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And if all the "tech people" pay a fixed charge for YouTube regardless of how much they actually use it, they'll remove ads entirely, right? Get real. Fuck ads

And if all the "tech people" pay a fixed charge for YouTube regardless of how much they actually use it, they'll remove ads entirely, right? Get real. Fuck ads. Nobody should ever have to deal with them.

bwb 3y ago
Ads pay for everything online? How else do you pay for everything unless you pay them directly??
- Retr0id 3y ago
  A common model is to have a free tier subsidized by the premium users. The free users still provide value to the company, because they're all prospective premium users.
  - bwb 3y ago
    Might not work here, we are not on the inside so can't see.
    - Retr0id 3y ago
      If youtube can't make it work, I hope they go bust so that something better can take their place.
      - bwb 3y ago
        What they are doing is working great... not sure why you would say that. They are the most popular platform, fantastic services and adding more, and easy to pay to remove ads for a reasonable amount of money. Their model is working great from a business and service perspective. What else do you want? You want it to be free for you where you don't have to pay anything to use it? Seems like you don't have a realistic view of what it costs to run / build / maintain this.
        Retr0id 3y ago
        I've served terabytes worth of video content from my home internet connection, for free.
        bwb 3y ago
        Congrats?
        Retr0id 3y ago
        You're correct that I don't know how to run YouTube, the company, but I absolutely know what it takes to serve video. I'd like to see more people who aren't YouTube operating in the same sector.
        bwb 3y ago
        Hopefully you can see how the chasm between those two things is like the Grand Canyon :) I love "the confidence" as I think that is what makes a great entrepreneur who says something like "Oh that is easy, I can do that", cut to 10 years later and a lot of pain, and maybe they have...
- globular-toast 3y ago
  It's so sad to hear people talk like this. Can you not imagine anyone doing anything just for public good?
  - fma 3y ago
    This is why we can't have nice things.
  - bwb 3y ago
    Sigh, almost nothing can survive without money to pay for it. Either through donations, some type of business model, etc. My day to day "job" is something for the public good and I do it without getting paid for it. But it still has to make money to survive even with that.
  - verletx64 3y ago
    Even small non-profits have operating costs to cover. When we’re talking about consistently serving video at the scale they are, those costs won’t be minute. Obviously they’re looking to turn a profit (if not profiting already), but I don’t think the situation changes dramatically either way.
IshKebab 3y ago
If you have a better way to fund sites like YouTube that doesn't involve either adverts or paying a fixed subscription I'd love to hear it!
- tcfhgj 3y ago
  Pay by use, for either the people watching or the ones hosting video content
  - IshKebab 3y ago
    I believe Vimeo does the latter if you want. Guess how many people use that...
    - tcfhgj 3y ago
      Its better than ads though
caesil 3y ago
The only options here are 1. deal with ads, 2. pay to support the service without ads, 3. use adblocking and be a free rider off people doing #1, or 4. expect web services to be given to you as an act of charity You and I are both doing #3, but let's not pretend it's some act of noble civil disobedience. It is good for us that others are subjected to ads, as it allows us to get useful services for free without having to be.
- Retr0id 3y ago
  I do block ads as an act of civil disobedience. I also pay for services, when I consider it to be appropriate. The problems with the ad industry run much deeper than ads merely being annoying to look at. It is bad that anyone is ever subjected to ads. We're talking about this right now on a web service given to us as an act of charity (modulo the occasional sponsored job listing), and I'd like more of the web to be like that. Refusing to participate in the ad revenue model makes sites like this more likely to arise.
  - hiq 3y ago
    > We're talking about this right now on a web service given to us as an act of charity (modulo the occasional sponsored job listing) I think your modulo is missing some aspects. How many VCs are as famous as YC among tech workers? How many of them have as much credibility in the tech scene as YC? How much of that comes from this site? I don't know how much it costs to run it, but I assume it's peanuts compared with what YC gets out of it. I wouldn't confuse altruistic charity (e.g. donating anonymously to a cause you don't personally benefit from) with what boils down to sponsorship and getting the goodwill that comes with it.
- ozim 3y ago
  First of all YT and other companies hooked people on free stuff and after years are doing bait and switch - it is totally on them - not on the people wanting free stuff. They should not offer free stuff in the first place to be fair. Which is also now they are abusing their market position built by cutting all other companies that could do the same but simply could not get past dumping price of free by VC fueled "startups". Which I believe some government org should look into. Second of all they benefit by externalizing all negative effects of their platforms where they don't handle moderation of offensive comments towards creators which causes lots of psychological damage. There is whole load of evidence they even set it up in ways to specifically get people dependent on dopamine from watching just one more video. Lastly - cable TV in US was paid with no ads and when they found out they can earn more money they still put in ads. For me it is noble act of civil disobedience.

bwb 3y ago

Ads pay for everything online? How else do you pay for everything unless you pay them directly??

Retr0id 3y ago
A common model is to have a free tier subsidized by the premium users. The free users still provide value to the company, because they're all prospective premium users.
- bwb 3y ago
  Might not work here, we are not on the inside so can't see.
  - Retr0id 3y ago
    If youtube can't make it work, I hope they go bust so that something better can take their place.
    - bwb 3y ago
      What they are doing is working great... not sure why you would say that. They are the most popular platform, fantastic services and adding more, and easy to pay to remove ads for a reasonable amount of money. Their model is working great from a business and service perspective. What else do you want? You want it to be free for you where you don't have to pay anything to use it? Seems like you don't have a realistic view of what it costs to run / build / maintain this.
      - Retr0id 3y ago
        I've served terabytes worth of video content from my home internet connection, for free.
        bwb 3y ago
        Congrats?
        Retr0id 3y ago
        You're correct that I don't know how to run YouTube, the company, but I absolutely know what it takes to serve video. I'd like to see more people who aren't YouTube operating in the same sector.
        bwb 3y ago
        Hopefully you can see how the chasm between those two things is like the Grand Canyon :) I love "the confidence" as I think that is what makes a great entrepreneur who says something like "Oh that is easy, I can do that", cut to 10 years later and a lot of pain, and maybe they have...
globular-toast 3y ago
It's so sad to hear people talk like this. Can you not imagine anyone doing anything just for public good?
- fma 3y ago
  This is why we can't have nice things.
- bwb 3y ago
  Sigh, almost nothing can survive without money to pay for it. Either through donations, some type of business model, etc. My day to day "job" is something for the public good and I do it without getting paid for it. But it still has to make money to survive even with that.
- verletx64 3y ago
  Even small non-profits have operating costs to cover. When we’re talking about consistently serving video at the scale they are, those costs won’t be minute. Obviously they’re looking to turn a profit (if not profiting already), but I don’t think the situation changes dramatically either way.

IshKebab 3y ago

If you have a better way to fund sites like YouTube that doesn't involve either adverts or paying a fixed subscription I'd love to hear it!

tcfhgj 3y ago
Pay by use, for either the people watching or the ones hosting video content
- IshKebab 3y ago
  I believe Vimeo does the latter if you want. Guess how many people use that...
  - tcfhgj 3y ago
    Its better than ads though

caesil 3y ago

The only options here are 1. deal with ads, 2. pay to support the service without ads, 3. use adblocking and be a free rider off people doing #1, or 4. expect web services to be given to you as an act of charity You and I are both doing #3, but let's not pretend it's some act of noble civil disobedience. It is good for us that others are subjected to ads, as it allows us to get useful services for free without having to be.

Retr0id 3y ago
I do block ads as an act of civil disobedience. I also pay for services, when I consider it to be appropriate. The problems with the ad industry run much deeper than ads merely being annoying to look at. It is bad that anyone is ever subjected to ads. We're talking about this right now on a web service given to us as an act of charity (modulo the occasional sponsored job listing), and I'd like more of the web to be like that. Refusing to participate in the ad revenue model makes sites like this more likely to arise.
- hiq 3y ago
  > We're talking about this right now on a web service given to us as an act of charity (modulo the occasional sponsored job listing) I think your modulo is missing some aspects. How many VCs are as famous as YC among tech workers? How many of them have as much credibility in the tech scene as YC? How much of that comes from this site? I don't know how much it costs to run it, but I assume it's peanuts compared with what YC gets out of it. I wouldn't confuse altruistic charity (e.g. donating anonymously to a cause you don't personally benefit from) with what boils down to sponsorship and getting the goodwill that comes with it.
ozim 3y ago
First of all YT and other companies hooked people on free stuff and after years are doing bait and switch - it is totally on them - not on the people wanting free stuff. They should not offer free stuff in the first place to be fair. Which is also now they are abusing their market position built by cutting all other companies that could do the same but simply could not get past dumping price of free by VC fueled "startups". Which I believe some government org should look into. Second of all they benefit by externalizing all negative effects of their platforms where they don't handle moderation of offensive comments towards creators which causes lots of psychological damage. There is whole load of evidence they even set it up in ways to specifically get people dependent on dopamine from watching just one more video. Lastly - cable TV in US was paid with no ads and when they found out they can earn more money they still put in ads. For me it is noble act of civil disobedience.