evaluating whether I need the YouTube Apps at all.
    - creato 7y ago
      That's a pretty big negative spin on the "free + ads or pay" business model. Isn't that the model we all want? We all complain about ads, but what alternative is there other than to pay money? I gladly pay for content in exchange to avoid ads if I can. I'm fine with ad-blocking "morally" when there is no other option, but I'm not OK with blocking ads on services that offer a reasonable price to avoid ads. Of course, if you don't want to use youtube, by all means, you don't need to pay for it. But I wouldn't view the "pay or see ads" business model as some gross thing to avoid.
      - ckastner 7y ago
        > That's a pretty big negative spin on the "free + ads or pay" business model. Isn't that the model we all want? We all complain about ads, but what alternative is there other than to pay money? That's a good argument! I admit that I fully support the free + ads business model. Thinking a bit more about this, I believe what irked me about the YouTube experience is (1) that I was repeatedly (ad nauseam) shown the very same ads, and (2) that the frequency was continuously increased to the point where the free+ads version was no longer watchable. I already expressed what how I feel about (1), and (2) just feels like the wrong kind of pressure, because it impairs the product. Here are two alternatives to (2) that I would have considered more effective: (A) mark a channel as "favorite" and watch those videos with zero ads, and (B) watch the first 100 videos a month with zero ads. In both of those cases, I can see someone meeting me half-way. In its current form, it's just increasing and increasing the level on nagware.
        7y ago
- NikolaeVarius 7y ago
  You literally just did the thing that justifies the ads. You now have internalized an actual bed model and also spread the word that it exists as an IKEA model so the subconscious link is there, and to top it off you mentioned it on a forum, so thats free publicity Whatever Ikea is spending on ads is apparently doing their jobs
  - ckastner 7y ago
    I "internalized" the bed model about as much as Bill Murray internalized "I Got You Babe" in Groundhog Day, or anyone else would remember something that they found extremely irritating. And the saying that there is "no such thing as bad publicity" only works in certain cases.
- hyperbovine 7y ago
  Pretty sure I slept on a Nordli back in college. You would not find the two experiences all that different.
tedunangst 7y ago
Sometimes when I turn on cable TV I get lucky and can watch a few minutes without seeing an ad. Youtube plays an ad every time you click a video.
ksec 7y ago
I actually like YouTube ads. I guess I am better targeted on the Web compared to Cable TV. So the usefulness on YouTube Ads are generally better, while Cable TV or other Offline Ads are better for Brand Building.

by creato 7y ago

ckastner 7y ago

About three months ago, I visited a friend and we looked up a 15-minute cooking recipe. We were shown three ads in the process. I subscribed to Premium quite early. They were showing me an IKEA bed ad multiple times a day, over a number of days. 3-4 different ads, but always the same product. The end result being that I will sleep on the ground before I ever purchase a Nordli bed.

saiya-jin 7y ago
This surprises me - from desktop with ublock origin and ghostery, I never, ever see any youtube ads. Just a regular free gmail account. When I see what crap is shown at friends places when they use TV to browse youtube, I want to run away (I am physically allergic to ads it seems). Is this due to some demographic algorithm or something else?
- skinnymuch 7y ago
  What do you mean? You have ad blockers on. So you don’t see ads. That’s your base. When you do see ads. It’s extremely annoying because it’s way above your base. OTOH, friend watching YouTube on tv is used to seeing ads. That’s their base. So it’s not as bad. If all ad blockers stopped working right now forever. You would likely adapt and be more or less fine with (albeit more annoyed) in due time. Not like your friends relish the ads either.
iamleppert 7y ago
The very fact you remembered the bed at all is a huge win for that ad campaign and would be seen as a success, not a failure. And the fact that ad caused you to purchase something (doesn't matter if it wasn't the bed itself) is a huge win for Google's Youtube advertising strategy. The net result is still causing you to part with money.
- ckastner 7y ago
  Ad remember: see the sibling comment. And yes, Google getting me to subscribe to YouTube Premium is obviously a win for Google. However, if the most attractive thing about your Product A is that it's "not Product B", that doesn't really build the kind of long-term relationship with your customer that you'd like. The end result being me currently evaluating whether I need the YouTube Apps at all.
  - creato 7y ago
    That's a pretty big negative spin on the "free + ads or pay" business model. Isn't that the model we all want? We all complain about ads, but what alternative is there other than to pay money? I gladly pay for content in exchange to avoid ads if I can. I'm fine with ad-blocking "morally" when there is no other option, but I'm not OK with blocking ads on services that offer a reasonable price to avoid ads. Of course, if you don't want to use youtube, by all means, you don't need to pay for it. But I wouldn't view the "pay or see ads" business model as some gross thing to avoid.
    - ckastner 7y ago
      > That's a pretty big negative spin on the "free + ads or pay" business model. Isn't that the model we all want? We all complain about ads, but what alternative is there other than to pay money? That's a good argument! I admit that I fully support the free + ads business model. Thinking a bit more about this, I believe what irked me about the YouTube experience is (1) that I was repeatedly (ad nauseam) shown the very same ads, and (2) that the frequency was continuously increased to the point where the free+ads version was no longer watchable. I already expressed what how I feel about (1), and (2) just feels like the wrong kind of pressure, because it impairs the product. Here are two alternatives to (2) that I would have considered more effective: (A) mark a channel as "favorite" and watch those videos with zero ads, and (B) watch the first 100 videos a month with zero ads. In both of those cases, I can see someone meeting me half-way. In its current form, it's just increasing and increasing the level on nagware.
      - 7y ago
NikolaeVarius 7y ago
You literally just did the thing that justifies the ads. You now have internalized an actual bed model and also spread the word that it exists as an IKEA model so the subconscious link is there, and to top it off you mentioned it on a forum, so thats free publicity Whatever Ikea is spending on ads is apparently doing their jobs
- ckastner 7y ago
  I "internalized" the bed model about as much as Bill Murray internalized "I Got You Babe" in Groundhog Day, or anyone else would remember something that they found extremely irritating. And the saying that there is "no such thing as bad publicity" only works in certain cases.
hyperbovine 7y ago
Pretty sure I slept on a Nordli back in college. You would not find the two experiences all that different.

tedunangst 7y ago

Sometimes when I turn on cable TV I get lucky and can watch a few minutes without seeing an ad. Youtube plays an ad every time you click a video.

ksec 7y ago

I actually like YouTube ads. I guess I am better targeted on the Web compared to Cable TV. So the usefulness on YouTube Ads are generally better, while Cable TV or other Offline Ads are better for Brand Building.