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The problem is that advertisement business infects everything. For instance, I could pay for Youtube Premium to ostensibly not be shown ads, but it doesn't cha

The problem is that advertisement business infects everything. For instance, I could pay for Youtube Premium to ostensibly not be shown ads, but it doesn't change the fact that all the content[^1] in the ecosystem is still produced for maximizing watch time and/or being advertisement friendly. I could pay for news, but that doesn't change the fact that the news is written to receive clicks from the non-paying users. Paying for things does not help escaping the second order effects of advertisement. [^1]: To a close approximation.

jnsie 2y ago
Recently I've been annoyed with Youtube Premium. I pay for an ad-free experience and do not see ads in the traditional (wait 5 seconds to skip) way, yet more and more content has inline product promotion where time is spent thanking a sponsor and pitching their product. So I'm paying not to avoid ads, but I'm still seeing paid promotion...
- fn-mote 2y ago
  > I'm paying not to avoid ads, but I'm still seeing paid promotion... It seems like you have shifted from having a problem with the platform to having a problem with the content producers. Can’t win?
  - jnsie 2y ago
    People all the way down...
- duxup 2y ago
  > where time is spent thanking a sponsor and pitching their product I’ve been unsubscribing from folks who do that a lot. Instant unsubscribe if the product is questionable. I’m not going to judge their business decision, but it tea sets an odd tone when I’m watching something informative and they bust out into a “someone paid me to say this”.
- ajsnigrutin 2y ago
  google for "sponsorblock" extension for your browser, crowdsourced data makes it skip all the promotions, intros, "like and subscribe" and all other unneeded parts. And when you're at it, ublock origin also skips the youtube ads. There's also: https://freetubeapp.io/ https://freetubeapp.io/ , but it's a constant cat and mouse game with youtube, where you now have to refresh a video a few times before it starts playing (then it works fine), until they upgrade the software and then it works, until youtube changes something again.
  - chgs 2y ago
    YouTube has a “jump ahead” built in - at least on the phone - which skips sponsored bits
- skyyler 2y ago
  SponsorBlock works great. https://sponsor.ajay.app/ https://sponsor.ajay.app/
- chuckadams 2y ago
  It's an old-fashioned plug, and you can hit the skip button. Usually there's a banner of some sort that makes it even easier to know when the plug is done. If that's too much, then find a way to live without the show.
javcasas 2y ago
You know who is the best target demographic for selling stuff? People with money. So that's who you want to show ads to. And do you know a proxy for "have money"? Paying for premium, when there is free. Therefore, every time you pay for premium, all the advertisers look and say "I'd pay a lot to show ads to that guy". At some point, the premium service includes ads, because of so much potential extra revenue! And that's why I don't pay for premium.
- sumeno 2y ago
  I'll never understand why people are reluctant to pay for a monthly service because of something they might do in the future to make the service worse. If they do that thing then just cancel! It's incredibly easy to do!
  - acdha 2y ago
    It’s especially weird because the one thing guaranteed to result in more ads is not paying. People spend a lot of money making content for YouTube and something has to pay for it.
    - javcasas 2y ago
      We already have more ads. The "promise" is that, by paying, we will get no more ads. For now. I didn't ask for that content. I don't understand why I have to pay it.
      - acdha 2y ago
        So do what I do and don’t watch it. Just don’t deprive the creators of revenue and then be indignant when everything is loaded up with ads and sponsored content because people need to pay rent.
  - choo-t 2y ago
    Because if the service you pay for start to do what you expressively pay them not to do, your whole subscription since the beginning will feel like a waste. Worst, your money was partially used against your interest, by financing people unilaterally altering a contract they made with you.
wat10000 2y ago
I don’t understand this complaint in the context of YouTube. It’s the only major streaming service with plentiful new content that isn’t clickbait, focus-grouped, lowest-common-denominator, metrics-chasing trash. I can hop on and watch hours of jets flying through the Mach loop, people playing chess, and people machining metal. If those aren’t your thing, I bet there’s plenty of stuff that is. Sure, there’s a lot of crap. But you don’t have to watch that.
- choo-t 2y ago
  > Sure, there’s a lot of crap. But you don’t have to watch that. But even non-crappy content will be steered toward some direction by the advertisement, most videos are made just long enough to fit whatever is the new optimum time for revenue per view. And some subject will be censored to not displease advertisers. Some people are not doing that, but it's simply because they don't rely on YouTube revenues.
  - wat10000 2y ago
    The people who aren’t doing that still produce way more than 24 hours of quality content per day. And for those who do, I’ll judge them based on what they make, not how I imagine they decide what to make.
    - choo-t 2y ago
      So your whole argument is just cherry picking? Sure if you ignore everything wrong, you can say the system is alright.
      - wat10000 2y ago
        My gob is properly smacked by this reply. I mean, yeah! Cherry-picking is the entire point of an on-demand video service. Are you just watching whatever it gives you in order? I seriously cannot comprehend what would possess someone to write this.
      - haswell 2y ago
carlosjobim 2y ago
> it doesn't change the fact that all the content[^1] in the ecosystem is still produced for maximizing watch time and/or being advertisement friendly. That's just not true. There is an enormous amount of content on YouTube right now, which is made chiefly with quality in mind, by some of the most professional people in the industry. There's more than you could watch even if you watched for a thousand years. You just have to use the like/dislike and subscribe functions, so the algorithm knows what you want.

jnsie 2y ago

Recently I've been annoyed with Youtube Premium. I pay for an ad-free experience and do not see ads in the traditional (wait 5 seconds to skip) way, yet more and more content has inline product promotion where time is spent thanking a sponsor and pitching their product. So I'm paying not to avoid ads, but I'm still seeing paid promotion...

fn-mote 2y ago
> I'm paying not to avoid ads, but I'm still seeing paid promotion... It seems like you have shifted from having a problem with the platform to having a problem with the content producers. Can’t win?
- jnsie 2y ago
  People all the way down...
duxup 2y ago
> where time is spent thanking a sponsor and pitching their product I’ve been unsubscribing from folks who do that a lot. Instant unsubscribe if the product is questionable. I’m not going to judge their business decision, but it tea sets an odd tone when I’m watching something informative and they bust out into a “someone paid me to say this”.
ajsnigrutin 2y ago
google for "sponsorblock" extension for your browser, crowdsourced data makes it skip all the promotions, intros, "like and subscribe" and all other unneeded parts. And when you're at it, ublock origin also skips the youtube ads. There's also: https://freetubeapp.io/ https://freetubeapp.io/ , but it's a constant cat and mouse game with youtube, where you now have to refresh a video a few times before it starts playing (then it works fine), until they upgrade the software and then it works, until youtube changes something again.
- chgs 2y ago
  YouTube has a “jump ahead” built in - at least on the phone - which skips sponsored bits
skyyler 2y ago
SponsorBlock works great. https://sponsor.ajay.app/ https://sponsor.ajay.app/
chuckadams 2y ago
It's an old-fashioned plug, and you can hit the skip button. Usually there's a banner of some sort that makes it even easier to know when the plug is done. If that's too much, then find a way to live without the show.

javcasas 2y ago

You know who is the best target demographic for selling stuff? People with money. So that's who you want to show ads to. And do you know a proxy for "have money"? Paying for premium, when there is free. Therefore, every time you pay for premium, all the advertisers look and say "I'd pay a lot to show ads to that guy". At some point, the premium service includes ads, because of so much potential extra revenue! And that's why I don't pay for premium.

sumeno 2y ago
I'll never understand why people are reluctant to pay for a monthly service because of something they might do in the future to make the service worse. If they do that thing then just cancel! It's incredibly easy to do!
- acdha 2y ago
  It’s especially weird because the one thing guaranteed to result in more ads is not paying. People spend a lot of money making content for YouTube and something has to pay for it.
  - javcasas 2y ago
    We already have more ads. The "promise" is that, by paying, we will get no more ads. For now. I didn't ask for that content. I don't understand why I have to pay it.
    - acdha 2y ago
      So do what I do and don’t watch it. Just don’t deprive the creators of revenue and then be indignant when everything is loaded up with ads and sponsored content because people need to pay rent.
- choo-t 2y ago
  Because if the service you pay for start to do what you expressively pay them not to do, your whole subscription since the beginning will feel like a waste. Worst, your money was partially used against your interest, by financing people unilaterally altering a contract they made with you.

wat10000 2y ago

I don’t understand this complaint in the context of YouTube. It’s the only major streaming service with plentiful new content that isn’t clickbait, focus-grouped, lowest-common-denominator, metrics-chasing trash. I can hop on and watch hours of jets flying through the Mach loop, people playing chess, and people machining metal. If those aren’t your thing, I bet there’s plenty of stuff that is. Sure, there’s a lot of crap. But you don’t have to watch that.

choo-t 2y ago
> Sure, there’s a lot of crap. But you don’t have to watch that. But even non-crappy content will be steered toward some direction by the advertisement, most videos are made just long enough to fit whatever is the new optimum time for revenue per view. And some subject will be censored to not displease advertisers. Some people are not doing that, but it's simply because they don't rely on YouTube revenues.
- wat10000 2y ago
  The people who aren’t doing that still produce way more than 24 hours of quality content per day. And for those who do, I’ll judge them based on what they make, not how I imagine they decide what to make.
  - choo-t 2y ago
    So your whole argument is just cherry picking? Sure if you ignore everything wrong, you can say the system is alright.
    - wat10000 2y ago
      My gob is properly smacked by this reply. I mean, yeah! Cherry-picking is the entire point of an on-demand video service. Are you just watching whatever it gives you in order? I seriously cannot comprehend what would possess someone to write this.
    - haswell 2y ago

carlosjobim 2y ago

> it doesn't change the fact that all the content[^1] in the ecosystem is still produced for maximizing watch time and/or being advertisement friendly. That's just not true. There is an enormous amount of content on YouTube right now, which is made chiefly with quality in mind, by some of the most professional people in the industry. There's more than you could watch even if you watched for a thousand years. You just have to use the like/dislike and subscribe functions, so the algorithm knows what you want.