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YouTube is a private service funded by revenue that has to come from somewhere, we're not entitled to have it for free. How do you suppose they'll earn money wi

YouTube is a private service funded by revenue that has to come from somewhere, we're not entitled to have it for free. How do you suppose they'll earn money without ads or subscriptions?

autoexec 3y ago
I've been paying Google with my data since long before youtube started. They've certainly been collecting it and profiting from it without writing checks to me. Maybe when youtube stops collecting data and they delete all they have they can start asking for money, but ultimately I'm not going to worry about how the trillion dollar multinational corporate giant which has been exploiting us since at least the 2000s is going to keep stuffing their pockets with cash. They've done pretty damn well for themselves so far, even though ad blockers have always existed. They'll figure it out.
- fma 3y ago
  And I bet you use Google's other services for free.
  - polygamous_bat 3y ago
    The whole point is that there is no moral/ethical way to enter a “contract” with a party who has been knowingly siphoning (read “stealing”) your and everyone else’s data without being upfront about it since time immemorial. Oh you want to enter a contract with me? Send me an invoice at the end of every month about what data you collected from me and how you used it to pay for the services. Otherwise, there’s no way they won’t be double dipping. Or they can drop the adtech business or spin it out as a separate company. But either way currently there is no way to fairly deal with ad tech companies with thinly veneered “free” services on top.
    - pb7 3y ago
      Your data is not worth anything. If you think I’m wrong, trying paying your mortgage with it.
      - kergonath 3y ago
        I can’t pay my mortgage with a car either. Or US dollars, for that matter. Are those worthless as well?
        jfdbcv 3y ago
        Huh?! You can sell your car, or take a loan against it. You can convert US dollars into your local currency. Your individual data is worthless. Data is only worth something in aggregate.
        kergonath 3y ago
        I can give away some data to use a service. Companies generate money using this data. It is not useless.
        psychoslave 3y ago
        Is it not like saying that any individual worth nothing because their social value is zero outside a collective?
      - polygamous_bat 3y ago
        I’m sure the market was drunk on the day when Apple changed iPhone privacy settings and Facebook’s valuation dropped by 10 digits US dollars. /s
      - autoexec 3y ago
        Somebody should tell that to the multi-billion dollar a year industry that sprung up over the buying and selling of the most mundane details of our lives. Or maybe they should ask why basically every company everywhere spends so much time and money collecting, storing, and managing far more data on their customers (and anyone else they can) than they actually need to conduct their business. Companies don't usually like spending a bunch of resources for zero reason. The idea that "your data isn't worth anything" is demonstrably false. Your data is so valuable that it's making companies money hand over fist, and most of it that is at your expense.
  - tcfhgj 3y ago
    I am paying for that although I don't use them and don't watch ads. Guess who pays for the ads other people watch
bdw5204 3y ago
It isn't the user's responsibility to find a working business model for a corporation. The same principle applies whether it is a news web site or a free video hosting web site. A business model based on taking away basic web browser functionality like being able to play videos in the background and removing unwanted content then selling it back to the user is a toxic business model. Anybody who pays for a blatant scam like Youtube "Premium" is part of the problem.
- acdha 3y ago
  Nobody is asking you to find them a business model, just to be honest about what you’re doing. If you don’t like YouTube, stop going there - then Google doesn’t your data and you don’t have to care about their design decisions.
  - polygamous_bat 3y ago
    Surprise: you can like the content on YouTube (which is not their property in the first place) without liking YouTube. YouTube is practically holding an incredible amount of knowledge and information hostage to feed Google’s insatiable desire for profits. You can like the content while hating the delivery mechanism and trying to fix it up to the best of your ability.
    - acdha 3y ago
      But you’re not fixing it up at all: only ripping off the people who made the content you like. Google still gets all of your data and they can share it however they want at that point.
      - withinboredom 3y ago
        Go watch my videos on YouTube. I won’t get a dime. I have no idea what you are talking about. Maybe, if I get enough subscribers, Google will bless me with some portion of the money they get.
Qwertious 3y ago
>YouTube is a private service funded by revenue that has to come from somewhere, we're not entitled to have it for free. On what basis? I'd go to a competitor, but there isn't one, due to YouTube's VC-funding-fuelled anticompetitive practices. I literally wish that private service funding never existed; I don't owe YouTube here. If they don't earn money then they'll go bankrupt and open up room for someone else, which is an outcome I'm perfectly happy with. My only concern is preserving videos between when YouTube goes down and a competitor comes up, because a lot of them are liable to disappear. In fact, a lot of Youtube videos disappear anyway, so we ought to back them up regardless.

YouTube is a private service funded by revenue that has to come from somewhere, we're not entitled to have it for free. How do you suppose they'll earn money without ads or subscriptions?

autoexec 3y ago

I've been paying Google with my data since long before youtube started. They've certainly been collecting it and profiting from it without writing checks to me. Maybe when youtube stops collecting data and they delete all they have they can start asking for money, but ultimately I'm not going to worry about how the trillion dollar multinational corporate giant which has been exploiting us since at least the 2000s is going to keep stuffing their pockets with cash. They've done pretty damn well for themselves so far, even though ad blockers have always existed. They'll figure it out.

fma 3y ago
And I bet you use Google's other services for free.
- polygamous_bat 3y ago
  The whole point is that there is no moral/ethical way to enter a “contract” with a party who has been knowingly siphoning (read “stealing”) your and everyone else’s data without being upfront about it since time immemorial. Oh you want to enter a contract with me? Send me an invoice at the end of every month about what data you collected from me and how you used it to pay for the services. Otherwise, there’s no way they won’t be double dipping. Or they can drop the adtech business or spin it out as a separate company. But either way currently there is no way to fairly deal with ad tech companies with thinly veneered “free” services on top.
  - pb7 3y ago
    Your data is not worth anything. If you think I’m wrong, trying paying your mortgage with it.
    - kergonath 3y ago
      I can’t pay my mortgage with a car either. Or US dollars, for that matter. Are those worthless as well?
      - jfdbcv 3y ago
        Huh?! You can sell your car, or take a loan against it. You can convert US dollars into your local currency. Your individual data is worthless. Data is only worth something in aggregate.
        kergonath 3y ago
        I can give away some data to use a service. Companies generate money using this data. It is not useless.
        psychoslave 3y ago
        Is it not like saying that any individual worth nothing because their social value is zero outside a collective?
    - polygamous_bat 3y ago
      I’m sure the market was drunk on the day when Apple changed iPhone privacy settings and Facebook’s valuation dropped by 10 digits US dollars. /s
    - autoexec 3y ago
      Somebody should tell that to the multi-billion dollar a year industry that sprung up over the buying and selling of the most mundane details of our lives. Or maybe they should ask why basically every company everywhere spends so much time and money collecting, storing, and managing far more data on their customers (and anyone else they can) than they actually need to conduct their business. Companies don't usually like spending a bunch of resources for zero reason. The idea that "your data isn't worth anything" is demonstrably false. Your data is so valuable that it's making companies money hand over fist, and most of it that is at your expense.
- tcfhgj 3y ago
  I am paying for that although I don't use them and don't watch ads. Guess who pays for the ads other people watch

bdw5204 3y ago

It isn't the user's responsibility to find a working business model for a corporation. The same principle applies whether it is a news web site or a free video hosting web site. A business model based on taking away basic web browser functionality like being able to play videos in the background and removing unwanted content then selling it back to the user is a toxic business model. Anybody who pays for a blatant scam like Youtube "Premium" is part of the problem.

acdha 3y ago
Nobody is asking you to find them a business model, just to be honest about what you’re doing. If you don’t like YouTube, stop going there - then Google doesn’t your data and you don’t have to care about their design decisions.
- polygamous_bat 3y ago
  Surprise: you can like the content on YouTube (which is not their property in the first place) without liking YouTube. YouTube is practically holding an incredible amount of knowledge and information hostage to feed Google’s insatiable desire for profits. You can like the content while hating the delivery mechanism and trying to fix it up to the best of your ability.
  - acdha 3y ago
    But you’re not fixing it up at all: only ripping off the people who made the content you like. Google still gets all of your data and they can share it however they want at that point.
    - withinboredom 3y ago
      Go watch my videos on YouTube. I won’t get a dime. I have no idea what you are talking about. Maybe, if I get enough subscribers, Google will bless me with some portion of the money they get.

Qwertious 3y ago

>YouTube is a private service funded by revenue that has to come from somewhere, we're not entitled to have it for free. On what basis? I'd go to a competitor, but there isn't one, due to YouTube's VC-funding-fuelled anticompetitive practices. I literally wish that private service funding never existed; I don't owe YouTube here. If they don't earn money then they'll go bankrupt and open up room for someone else, which is an outcome I'm perfectly happy with. My only concern is preserving videos between when YouTube goes down and a competitor comes up, because a lot of them are liable to disappear. In fact, a lot of Youtube videos disappear anyway, so we ought to back them up regardless.