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What has Google done to make YouTube better in the last five years? I can name several things its made a lot worse: Chromecast "at-rest" screen now looks like

What has Google done to make YouTube better in the last five years? I can name several things its made a lot worse: Chromecast "at-rest" screen now looks like a DVR from hell, showing only clickbait-y revenue-driven Youtube crap and ads. Ads REPEAT all the time. I've grown to hate several advertisers simply because Youtube puts them in front of me so often. The ads themselves suck. For a video to hard cut to someone's face filling the screen talking directly to me about how therapy works... do they think I'm using a phone? Is that why I'm getting this lame Insta/TikTok-format video ad? It's jarring, invasive and stupid. No one as young as me should feel this old! \s

lifestyleguru 3y ago
> I've grown to hate several advertisers Their currency is your attention. They got it, your feelings don't matter.
- mpalmer 3y ago
  Ah, you think I don't know that? I mute and look away every time.
- rchaud 3y ago
  That's not how advertising works. Advertising is supposed to keep the brand top of mind, so you'll recall it when going through your options. That's why ads used to have memorable jingles, instead of crappy cover songs designed to imitate memorability, while skipping out on having to pay license fees. Forming a negative opinion on an ad is only beneficial if it is polarizing enough that many more people like it than hate it. These ads are not polarizing, they are simply annoying and repetitive.
  - lifestyleguru 3y ago
    Depends on the sophistication and strategy of the marketing folks. Some simply want their brand name in your brain.
    - yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
      Okay, but that actively works against their interest. There are a decent number of brands that are very much in my brain... wrapped in enough loathing to ensure that I avoid them every time.
JohnMakin 3y ago
You are not their customer - advertisers are. This is a good change for the advertisers.
- realusername 3y ago
  That's only because Google is shortsighted and stuck in the ads business, the ARPU is abysmal with ads even compared to a mediocre paying user. YouTube gets the lowest revenue per user of all the major platforms and shoving even more ads through the pipeline won't help that.
  - JohnMakin 3y ago
    I'm not commenting on whether it's good for business or youtube, just more that this is the lens in which you need to view these changes that seem otherwise baffling because it's so bad for the end user experience.
- mpalmer 3y ago
  It's true and it's no mystery to me, just tragic and irritating.
- yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
  The thing is: >> I've grown to hate several advertisers simply because Youtube puts them in front of me so often. It eventually backfires on their customers, too. I've started dropping products that I see advertised.
sambazi 3y ago
> I've grown to hate several advertisers simply because Youtube puts them in front of me so often. familiar feeling from the days of watching linear tv. but it's like the rest of politics; knowledge of that brand is burnt into your brain, it has a presence in your thinking and it doesn't really matter if your memory is mostly bad.
- rchaud 3y ago
  Today, most ads that overload Youtube are for things that won't exist or be totally rebranded in 5 years: Meal pack delivery services, VPNs, DTC brands selling whitelabeled China-made furniture, clothing, makeup, toys and what have you.
  - sambazi 3y ago
    nordvpn is the new frosties tony
okdood64 3y ago
Avid YouTube viewer since the beginning of time, and am pretty plugged into the space. Tons of improvement for Creators and advertisers. Smaller sets of UI changes for viewers which IMO have been positive overall. (The dislike counter removal was dumb, though.) All of your complaints are about ads. I've been a Premium subscriber for years, and have trained the algorithm well to show me what I want. I've been pretty satisfied.
- mpalmer 3y ago
  You're absolutely right, all of my complaints are about ads. I could also complain about the incentives Youtube gives creators to make phenomenally irritating thumbnails, video structures (everything is 20 goddam minutes long now), the list goes on. Also, when the ads are this aggressively bad, I'm somehow less inclined to pay for Premium. It's like paying a "protection fee" to be saved from their own terrible UX.
  - Workaccount2 3y ago
    You are free to use any other video service that doesn't serve ads and doesn't charge a subscription.
    - digging 3y ago
      I pay for other services (I plug Nebula often), and I disagree with this sentiment wholeheartedly. YouTube is practically a monopoly on video.
      - Workaccount2 3y ago
        My comment was a joke, there are no charity video platforms.
    - mpalmer 3y ago
      Oh yeah absolutely, I'll just stop sharing my opinion of one of the most highly trafficked websites in the world.
rchaud 3y ago
It's Shareholder Driven Development, the guinea pigs to whom these changes are A/B tested on are irrelevant.

lifestyleguru 3y ago

> I've grown to hate several advertisers Their currency is your attention. They got it, your feelings don't matter.

mpalmer 3y ago
Ah, you think I don't know that? I mute and look away every time.
rchaud 3y ago
That's not how advertising works. Advertising is supposed to keep the brand top of mind, so you'll recall it when going through your options. That's why ads used to have memorable jingles, instead of crappy cover songs designed to imitate memorability, while skipping out on having to pay license fees. Forming a negative opinion on an ad is only beneficial if it is polarizing enough that many more people like it than hate it. These ads are not polarizing, they are simply annoying and repetitive.
- lifestyleguru 3y ago
  Depends on the sophistication and strategy of the marketing folks. Some simply want their brand name in your brain.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
    Okay, but that actively works against their interest. There are a decent number of brands that are very much in my brain... wrapped in enough loathing to ensure that I avoid them every time.

JohnMakin 3y ago

You are not their customer - advertisers are. This is a good change for the advertisers.

realusername 3y ago
That's only because Google is shortsighted and stuck in the ads business, the ARPU is abysmal with ads even compared to a mediocre paying user. YouTube gets the lowest revenue per user of all the major platforms and shoving even more ads through the pipeline won't help that.
- JohnMakin 3y ago
  I'm not commenting on whether it's good for business or youtube, just more that this is the lens in which you need to view these changes that seem otherwise baffling because it's so bad for the end user experience.
mpalmer 3y ago
It's true and it's no mystery to me, just tragic and irritating.
yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
The thing is: >> I've grown to hate several advertisers simply because Youtube puts them in front of me so often. It eventually backfires on their customers, too. I've started dropping products that I see advertised.

sambazi 3y ago

> I've grown to hate several advertisers simply because Youtube puts them in front of me so often. familiar feeling from the days of watching linear tv. but it's like the rest of politics; knowledge of that brand is burnt into your brain, it has a presence in your thinking and it doesn't really matter if your memory is mostly bad.

rchaud 3y ago
Today, most ads that overload Youtube are for things that won't exist or be totally rebranded in 5 years: Meal pack delivery services, VPNs, DTC brands selling whitelabeled China-made furniture, clothing, makeup, toys and what have you.
- sambazi 3y ago
  nordvpn is the new frosties tony

okdood64 3y ago

Avid YouTube viewer since the beginning of time, and am pretty plugged into the space. Tons of improvement for Creators and advertisers. Smaller sets of UI changes for viewers which IMO have been positive overall. (The dislike counter removal was dumb, though.) All of your complaints are about ads. I've been a Premium subscriber for years, and have trained the algorithm well to show me what I want. I've been pretty satisfied.

mpalmer 3y ago
You're absolutely right, all of my complaints are about ads. I could also complain about the incentives Youtube gives creators to make phenomenally irritating thumbnails, video structures (everything is 20 goddam minutes long now), the list goes on. Also, when the ads are this aggressively bad, I'm somehow less inclined to pay for Premium. It's like paying a "protection fee" to be saved from their own terrible UX.
- Workaccount2 3y ago
  You are free to use any other video service that doesn't serve ads and doesn't charge a subscription.
  - digging 3y ago
    I pay for other services (I plug Nebula often), and I disagree with this sentiment wholeheartedly. YouTube is practically a monopoly on video.
    - Workaccount2 3y ago
      My comment was a joke, there are no charity video platforms.
  - mpalmer 3y ago
    Oh yeah absolutely, I'll just stop sharing my opinion of one of the most highly trafficked websites in the world.

rchaud 3y ago

It's Shareholder Driven Development, the guinea pigs to whom these changes are A/B tested on are irrelevant.