3 ms·

I wonder how are they "detecting adblock". Let's say I have an alternative youtube client like smartyoutubetv. What will they do? Check if ads are loaded? Fine,

I wonder how are they "detecting adblock". Let's say I have an alternative youtube client like smartyoutubetv. What will they do? Check if ads are loaded? Fine, the software can be written to load the ads, but not display them. Will they check the timing info? (that you pull a part of the video, then pull the ad for 30s,then the rest?). Will they encode the ad right into the video stream? The app can be coded with a play buffer. Like the tivo "skip ads on TV feature" of decades ago. There is no way youtube can win this battle using "brute force". The only way they can win this is by offering a new better service, not deteriorating existing ones. What could that new service be? How about recommendations that don't suck? I used to watch a lot of youtube on my TV from the main page. These days I only use a list of my subscribed channels and a search feature. Also, if youtube gets really aggressive people will go elsewhere.

freefaler 3y ago
It'll be really hard to win that battle with Google, because: 1. they own the browser (Chrome is the dominant browser) and with their "Web Integrity API" proposal they can do whatever they want. Also v3 doesn't help adblockers. 2. they own youtube and all the content. I've seen many youtube creators speak against adblocking, because no ads = no income for them. Most people can't create content at consistently high level without getting paid for their time or their team time. So Google and content producers both are better off without ad-blockers. The web in 5 years sadly will lose most of the freedoms we take for granted, because nothing is "free" if it requires human time and resources. May be with crypto some pockets would emerge but large scale monopolies like Youtube with strong network effects wouldn't bulge.
karmakaze 3y ago
Why does it all need to be so complicated? Any time an ad should play, the content can effectively be paused (unable to be played/buffered) for the duration of the ad so you could skip the ad, but would still have to wait to resume the content.
jsnell 3y ago
> There is no way youtube can win this battle using "brute force". The only way they can win this is by offering a new better service, not deteriorating existing ones. What could that new service be? How about recommendations that don't suck? It seems like you're saying that people are mainly using adblockers because the recommendations aren't good enough, and if the recommendations were improved they'd respond by turning off the adblock? That doesn't sound realistic. People use ad blockers because they don't like to watch ads, and since the adblockers let them avoid ads with no effort or cost. The site offering "better service" doesn't change that equation. > Also, if youtube gets really aggressive people will go elsewhere. Oh, no! The people who are not willing to pay for the service and who are blocking ads are going elsewhere! How can the platform and the creators possibly survive without that $0 in revenue?
- realusername 3y ago
  Maybe if YouTube premium wasn't 10x the revenue of a normal ad user and YouTube creates a real way to browse videos it would work? It worked for Netflix, I don't see why it would not work for them. The reality is that Google depends too much on its ads business and can't afford to spin their business model.
- Roark66 3y ago
  >It seems like you're saying that people are mainly using adblockers because the recommendations aren't good enough, and if the recommendations were improved they'd respond by turning off the adblock? I can see how what I said could be understood this way, but that's not what I meant. Yes people use adblockers to block ads, but if there was a better recommendation mechanism one could pay for and that paid service also blocked ads people like myself might pay for it. >Oh, no! The people who are not willing to pay for the service and who are blocking ads are going elsewhere! How can the platform and the creators possibly survive without that $0 in revenue? The value of a person's attention is not zero, even if that person blocks ads. First if people use your service for free, they aren't using the competition. You aren't making much money, but at the same time you're taking away potential revenue from the competition. Imagine all these people that use ad block would get up and go somewhere else? More people that watch ads would follow in short order. Then there are other things these people do. Patron payments, even just popularising certain creators has value to these creators, finally simple engagement like comments etc have value that they create data that can be used to improve the service and so on.

freefaler 3y ago

It'll be really hard to win that battle with Google, because: 1. they own the browser (Chrome is the dominant browser) and with their "Web Integrity API" proposal they can do whatever they want. Also v3 doesn't help adblockers. 2. they own youtube and all the content. I've seen many youtube creators speak against adblocking, because no ads = no income for them. Most people can't create content at consistently high level without getting paid for their time or their team time. So Google and content producers both are better off without ad-blockers. The web in 5 years sadly will lose most of the freedoms we take for granted, because nothing is "free" if it requires human time and resources. May be with crypto some pockets would emerge but large scale monopolies like Youtube with strong network effects wouldn't bulge.

karmakaze 3y ago

Why does it all need to be so complicated? Any time an ad should play, the content can effectively be paused (unable to be played/buffered) for the duration of the ad so you could skip the ad, but would still have to wait to resume the content.

jsnell 3y ago

> There is no way youtube can win this battle using "brute force". The only way they can win this is by offering a new better service, not deteriorating existing ones. What could that new service be? How about recommendations that don't suck? It seems like you're saying that people are mainly using adblockers because the recommendations aren't good enough, and if the recommendations were improved they'd respond by turning off the adblock? That doesn't sound realistic. People use ad blockers because they don't like to watch ads, and since the adblockers let them avoid ads with no effort or cost. The site offering "better service" doesn't change that equation. > Also, if youtube gets really aggressive people will go elsewhere. Oh, no! The people who are not willing to pay for the service and who are blocking ads are going elsewhere! How can the platform and the creators possibly survive without that $0 in revenue?

realusername 3y ago
Maybe if YouTube premium wasn't 10x the revenue of a normal ad user and YouTube creates a real way to browse videos it would work? It worked for Netflix, I don't see why it would not work for them. The reality is that Google depends too much on its ads business and can't afford to spin their business model.
Roark66 3y ago
>It seems like you're saying that people are mainly using adblockers because the recommendations aren't good enough, and if the recommendations were improved they'd respond by turning off the adblock? I can see how what I said could be understood this way, but that's not what I meant. Yes people use adblockers to block ads, but if there was a better recommendation mechanism one could pay for and that paid service also blocked ads people like myself might pay for it. >Oh, no! The people who are not willing to pay for the service and who are blocking ads are going elsewhere! How can the platform and the creators possibly survive without that $0 in revenue? The value of a person's attention is not zero, even if that person blocks ads. First if people use your service for free, they aren't using the competition. You aren't making much money, but at the same time you're taking away potential revenue from the competition. Imagine all these people that use ad block would get up and go somewhere else? More people that watch ads would follow in short order. Then there are other things these people do. Patron payments, even just popularising certain creators has value to these creators, finally simple engagement like comments etc have value that they create data that can be used to improve the service and so on.