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If YouTube blocks me from watching videos because I use an ad blocker then I'll stop watching videos on YouTube. I don't care if this doesn't hurt YouTube... i

by mikece 3y ago

If YouTube blocks me from watching videos because I use an ad blocker then I'll stop watching videos on YouTube. I don't care if this doesn't hurt YouTube... it will help me stop spending so much time on YouTube.

taneq 3y ago
Yeah, this could be great for productivity.
gwbas1c 3y ago
> it will help me stop spending so much time Oh gosh, really? Don't you think you'll come back after a few weeks? I think the bigger impact is that it'll impede new user adoption. I use an adblocker (but pay for YouTube,) and I never use sites that block me for using an adblocker.
- benj111 3y ago
  You state you never use sites that block adblockers, right after disagreeing (questioning? Exclaiming??) with the parent for for expressing the exact same point?
thot_experiment 3y ago
100% this, I'm not watching ads. I haven't really seen any advertising on my electronic devices in a decade (edit: actually closer to two decades) and that's the way it will continue to be. My time is valuable, my mental space is valuable, my computer is mine. You will not make it do things I don't want it to do. Advertising is a plague on society. (I speak from experience, I worked for 3 years at an ad agency.)
- nickthegreek 3y ago
  …you can purchase ad free YouTube.
  - alexb_ 3y ago
    Which I will absolutely never be doing.
    - izacus 3y ago
      Why should they care about your indignation then? You're literally just costing them money in resources.
    - Insanity 3y ago
      Honest question - why not? I am paying for Youtube Premium, it's not different to me than paying for Netflix or Spotify. I'm using a service which I like so I don't mind supporting it. If it helps me get rid of ads, so much the better.
      - Barrin92 3y ago
        it's certainly different than Netflix given that they actually make content. On Youtube you're just paying a tax to the fiefdom. Given that a lot of creators have patreon which takes a miniscule cut I'd rather pay creators as directly as possible. Paying a company with a market dominating position 150 bucks per year to not hold me hostage with blocked UI functions is kind of ridiculous.
        igetspam 3y ago
        While I wouldn't pay for YT either, they do have serious infrastructure costs so it's not quite as you describe.
        hdjjhhvvhga 3y ago
        While I agree with your comment there is something seriously wrong with the fact that Google can use its infinite funds so that a serious competitor for YT never has any chances of appearing. If YT were a standalone company and would compete on fair terms in others, we might see some reasonable business models appear.
- firstlink 3y ago
  I must confess I still don't understand why ads are not a CFAA violation. I mean, what are the website operators going to argue? That you voluntarily configured your user agent to display them? That argument is far too dangerous to the advertisers.
jstanley 3y ago
You can always watch on one of the Invidious mirrors if YouTube proper becomes unusable.
- gaius_baltar 3y ago
  Or download it locally with yt-dlp and watch in a video player.
cute_boi 3y ago
same, i think that will save me a lot of time.
joe__f 3y ago
I can get stuck in a bit of a loop watching videos, but on the whole I think YouTube is an incredible resource. I've learnt so many things from it, I think it's worth working out how to use it in moderation rather than just cutting it out
Zetice 3y ago
I just cannot wrap my head around folks who demand content for free. How do you think the people who create this content would survive if they couldn't do it for money???
- chunes3 3y ago
  Some of us are from a time before the web was commercialized. The answer to your question is we couldn't care less. If these people who make "content" as a means of making money go bankrupt, it's no skin off our backs. It will make more room for people who host genuine works on the web.
  - Zetice 3y ago
    Then I have no sympathy for you. You want to live in a world that does not exist, and your desire to do that harms the very people you claim to support, the content creators.
    - porkbeer 3y ago
      Except for decades, and even still, this world exists. I don't think anyone asked for sympathy.
      - Zetice 3y ago
        How can you actually justify consuming content that took time and money to make, without yourself providing any value to the content creators? If there’s a logic I’m missing, I’d love to hear it.
        suby 3y ago
        I'm not who you were talking to as a heads up, but as someone who blocks ads, I frankly just don't care. I view ads as a security risk and as psychological warfare. If Google thinks it worthwhile to invest resources and manages to successfully stop my blocking, fair enough, but otherwise I'm going to continue to optimize for my own well being. Google will go on continuing to be one of the richest and most powerful / influential companies on earth, and the small fraction of ad revenue that the content creator would miss out on from my ad-blocking, well, cost of doing business. I've stopped visiting Twitch because their ad's are annoying to block. I'll stop visiting youtube if the same happens. I refuse to engage with ads if I have a choice. I've given money to a handful of people on Patreon that I want to support, but otherwise I have greater problems to deal with than the small fractions of a cent that these creators lose by me blocking.
sleepytimetea 3y ago
I have observed a more insidious problem - the Youtubers that used to be genuine and down to earth are now themselves compromised by being sent products to give their honest opinion. The other day I was watching a video about this nice couple who wanted to start their bulldozer that was frozen in the forest and suddenly they pull out this "powerbank 1300" (name deliberately changed) and started a sales spiel ! About how they have all these gopros and iphones and look how many ports this thing has, and how it can charge the dead dozer battery blah blah. Matthias Wandel today released a video about a Ecobank 1300 - I am shocked at how the content creators themselves have become a poisoned well ! These 1300WH banks are waaay overpriced for the amount it would cost to buy the individual 18650 cells (probably $100 worth of cells being sold for $999), so these content creators are shills and sellouts to these marketing tactics.
- slaymaker1907 3y ago
  I'm hoping a large part of the cost is in safety. It would be grossly irresponsible to just string together a bunch of budget 18650 cells to try and make a bigger battery. It's junk like this that has caused entities like the NYCHA to straight up ban ebikes (cheap conversion kits for ebikes seem to be giant fire hazards).

by mikece 3y ago

taneq 3y ago

Yeah, this could be great for productivity.

gwbas1c 3y ago

> it will help me stop spending so much time Oh gosh, really? Don't you think you'll come back after a few weeks? I think the bigger impact is that it'll impede new user adoption. I use an adblocker (but pay for YouTube,) and I never use sites that block me for using an adblocker.

benj111 3y ago
You state you never use sites that block adblockers, right after disagreeing (questioning? Exclaiming??) with the parent for for expressing the exact same point?

thot_experiment 3y ago

100% this, I'm not watching ads. I haven't really seen any advertising on my electronic devices in a decade (edit: actually closer to two decades) and that's the way it will continue to be. My time is valuable, my mental space is valuable, my computer is mine. You will not make it do things I don't want it to do. Advertising is a plague on society. (I speak from experience, I worked for 3 years at an ad agency.)

nickthegreek 3y ago
…you can purchase ad free YouTube.
- alexb_ 3y ago
  Which I will absolutely never be doing.
  - izacus 3y ago
    Why should they care about your indignation then? You're literally just costing them money in resources.
  - Insanity 3y ago
    Honest question - why not? I am paying for Youtube Premium, it's not different to me than paying for Netflix or Spotify. I'm using a service which I like so I don't mind supporting it. If it helps me get rid of ads, so much the better.
    - Barrin92 3y ago
      it's certainly different than Netflix given that they actually make content. On Youtube you're just paying a tax to the fiefdom. Given that a lot of creators have patreon which takes a miniscule cut I'd rather pay creators as directly as possible. Paying a company with a market dominating position 150 bucks per year to not hold me hostage with blocked UI functions is kind of ridiculous.
      - igetspam 3y ago
        While I wouldn't pay for YT either, they do have serious infrastructure costs so it's not quite as you describe.
        hdjjhhvvhga 3y ago
        While I agree with your comment there is something seriously wrong with the fact that Google can use its infinite funds so that a serious competitor for YT never has any chances of appearing. If YT were a standalone company and would compete on fair terms in others, we might see some reasonable business models appear.
firstlink 3y ago
I must confess I still don't understand why ads are not a CFAA violation. I mean, what are the website operators going to argue? That you voluntarily configured your user agent to display them? That argument is far too dangerous to the advertisers.

jstanley 3y ago

You can always watch on one of the Invidious mirrors if YouTube proper becomes unusable.

gaius_baltar 3y ago
Or download it locally with yt-dlp and watch in a video player.

cute_boi 3y ago

same, i think that will save me a lot of time.

joe__f 3y ago

I can get stuck in a bit of a loop watching videos, but on the whole I think YouTube is an incredible resource. I've learnt so many things from it, I think it's worth working out how to use it in moderation rather than just cutting it out

Zetice 3y ago

I just cannot wrap my head around folks who demand content for free. How do you think the people who create this content would survive if they couldn't do it for money???

chunes3 3y ago
Some of us are from a time before the web was commercialized. The answer to your question is we couldn't care less. If these people who make "content" as a means of making money go bankrupt, it's no skin off our backs. It will make more room for people who host genuine works on the web.
- Zetice 3y ago
  Then I have no sympathy for you. You want to live in a world that does not exist, and your desire to do that harms the very people you claim to support, the content creators.
  - porkbeer 3y ago
    Except for decades, and even still, this world exists. I don't think anyone asked for sympathy.
    - Zetice 3y ago
      How can you actually justify consuming content that took time and money to make, without yourself providing any value to the content creators? If there’s a logic I’m missing, I’d love to hear it.
      - suby 3y ago
        I'm not who you were talking to as a heads up, but as someone who blocks ads, I frankly just don't care. I view ads as a security risk and as psychological warfare. If Google thinks it worthwhile to invest resources and manages to successfully stop my blocking, fair enough, but otherwise I'm going to continue to optimize for my own well being. Google will go on continuing to be one of the richest and most powerful / influential companies on earth, and the small fraction of ad revenue that the content creator would miss out on from my ad-blocking, well, cost of doing business. I've stopped visiting Twitch because their ad's are annoying to block. I'll stop visiting youtube if the same happens. I refuse to engage with ads if I have a choice. I've given money to a handful of people on Patreon that I want to support, but otherwise I have greater problems to deal with than the small fractions of a cent that these creators lose by me blocking.

sleepytimetea 3y ago

I have observed a more insidious problem - the Youtubers that used to be genuine and down to earth are now themselves compromised by being sent products to give their honest opinion. The other day I was watching a video about this nice couple who wanted to start their bulldozer that was frozen in the forest and suddenly they pull out this "powerbank 1300" (name deliberately changed) and started a sales spiel ! About how they have all these gopros and iphones and look how many ports this thing has, and how it can charge the dead dozer battery blah blah. Matthias Wandel today released a video about a Ecobank 1300 - I am shocked at how the content creators themselves have become a poisoned well ! These 1300WH banks are waaay overpriced for the amount it would cost to buy the individual 18650 cells (probably $100 worth of cells being sold for $999), so these content creators are shills and sellouts to these marketing tactics.

slaymaker1907 3y ago
I'm hoping a large part of the cost is in safety. It would be grossly irresponsible to just string together a bunch of budget 18650 cells to try and make a bigger battery. It's junk like this that has caused entities like the NYCHA to straight up ban ebikes (cheap conversion kits for ebikes seem to be giant fire hazards).