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An ad interrupted my video today, it was Tom Hanks in a podcast talking about his prostate. The ad was (not so obviously) AI generated; both an AI clone of his

An ad interrupted my video today, it was Tom Hanks in a podcast talking about his prostate. The ad was (not so obviously) AI generated; both an AI clone of his voice and an AI-generated face-swap/ lip replacement. This seemed pretty surprising because it was fairly convincing. He looks like he is saying the dialog of the ad. It's surprising because there's no way the creator of the ad got Hanks' approval to use his likeness; meanwhile Youtube is profiting by selling the ad. Seems illegal, yet i'm forced to watch the garbage. The ad in general is part of a similar trend I've been seeing of these AI generated voices speaking fast about prostates or large eggplants (if you know what I mean) used with influencers' or podcasters' likenesses. I would never click on the garbage, and it's probably a scam anyway. I just scratch my head wondering if this massive company realizes the garbage they are forcing into our lives.

skinkestek 2y ago
> I just scratch my head wondering if this massive company realizes the garbage they are forcing into our lives. I know someone who works on the technical side of a national newspaper and he has been happy and encouraged me to continue when I pointed out scammy ads ("Japanese knives" and that sort of things). Seems they don't vet ads individually but can take down ads they become aware of. With Google however it seems to me money is all that matters.
- soared 2y ago
  Advertising like that occurs in an open marketplace where pretty much anyone can place a bid. Some publishers have vendors that help and can set up rules, private marketplaces, etc. but effectively anyone can advertise on your site by default.
spondyl 2y ago
This is probably the type of ad you ran into: https://www.404media.co/deepfake-youtube-ads-of-celebrities-promise-to-get-you-rock-hard/ https://www.404media.co/deepfake-youtube-ads-of-celebrities-...
- awinter-py 2y ago
  omg yes this
  - palmotea 2y ago
    Honestly, I really appreciate the bizarre, half-ass creativity that goes into these ads. I'm sad I missed this: > The video takes viewers on a bizarre journey from a strip club in Texas to a fake Harvard urologist’s office to an abandoned church in Thailand where scientists discovered a species of bat with abnormally large and long-lasting erections. Along the way, deepfake videos of everyone from Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, and adult entertainment star Johnny Sins are made to say they have been quietly using this secret formula to last longer in bed. The video eventually concludes by offering viewers the opportunity to buy six bottles or 180 days-worth of Prolong Power at $49 per bottle.
    - navane 2y ago
      if you put a satirical news show logo in the corner, it becomes prime content
- awinter-py 2y ago
  > The ads lead users to a page on “thrivewithcuriosity.com,” where after confirming they are “40+” years old, they are shown a meandering and very explicit 40-minute long presentation about the miracle drug that is getting men including celebrities, strippers, and adult performers “rock hard.” normalize the 40+ age check > Notably, the ingredients do not include “midnight beetle powder,” which the long video pitching Prolong Power explains is the secret ingredient that gave the church bats their magnificent erections.
  - LargoLasskhyfv 2y ago
    That's all BS. It works like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9ZK_NjBoJI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9ZK_NjBoJI Just lazy training. The relaxing power of the golden shower. Enjoy.
dlikren 2y ago
That's funny. I got a similar ad with Sylvester Stallone wanting to share with me this one amazing salt trick!
rakkhi 2y ago
Is it a reasonable argument to say you can pay $20/month or whatever it is in your country and avoid ad's altogether?
- eloisius 2y ago
  Just wait until they introduce a “brief ad” into paid premium subscriptions too.
  - conradfr 2y ago
    Well https://www.androidauthority.com/remove-youtube-premium-ads-3384953/ https://www.androidauthority.com/remove-youtube-premium-ads-...
  - rakkhi 2y ago
    Well then it would be a good argument. Competition for video and short video services especially paid members makes that harder though
  - wruza 2y ago
    Only sensible ads for those not afraid to pay. A completely noble experience compared to that of a scam tier!
- Hamuko 2y ago
  Don't want to get scammed? Pay up.
- snakeyjake 2y ago
  Yes. We can talk about what kinds of ads are appropriate but the right to use YouTube without paying either in money or time spent watching ads has never, will never, and does not currently exist.
  - asacrowflies 2y ago
    Seems rather extreme and unprovable... Malicious ads already blow up this argument
anon7000 2y ago
Yep. And somehow, they’ve figured out how to instantly strike your channel if you accidentally use copyrighted material.
- spicybright 2y ago
  Or strike your channel over baseless claims of infringement. I wish it was only if you used copyrighted material.
  - kulahan 2y ago
    That’s… infringement of copyright material, no?
awinter-py 2y ago
saw one of deepfake schwarzenegger hocking fake viagra, astounding
DarkCrusader2 2y ago
At this point, if someone is not using UBlock and Revanced, it is 100% their fault. Megacorps has very clearly told us that they want ever profits even if it destroys lives, our planet and our future.
- pzo 2y ago
  I thought ublock stopped working on youtube, did anything changed?
  - ajayyy 2y ago
    youtube hasn't touched their anti-adblock code since june
    - Xiol32 2y ago
      Saving up all the changes for when they finally drop Manifest V2.
      - littlecranky67 2y ago
        As a firefox user you won't be affected by that.
  - gkbrk 2y ago
    Never stopped working for me. Haven't seen a YouTube ad in many years.
  - Loic 2y ago
    I am using it with Firefox together with a pie hole equivalent (Mullvad, NextDNS, ...) and my YouTube experience is ad free.
  - astrolx 2y ago
    Ublock has been blocking all youtube ads for me for many years (on Firefox).
mishkatronic 2y ago
You can just say you don’t like the new red branding color, you don’t have to go this hard on them.
snailmailman 2y ago
This! There are SO MANY borderline nsfw ads on YouTube now. All with AI voices and deepfaked faces. Often the same exact script, but a different face and slightly varied stock footage mixed in. A simple word filter for “this one simple trick” or “get your _ rock hard” could catch all of these ads. But I guess YouTube makes money off of it, so they have no real incentive to fix the problem. I even recently got a gun ad with an AI voiceover. Advertising features such as how you “don’t need a license” and it’s “easy to sneak through security”. Reported that one to YouTube a week ago. Not sure if the ad is still running, but the unlisted video is still up a week later, and it has 2 million views! (Some (all?) ads are just an unlisted video you can grab the id to.) There are multiple comments on it asking how it’s allowed, or saying how they reported it. (As well as a terrifyingly many, possibly bot comments, asking how to buy the item) It’s breaking TOS in so many ways. There’s a transcript of the video. Videos that contain too many swear words get automatically marked as adult content or demonetized, but they seemingly allow anything in advertisements. Most ads are less than a minute! If any human at YouTube glanced at the ad for even a second they could remove it and ban the account. Something which should happen before showing the ad to millions.
zombot 2y ago
> Seems illegal Criminals the size of Google don't have rap sheets, they have a fan base.
rat9988 2y ago
> yet i'm forced to watch the garbage. Are you?
qingcharles 2y ago
Someone showed me a polished ad for some crypto thing, but when I looked at the code the ad wanted you to run it had a bunch of obfuscation that redirected everything you owned to a specific wallet address. I checked six weeks later and YouTube was still running the ad. The wallet had something on the order of $20m added to it in that time.
xattt 2y ago
… but look! NEW HUE! We’re not diluting it either! I could tolerate Mozilla’s annual pontifications on colour and shape, but YouTube is tone deaf. The design changes they are making aren’t going to shape or mitigate the harm the ads they host are bringing.
sssilver 2y ago
I now hate YouTube so much because of ads that I wonder which is WORSE for their company — watching the ads or paying for premium, just to take the option that gives them least benefit.
jgalt212 2y ago
It is pretty amazing how many scam ads get waived right through the YouTube "vetting" process.
quitit 2y ago
On Twitter one can see various deepfaked ads of Elon Musk pushing various crypto schemes. I can't think of any clearer indication that absolutely nothing is being done about these scam ads. To me it seems like a clear indication that he's lost control of the platform.

skinkestek 2y ago

> I just scratch my head wondering if this massive company realizes the garbage they are forcing into our lives. I know someone who works on the technical side of a national newspaper and he has been happy and encouraged me to continue when I pointed out scammy ads ("Japanese knives" and that sort of things). Seems they don't vet ads individually but can take down ads they become aware of. With Google however it seems to me money is all that matters.

soared 2y ago
Advertising like that occurs in an open marketplace where pretty much anyone can place a bid. Some publishers have vendors that help and can set up rules, private marketplaces, etc. but effectively anyone can advertise on your site by default.

spondyl 2y ago

This is probably the type of ad you ran into: https://www.404media.co/deepfake-youtube-ads-of-celebrities-promise-to-get-you-rock-hard/ https://www.404media.co/deepfake-youtube-ads-of-celebrities-...

awinter-py 2y ago
omg yes this
- palmotea 2y ago
  Honestly, I really appreciate the bizarre, half-ass creativity that goes into these ads. I'm sad I missed this: > The video takes viewers on a bizarre journey from a strip club in Texas to a fake Harvard urologist’s office to an abandoned church in Thailand where scientists discovered a species of bat with abnormally large and long-lasting erections. Along the way, deepfake videos of everyone from Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, and adult entertainment star Johnny Sins are made to say they have been quietly using this secret formula to last longer in bed. The video eventually concludes by offering viewers the opportunity to buy six bottles or 180 days-worth of Prolong Power at $49 per bottle.
  - navane 2y ago
    if you put a satirical news show logo in the corner, it becomes prime content
awinter-py 2y ago
> The ads lead users to a page on “thrivewithcuriosity.com,” where after confirming they are “40+” years old, they are shown a meandering and very explicit 40-minute long presentation about the miracle drug that is getting men including celebrities, strippers, and adult performers “rock hard.” normalize the 40+ age check > Notably, the ingredients do not include “midnight beetle powder,” which the long video pitching Prolong Power explains is the secret ingredient that gave the church bats their magnificent erections.
- LargoLasskhyfv 2y ago
  That's all BS. It works like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9ZK_NjBoJI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9ZK_NjBoJI Just lazy training. The relaxing power of the golden shower. Enjoy.

dlikren 2y ago

That's funny. I got a similar ad with Sylvester Stallone wanting to share with me this one amazing salt trick!

rakkhi 2y ago

Is it a reasonable argument to say you can pay $20/month or whatever it is in your country and avoid ad's altogether?

eloisius 2y ago
Just wait until they introduce a “brief ad” into paid premium subscriptions too.
- conradfr 2y ago
  Well https://www.androidauthority.com/remove-youtube-premium-ads-3384953/ https://www.androidauthority.com/remove-youtube-premium-ads-...
- rakkhi 2y ago
  Well then it would be a good argument. Competition for video and short video services especially paid members makes that harder though
- wruza 2y ago
  Only sensible ads for those not afraid to pay. A completely noble experience compared to that of a scam tier!
Hamuko 2y ago
Don't want to get scammed? Pay up.
snakeyjake 2y ago
Yes. We can talk about what kinds of ads are appropriate but the right to use YouTube without paying either in money or time spent watching ads has never, will never, and does not currently exist.
- asacrowflies 2y ago
  Seems rather extreme and unprovable... Malicious ads already blow up this argument

anon7000 2y ago

Yep. And somehow, they’ve figured out how to instantly strike your channel if you accidentally use copyrighted material.

spicybright 2y ago
Or strike your channel over baseless claims of infringement. I wish it was only if you used copyrighted material.
- kulahan 2y ago
  That’s… infringement of copyright material, no?

awinter-py 2y ago

saw one of deepfake schwarzenegger hocking fake viagra, astounding

DarkCrusader2 2y ago

At this point, if someone is not using UBlock and Revanced, it is 100% their fault. Megacorps has very clearly told us that they want ever profits even if it destroys lives, our planet and our future.

pzo 2y ago
I thought ublock stopped working on youtube, did anything changed?
- ajayyy 2y ago
  youtube hasn't touched their anti-adblock code since june
  - Xiol32 2y ago
    Saving up all the changes for when they finally drop Manifest V2.
    - littlecranky67 2y ago
      As a firefox user you won't be affected by that.
- gkbrk 2y ago
  Never stopped working for me. Haven't seen a YouTube ad in many years.
- Loic 2y ago
  I am using it with Firefox together with a pie hole equivalent (Mullvad, NextDNS, ...) and my YouTube experience is ad free.
- astrolx 2y ago
  Ublock has been blocking all youtube ads for me for many years (on Firefox).

mishkatronic 2y ago

You can just say you don’t like the new red branding color, you don’t have to go this hard on them.

snailmailman 2y ago

This! There are SO MANY borderline nsfw ads on YouTube now. All with AI voices and deepfaked faces. Often the same exact script, but a different face and slightly varied stock footage mixed in. A simple word filter for “this one simple trick” or “get your _ rock hard” could catch all of these ads. But I guess YouTube makes money off of it, so they have no real incentive to fix the problem. I even recently got a gun ad with an AI voiceover. Advertising features such as how you “don’t need a license” and it’s “easy to sneak through security”. Reported that one to YouTube a week ago. Not sure if the ad is still running, but the unlisted video is still up a week later, and it has 2 million views! (Some (all?) ads are just an unlisted video you can grab the id to.) There are multiple comments on it asking how it’s allowed, or saying how they reported it. (As well as a terrifyingly many, possibly bot comments, asking how to buy the item) It’s breaking TOS in so many ways. There’s a transcript of the video. Videos that contain too many swear words get automatically marked as adult content or demonetized, but they seemingly allow anything in advertisements. Most ads are less than a minute! If any human at YouTube glanced at the ad for even a second they could remove it and ban the account. Something which should happen before showing the ad to millions.

zombot 2y ago

> Seems illegal Criminals the size of Google don't have rap sheets, they have a fan base.

rat9988 2y ago

> yet i'm forced to watch the garbage. Are you?

qingcharles 2y ago

Someone showed me a polished ad for some crypto thing, but when I looked at the code the ad wanted you to run it had a bunch of obfuscation that redirected everything you owned to a specific wallet address. I checked six weeks later and YouTube was still running the ad. The wallet had something on the order of $20m added to it in that time.

xattt 2y ago

… but look! NEW HUE! We’re not diluting it either! I could tolerate Mozilla’s annual pontifications on colour and shape, but YouTube is tone deaf. The design changes they are making aren’t going to shape or mitigate the harm the ads they host are bringing.

sssilver 2y ago

I now hate YouTube so much because of ads that I wonder which is WORSE for their company — watching the ads or paying for premium, just to take the option that gives them least benefit.

jgalt212 2y ago

It is pretty amazing how many scam ads get waived right through the YouTube "vetting" process.

quitit 2y ago

On Twitter one can see various deepfaked ads of Elon Musk pushing various crypto schemes. I can't think of any clearer indication that absolutely nothing is being done about these scam ads. To me it seems like a clear indication that he's lost control of the platform.