5 ms·

YouTube cracking down even harder to punish user for skipping ads

43 points by dbajaj 2y ago

space_oddity 2y ago
I definitely understand why YouTube have this policy
- telmo 2y ago
  I wonder if advertisers feel the same way. If I was buying ads on YouTube, my least favorite audience would be the people who go out of their way to not see them.
  - adra 2y ago
    Versus what, tv where the medium demand the highest cost per eyeball and every single person is a captive audience (unless you DVR)? Still smells like a good deal for advertisers unless the idea have changed significantly in the years since I cared to know anything about the ad markets.
    - kjkjadksj 2y ago
      Its like they forget people go to the fridge or bathroom or pull up the phone when there is a commercial. No one watches the shamwow slot with bated breath unless they have a mental illness. Advertisers have zero self awareness how stupid their copy is. Ever see the latest reddit ads? “TIL the acura rdx is best in class edmons power train muh lease rates” yeah, its not pretty but its obvious the people defining this ad spend are just throwing shit at the wall and hoping some of it sticks.
    - seax 2y ago
      I think advertisers haven't adapted well to the youtube market at all. They're still operating under the TV model where ad breaks are an expected part of the tv viewing experience and don't understand that on youtube they are intrusive as hell . This also couples negatively with advertisers viewing youtube apparently not putting any limits on ad length as an opportunity to deliver a sermon. I think most people would be annoyed but not totally put off by a couple 15 seconds ads but the issue is that users just have no idea if they'll get a 15 second ad or a 15 minute ad so they skip everything out of extreme frustration with the entire experience.
  - digging 2y ago
    I don't know about that. Ads seem to mostly work on inundation, not cultivating positivity.
apetresc 2y ago
The window on being able to archive your favorite channels with yt-dlp is definitely closing fast.
fen4o 2y ago
They are only targeting apps that use the API to skip the Ads. Use htlm-parsing 3rd party client such as NewPipe instead.
- visil 2y ago
  Oh, I was worried that NewPipe would break! It's a great app. Currently I use Tubular, though, which is a fork of NewPipe with SponsorBlock and Return dislike embedded in.
wly_cdgr 2y ago
Seems perfectly reasonable. Y'all think this shit is cheap and easy to build and maintain? Just buy YT Premium, jeez.
- kjkjadksj 2y ago
  If it made them no money it wouldn’t be worth billions
- fouc 2y ago
  buy YT Premium and then yt-dlp all the videos you want
  - non-chalad 2y ago
    Stop feeding me malware through ads, and I will unblock, and watch a few. Stop censoring lawful creators, and I will buy premium.
- cloudcrusherdad 2y ago
  And you don't have to simp for Google publicly, but ya are.
  - goalonetwo 2y ago
    you would be amazed at what bigtech cogs are ready to do once their paychecks depend on Ads.
- avgDev 2y ago
  If YouTube wants me to watch their ads or pay for premium they need to get rid of sponsored content where 20% of video is just about the sponsor.
  - Pet_Ant 2y ago
    Yes, this bothers me as well. I pay for YouTube premium but that does not skip the "native" ads that YouTube considers part of the content. Sometimes, it legitimately is something interesting as product like when LTT launched their screwdrivers (I decided they were too much for me, but were worth a look), but to hear about Better Help, Hello Fresh, Nord VPN, or Raid Shadow Legends again... it pisses me off.
goalonetwo 2y ago
SmarTube works amazingly well. I expect them to circumvent those limitations as usual. I see it as a morale duty to not watch ads and also not pay an ethically dubious company like Google. They are free to try to stop me but I'm also free to not watch their brainwashing ads.
- karaterobot 2y ago
  FreeTube for desktops. Despite making what I'd call some dodgy UI decisions, it's still a much more friendly experience than watching YT on the web or, heaven forbid, mobile. Removes interstitial ads, and has SponsorBlock built in as well.
- woofcat 2y ago
  Why not just stop using YouTube?
  - goalonetwo 2y ago
    I would love to do that but unfortunately Network effect means that a lot of creators don't upload their video anywhere else. It is unfortunately becoming the default for everything. I paid for Vimeo and other services in the past. But I will not pay for Youtube/Google
    - woofcat 2y ago
      So you want their free hosting, but don't want to pay for it either directly, or indirectly?
      - jstanley 2y ago
        Yes.
      - digging 2y ago
        For me, it's not the concept of paying. I'd gladly pay someone to host YouTube. I just don't think paying Google is a good thing.
ruined 2y ago
give it a week, there will be a workaround. unless they auth every user they can't stop it.
- themoonisachees 2y ago
  Even if they auth every user, what's stopping me from making my own API key and feeding it to my favorite app?
lagniappe 2y ago
[flagged]
tiltowait 2y ago
Was the headline changed? Because it now reads "YouTube cracking down on third-party apps that block ads". That aside, "punish" is an odd choice of word. Users aren't "punished"—no fines, no accounts locked, etc. They're simply prevented from viewing the videos. Annoying? Yes. But given a premium, ad-free version exists, it's hard to blame Google.
- sdeframond 2y ago
  Might be A/B testing on the title ?
- jb1991 2y ago
  My guess is the person who submitted it chose a more sensational title to get upvotes.
  - dbajaj 2y ago
    Hi! Sorry, I didn't want to just post a link without doing any value-add so I wrote down the title as the summary of what I got from it.
    - greenyoda 2y ago
      That's specifically against the HN Guidelines, which say: "please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize". https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html If you want to say something more about the article, you can post a comment after you've submitted the article.
      - dbajaj 2y ago
        Wow, downvoted for honesty. Good to know that being a bad actor is more rewarding. Nevertheless, I appreciate the link to faq.
        greenyoda 2y ago
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
darepublic 2y ago
Premium seems like it would be well worth it but YouTube doesn't have a right to tell me what code I can run client side on my machine
rvanmil 2y ago
I'm subscribed to the Premium Family plan to get rid of the ads and for the music service, which I think at the current price is a great deal. I just wish they would add more options to the premium plan, like: - add proper filters (e.g. for sponsored content, low effort content creators, any content about spending/winning money, other obvious nonsense which exists just to increase views, etc. etc.) - detect and filter generated and other low effort crap content - add proper parental controls (it's a family plan, after all and YouTube Kids does not count, it sucks) - disable Shorts (if there's one thing that's going to make me cancel my subscription it's the cancer that is Shorts)
- mrweasel 2y ago
  > - detect and filter generated and other low effort crap content > - disable Shorts Absolutely. YouTube Premium has been one of my most used streaming service and the one where I've gotten the most value, but no more. I'm not sure if they changed their recommendation algorithm but it insists on pushing Shorts, auto-generated garbage, it doesn't react to any type of input and I'm afraid that the content it pushes is starting to affect my mental well-being. I've been avoiding YouTube for a few days now and I now considering just cancelling, the ads will keep me away in the future, so in that sense it's nice that they help me not to return.
dotnet00 2y ago
As before, will continue to keep up with the workarounds. I'd be far more open to paying up if Google hadn't burned up all their good will by being awful to content creators. They're trying to have their cake and eat it too, they want your data, they want to bully and steal from creators without offering proper support, and despite all that they still want you to pay them.
znpy 2y ago
But frankly, youtube has become unusable without some kind of ad blocker. I can't use ad blockers on my work laptop (security policy) and on my iphone and OH MY GOD i want to nuke the google plex in california every single day. I don't use VPNs. I used to use a vpn for work, but I haven't been on the company vpn for months. * I get multiple advertises in a single batch. * Sometimes I get the same advertising over and over again, particularly in long videos. * I get advertising for stuff i clearly won't buy (like bus-based tourist travel service in Ireland[1] where have no interest or plan visiting as a tourist) * I get advertising for products i CAN'T buy (some kind of chocolate brand they don't sell in Italy where I live -- Cadbury i think?) * Aldi advertising... In German, about German stores. I recognize the Aldi logo, I don't speak German. * I get advertising in languages (both audio and text) i don't speak (already mentioned German, but lately Spanish as well). * God forbid I open a video from a link that points at some second in the middle of the video... Some moron Product Owner has decided i MUST catch up with all the advertising i would have watched otherwise before i can watch anything past the custom starting point. Yesterday I had to watch eight pieces of advertising before i could start watching a video. * God forbid i skip something like a third of a video... i have to catch up with advertising first. * I'm getting A LOT MORE advertising, A LOT MORE OFTEN. It's unbearable. I hate youtube/google so much, with passion. It hurts me so much because I used to keep them in such high regard when both me and they (as a company) were younger. They're effectively bullying me into getting youtube premium. [1] Hey Paddy Wagon Tours, Google has been scamming you out of advertising money for months i think - Same happens for Cadbury I guess.
snapplebobapple 2y ago
I'm kind of curious to see where this cat and mouse game ends up. I'm definitely never watching ads again personally and all my mission critical stuff is moved off gmail (I basically have one google account that is just used for google play on one ancient backup phone at this point) so if they take it as far as banning my account I can create an infinite number of additional accounts as needed or go without an account (the stuff I care about is subscribed via rss in a third party application I self host). it's just going to push me to not login and then eventually to not use youtube and go without. I wonder what happens to everyone else the first time they get their account deleted? Do they kowtow to this bs or do they start down the path off their crappy platform for the mission critical stuff so they don't have to care anymore?

43 points by dbajaj 2y ago

space_oddity 2y ago

I definitely understand why YouTube have this policy

telmo 2y ago
I wonder if advertisers feel the same way. If I was buying ads on YouTube, my least favorite audience would be the people who go out of their way to not see them.
- adra 2y ago
  Versus what, tv where the medium demand the highest cost per eyeball and every single person is a captive audience (unless you DVR)? Still smells like a good deal for advertisers unless the idea have changed significantly in the years since I cared to know anything about the ad markets.
  - kjkjadksj 2y ago
    Its like they forget people go to the fridge or bathroom or pull up the phone when there is a commercial. No one watches the shamwow slot with bated breath unless they have a mental illness. Advertisers have zero self awareness how stupid their copy is. Ever see the latest reddit ads? “TIL the acura rdx is best in class edmons power train muh lease rates” yeah, its not pretty but its obvious the people defining this ad spend are just throwing shit at the wall and hoping some of it sticks.
  - seax 2y ago
    I think advertisers haven't adapted well to the youtube market at all. They're still operating under the TV model where ad breaks are an expected part of the tv viewing experience and don't understand that on youtube they are intrusive as hell . This also couples negatively with advertisers viewing youtube apparently not putting any limits on ad length as an opportunity to deliver a sermon. I think most people would be annoyed but not totally put off by a couple 15 seconds ads but the issue is that users just have no idea if they'll get a 15 second ad or a 15 minute ad so they skip everything out of extreme frustration with the entire experience.
- digging 2y ago
  I don't know about that. Ads seem to mostly work on inundation, not cultivating positivity.

apetresc 2y ago

The window on being able to archive your favorite channels with yt-dlp is definitely closing fast.

fen4o 2y ago

They are only targeting apps that use the API to skip the Ads. Use htlm-parsing 3rd party client such as NewPipe instead.

visil 2y ago
Oh, I was worried that NewPipe would break! It's a great app. Currently I use Tubular, though, which is a fork of NewPipe with SponsorBlock and Return dislike embedded in.

wly_cdgr 2y ago

Seems perfectly reasonable. Y'all think this shit is cheap and easy to build and maintain? Just buy YT Premium, jeez.

kjkjadksj 2y ago
If it made them no money it wouldn’t be worth billions
fouc 2y ago
buy YT Premium and then yt-dlp all the videos you want
- non-chalad 2y ago
  Stop feeding me malware through ads, and I will unblock, and watch a few. Stop censoring lawful creators, and I will buy premium.
cloudcrusherdad 2y ago
And you don't have to simp for Google publicly, but ya are.
- goalonetwo 2y ago
  you would be amazed at what bigtech cogs are ready to do once their paychecks depend on Ads.
avgDev 2y ago
If YouTube wants me to watch their ads or pay for premium they need to get rid of sponsored content where 20% of video is just about the sponsor.
- Pet_Ant 2y ago
  Yes, this bothers me as well. I pay for YouTube premium but that does not skip the "native" ads that YouTube considers part of the content. Sometimes, it legitimately is something interesting as product like when LTT launched their screwdrivers (I decided they were too much for me, but were worth a look), but to hear about Better Help, Hello Fresh, Nord VPN, or Raid Shadow Legends again... it pisses me off.

goalonetwo 2y ago

SmarTube works amazingly well. I expect them to circumvent those limitations as usual. I see it as a morale duty to not watch ads and also not pay an ethically dubious company like Google. They are free to try to stop me but I'm also free to not watch their brainwashing ads.

karaterobot 2y ago
FreeTube for desktops. Despite making what I'd call some dodgy UI decisions, it's still a much more friendly experience than watching YT on the web or, heaven forbid, mobile. Removes interstitial ads, and has SponsorBlock built in as well.
woofcat 2y ago
Why not just stop using YouTube?
- goalonetwo 2y ago
  I would love to do that but unfortunately Network effect means that a lot of creators don't upload their video anywhere else. It is unfortunately becoming the default for everything. I paid for Vimeo and other services in the past. But I will not pay for Youtube/Google
  - woofcat 2y ago
    So you want their free hosting, but don't want to pay for it either directly, or indirectly?
    - jstanley 2y ago
      Yes.
    - digging 2y ago
      For me, it's not the concept of paying. I'd gladly pay someone to host YouTube. I just don't think paying Google is a good thing.

ruined 2y ago

give it a week, there will be a workaround. unless they auth every user they can't stop it.

themoonisachees 2y ago
Even if they auth every user, what's stopping me from making my own API key and feeding it to my favorite app?

lagniappe 2y ago

[flagged]

tiltowait 2y ago

Was the headline changed? Because it now reads "YouTube cracking down on third-party apps that block ads". That aside, "punish" is an odd choice of word. Users aren't "punished"—no fines, no accounts locked, etc. They're simply prevented from viewing the videos. Annoying? Yes. But given a premium, ad-free version exists, it's hard to blame Google.

sdeframond 2y ago
Might be A/B testing on the title ?
jb1991 2y ago
My guess is the person who submitted it chose a more sensational title to get upvotes.
- dbajaj 2y ago
  Hi! Sorry, I didn't want to just post a link without doing any value-add so I wrote down the title as the summary of what I got from it.
  - greenyoda 2y ago
    That's specifically against the HN Guidelines, which say: "please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize". https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html If you want to say something more about the article, you can post a comment after you've submitted the article.
    - dbajaj 2y ago
      Wow, downvoted for honesty. Good to know that being a bad actor is more rewarding. Nevertheless, I appreciate the link to faq.
      - greenyoda 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

darepublic 2y ago

Premium seems like it would be well worth it but YouTube doesn't have a right to tell me what code I can run client side on my machine

rvanmil 2y ago

I'm subscribed to the Premium Family plan to get rid of the ads and for the music service, which I think at the current price is a great deal. I just wish they would add more options to the premium plan, like: - add proper filters (e.g. for sponsored content, low effort content creators, any content about spending/winning money, other obvious nonsense which exists just to increase views, etc. etc.) - detect and filter generated and other low effort crap content - add proper parental controls (it's a family plan, after all and YouTube Kids does not count, it sucks) - disable Shorts (if there's one thing that's going to make me cancel my subscription it's the cancer that is Shorts)

mrweasel 2y ago
> - detect and filter generated and other low effort crap content > - disable Shorts Absolutely. YouTube Premium has been one of my most used streaming service and the one where I've gotten the most value, but no more. I'm not sure if they changed their recommendation algorithm but it insists on pushing Shorts, auto-generated garbage, it doesn't react to any type of input and I'm afraid that the content it pushes is starting to affect my mental well-being. I've been avoiding YouTube for a few days now and I now considering just cancelling, the ads will keep me away in the future, so in that sense it's nice that they help me not to return.

dotnet00 2y ago

As before, will continue to keep up with the workarounds. I'd be far more open to paying up if Google hadn't burned up all their good will by being awful to content creators. They're trying to have their cake and eat it too, they want your data, they want to bully and steal from creators without offering proper support, and despite all that they still want you to pay them.

znpy 2y ago

But frankly, youtube has become unusable without some kind of ad blocker. I can't use ad blockers on my work laptop (security policy) and on my iphone and OH MY GOD i want to nuke the google plex in california every single day. I don't use VPNs. I used to use a vpn for work, but I haven't been on the company vpn for months. * I get multiple advertises in a single batch. * Sometimes I get the same advertising over and over again, particularly in long videos. * I get advertising for stuff i clearly won't buy (like bus-based tourist travel service in Ireland[1] where have no interest or plan visiting as a tourist) * I get advertising for products i CAN'T buy (some kind of chocolate brand they don't sell in Italy where I live -- Cadbury i think?) * Aldi advertising... In German, about German stores. I recognize the Aldi logo, I don't speak German. * I get advertising in languages (both audio and text) i don't speak (already mentioned German, but lately Spanish as well). * God forbid I open a video from a link that points at some second in the middle of the video... Some moron Product Owner has decided i MUST catch up with all the advertising i would have watched otherwise before i can watch anything past the custom starting point. Yesterday I had to watch eight pieces of advertising before i could start watching a video. * God forbid i skip something like a third of a video... i have to catch up with advertising first. * I'm getting A LOT MORE advertising, A LOT MORE OFTEN. It's unbearable. I hate youtube/google so much, with passion. It hurts me so much because I used to keep them in such high regard when both me and they (as a company) were younger. They're effectively bullying me into getting youtube premium. [1] Hey Paddy Wagon Tours, Google has been scamming you out of advertising money for months i think - Same happens for Cadbury I guess.

snapplebobapple 2y ago

I'm kind of curious to see where this cat and mouse game ends up. I'm definitely never watching ads again personally and all my mission critical stuff is moved off gmail (I basically have one google account that is just used for google play on one ancient backup phone at this point) so if they take it as far as banning my account I can create an infinite number of additional accounts as needed or go without an account (the stuff I care about is subscribed via rss in a third party application I self host). it's just going to push me to not login and then eventually to not use youtube and go without. I wonder what happens to everyone else the first time they get their account deleted? Do they kowtow to this bs or do they start down the path off their crappy platform for the mission critical stuff so they don't have to care anymore?