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The ads are genuinely one of my most frustrating experiences when using the Chromecast with Google TV. And seeing this kind of pattern makes it more likely that

The ads are genuinely one of my most frustrating experiences when using the Chromecast with Google TV. And seeing this kind of pattern makes it more likely that I’ll never sign up for premium YouTube (whatever it is called) and just use YouTube less. Also, I swear they do this - If you click on the try YouTube premium for 14 days, once the 14 days end you are bombarded with extra ads. And ads that are usually not skippable. I also remember getting multiple 60 min ads. I don’t remember any of these ads but I do remember how frustrating my experience with YouTube was and still is. But I’m also the kind of person that is still surprised that advertising works. If only I could use my raspberry pi to block all YouTube ads at home. My life would be immensely better.

phh 4y ago
FYI, several alternative youtube frontend apps are available for "Chromecast with Google TV" (which is just an Android TV device), for instance the opensource Newpipe. (Though this is piracy, and you shouldn't do piracy, because piracy hurts Google and content creators - who will gladly take donations -)
- JulianWasTaken 4y ago
  For Android TV, there's even the even nicer https://github.com/yuliskov/SmartTubeNext https://github.com/yuliskov/SmartTubeNext which integrates SponsorBlock.
- NoraCodes 4y ago
  That is not piracy.
- branon 4y ago
  Accessing a publicly-available website using your preferred frontend application (NewPipe) is absolutely NOT piracy. Consider disregarding the future advice of whoever told you this. I believe this is a dangerous and misleading line of thinking.
  - phh 4y ago
    Fun, I thought my sentence would trigger the pro-ad people, not the other side. I don't think there is any legal definition of "piracy" (except for ships). My own definition of piracy is "accessing content without paying the official fee". Here "official fee" is the ad. Also, it can be seen as equivalent to DDoS, since you are voluntarily using Google's cloud resources while breaching their EULA. Personally, when using newpipe, I do feel like I'm stealing unrightfully bandwidth from Google, though the price for that bandwidth is definitely not worth a tenth of the ads Google show me.
- gadrev 4y ago
  But you can't "cast" from Newpipe (you'd have cast the phone's screen and play stuff in Newpipe in your phone). Which anyways is what I do when I start getting too many ads (typically I just shutdown the TV and try to time turning it back on so the ad is finishing. it's something of a mini-game). EDIT: I'm referring to the original chromecast, not the new "Chromecast with Google TV"
  - JulianWasTaken 4y ago
    You can use the regular YouTube app from your phone purely as a remote, and cast from it to SmartTubeNext on your TV.
  - tomatotomato37 4y ago
    If you get some type of streaming box with an open version of Android TV you can just run Newpipe on the box. The most capable one is the Nvidia shield but for just running a YouTube client there are probably cheaper ones you can get off Alibaba or similar.
zerocrates 4y ago
What's the frustration specifically? My experience on Chromecast is that they actually seem to show fewer ads there than on a browser. Edit: or is maybe the issue here the mere presence of ads versus them being blocked in a browser?
CraigJPerry 4y ago
https://github.com/ajayyy/SponsorBlock https://github.com/ajayyy/SponsorBlock works on an nvidia Shield via "SmartTube Next" - i don't know if you can install or sideload that on GoogleTV. There's clients for many other platforms, even traditionally locked down ones like iOS Safari etc.
alias_neo 4y ago
There are a couple of videos of some really chill music sessions posted by the artists that I used to put on every morning when my daughter was born. I've seen the same few vids hundreds of times and I know, like I know the sky is blue and water is wet that they had no ads. Couple years later, my son is born and that morning peace time comes for me to put on a vid or two, next thing I know, a couple of ads bang in the middle of the video. So jarring I can't explain how pissed I was, I got straight to rooting my TV and blocking ads. The interesting part for me is that a YouTube premium trial Google had pushed on me ended just days prior.
- tpoacher 4y ago
  the worst thing about ads in the middle of relaxing music is that they are typically loud and obnoxious, instantly destroying within milliseconds any mood/relaxation benefits accrued over the preceding few hours. it's as if a frat party suddenly bombs your meditation group, trashes the place in 5 seconds, then leaves
  - runarberg 4y ago
    If you are in the USA, I think it is illegal to play ads at a louder volume then the surrounding content. You can file an FCC complaint if you see that.
    - duskwuff 4y ago
      As far as I'm aware, that only applies to broadcast radio and over-the-air TV, not all media.
      - runarberg 4y ago
        I’m not a lawyer but it looks like the law might apply to chromecast as well: > as such recommended practice concerns the transmission of commercial advertisements by a television broadcast station, cable operator, or other multichannel video programming distributor. [emphasis mine] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-111publ311/html/PLAW-111publ311.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-111publ311/html/PLA... I think it would be worth it to file a complaint. Or if anybody here on HN has done so already, I would be interested in hearing the response. EDIT: Looking at the code (which I’m woefully under-qualified at) I see this: > (13) the term “multichannel video programming distributor” means a person such as, but not limited to, a cable operator, a multichannel multipoint distribution service, a direct broadcast satellite service, or a television receive-only satellite program distributor, who makes available for purchase, by subscribers or customers, multiple channels of video programming; https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/522 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/522 I don’t see how a chromecasting a youtube playlist (human curated or autogenerated) over GoogleTV, does not apply to this definition.
boardwaalk 4y ago
For all the kvetching about ads I see regarding YouTube, most people really could just pay Google and make it go away. I mean, I don’t like paying for things either, but it’s not worth the headache of ad blockers (which aren’t available on every device) and philosophically, I would rather the internet get away from ads everywhere and I’ll help that happen if I can. It helps that $10 is worth the many hours of use I get every month from YouTube & YouTube Music too.
- devnulll 4y ago
  I am a huge fan of YouTube Premium. Youtube has become the de-facto video platform in our household, having totally displaced traditional shows. To pay $10 per month to have unlimited content w/o ads is perfect. I don't understand the pushback.
  - edgyquant 4y ago
    The pushback is because all of the shows I want to watch are still half ads. The content creators insert them, surely they have a rational reason, but I’m not interested in the economics if I pay for ad free I want ad free. I would pay quite a bit more than 10$ for this, but the option just isn’t there.
    - scarface74 4y ago
      Then pay for streaming services they have professional content?
      - edgyquant 4y ago
        Yeah, sure, but doesn’t that prove the point that it’s a waste to pay for YouTube?
- aantix 4y ago
  Youtube Premium is a quality of life upgrade. It's amazing what a difference it makes when you don't have to go through the tension of battling ads for every three minute video you'd like to watch. You're free to consume videos at the speed for which you're thinking of ideas/questions.
IE6 4y ago
FWIW I just gave up and bought youtube premium and I never see ads ever again on my chromecast. Unfortunately because the domain ads are served off of is a youtube domain something like a pihole (which I am also running) doesn't help. One idea I had was to run a chromebox instead cause that allows for browser based adblock plugins but paying the monthly fee was easier (for now).

phh 4y ago

FYI, several alternative youtube frontend apps are available for "Chromecast with Google TV" (which is just an Android TV device), for instance the opensource Newpipe. (Though this is piracy, and you shouldn't do piracy, because piracy hurts Google and content creators - who will gladly take donations -)

JulianWasTaken 4y ago
For Android TV, there's even the even nicer https://github.com/yuliskov/SmartTubeNext https://github.com/yuliskov/SmartTubeNext which integrates SponsorBlock.
NoraCodes 4y ago
That is not piracy.
branon 4y ago
Accessing a publicly-available website using your preferred frontend application (NewPipe) is absolutely NOT piracy. Consider disregarding the future advice of whoever told you this. I believe this is a dangerous and misleading line of thinking.
- phh 4y ago
  Fun, I thought my sentence would trigger the pro-ad people, not the other side. I don't think there is any legal definition of "piracy" (except for ships). My own definition of piracy is "accessing content without paying the official fee". Here "official fee" is the ad. Also, it can be seen as equivalent to DDoS, since you are voluntarily using Google's cloud resources while breaching their EULA. Personally, when using newpipe, I do feel like I'm stealing unrightfully bandwidth from Google, though the price for that bandwidth is definitely not worth a tenth of the ads Google show me.
gadrev 4y ago
But you can't "cast" from Newpipe (you'd have cast the phone's screen and play stuff in Newpipe in your phone). Which anyways is what I do when I start getting too many ads (typically I just shutdown the TV and try to time turning it back on so the ad is finishing. it's something of a mini-game). EDIT: I'm referring to the original chromecast, not the new "Chromecast with Google TV"
- JulianWasTaken 4y ago
  You can use the regular YouTube app from your phone purely as a remote, and cast from it to SmartTubeNext on your TV.
- tomatotomato37 4y ago
  If you get some type of streaming box with an open version of Android TV you can just run Newpipe on the box. The most capable one is the Nvidia shield but for just running a YouTube client there are probably cheaper ones you can get off Alibaba or similar.

zerocrates 4y ago

What's the frustration specifically? My experience on Chromecast is that they actually seem to show fewer ads there than on a browser. Edit: or is maybe the issue here the mere presence of ads versus them being blocked in a browser?

CraigJPerry 4y ago

https://github.com/ajayyy/SponsorBlock https://github.com/ajayyy/SponsorBlock works on an nvidia Shield via "SmartTube Next" - i don't know if you can install or sideload that on GoogleTV. There's clients for many other platforms, even traditionally locked down ones like iOS Safari etc.

alias_neo 4y ago

There are a couple of videos of some really chill music sessions posted by the artists that I used to put on every morning when my daughter was born. I've seen the same few vids hundreds of times and I know, like I know the sky is blue and water is wet that they had no ads. Couple years later, my son is born and that morning peace time comes for me to put on a vid or two, next thing I know, a couple of ads bang in the middle of the video. So jarring I can't explain how pissed I was, I got straight to rooting my TV and blocking ads. The interesting part for me is that a YouTube premium trial Google had pushed on me ended just days prior.

tpoacher 4y ago
the worst thing about ads in the middle of relaxing music is that they are typically loud and obnoxious, instantly destroying within milliseconds any mood/relaxation benefits accrued over the preceding few hours. it's as if a frat party suddenly bombs your meditation group, trashes the place in 5 seconds, then leaves
- runarberg 4y ago
  If you are in the USA, I think it is illegal to play ads at a louder volume then the surrounding content. You can file an FCC complaint if you see that.
  - duskwuff 4y ago
    As far as I'm aware, that only applies to broadcast radio and over-the-air TV, not all media.
    - runarberg 4y ago
      I’m not a lawyer but it looks like the law might apply to chromecast as well: > as such recommended practice concerns the transmission of commercial advertisements by a television broadcast station, cable operator, or other multichannel video programming distributor. [emphasis mine] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-111publ311/html/PLAW-111publ311.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-111publ311/html/PLA... I think it would be worth it to file a complaint. Or if anybody here on HN has done so already, I would be interested in hearing the response. EDIT: Looking at the code (which I’m woefully under-qualified at) I see this: > (13) the term “multichannel video programming distributor” means a person such as, but not limited to, a cable operator, a multichannel multipoint distribution service, a direct broadcast satellite service, or a television receive-only satellite program distributor, who makes available for purchase, by subscribers or customers, multiple channels of video programming; https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/522 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/522 I don’t see how a chromecasting a youtube playlist (human curated or autogenerated) over GoogleTV, does not apply to this definition.

boardwaalk 4y ago

For all the kvetching about ads I see regarding YouTube, most people really could just pay Google and make it go away. I mean, I don’t like paying for things either, but it’s not worth the headache of ad blockers (which aren’t available on every device) and philosophically, I would rather the internet get away from ads everywhere and I’ll help that happen if I can. It helps that $10 is worth the many hours of use I get every month from YouTube & YouTube Music too.

devnulll 4y ago
I am a huge fan of YouTube Premium. Youtube has become the de-facto video platform in our household, having totally displaced traditional shows. To pay $10 per month to have unlimited content w/o ads is perfect. I don't understand the pushback.
- edgyquant 4y ago
  The pushback is because all of the shows I want to watch are still half ads. The content creators insert them, surely they have a rational reason, but I’m not interested in the economics if I pay for ad free I want ad free. I would pay quite a bit more than 10$ for this, but the option just isn’t there.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    Then pay for streaming services they have professional content?
    - edgyquant 4y ago
      Yeah, sure, but doesn’t that prove the point that it’s a waste to pay for YouTube?
aantix 4y ago
Youtube Premium is a quality of life upgrade. It's amazing what a difference it makes when you don't have to go through the tension of battling ads for every three minute video you'd like to watch. You're free to consume videos at the speed for which you're thinking of ideas/questions.

IE6 4y ago

FWIW I just gave up and bought youtube premium and I never see ads ever again on my chromecast. Unfortunately because the domain ads are served off of is a youtube domain something like a pihole (which I am also running) doesn't help. One idea I had was to run a chromebox instead cause that allows for browser based adblock plugins but paying the monthly fee was easier (for now).