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It's the 30 second youtube ads that finally got me to install adblock again after 3 years without. Also the javascript late load "oops click" tricks they're pu

by brador 12y ago

It's the 30 second youtube ads that finally got me to install adblock again after 3 years without. Also the javascript late load "oops click" tricks they're pulling to scam advertisers now (google search, youtube, bing search - all use late load javascript to get misclicks).

TeMPOraL 12y ago
> It's the 30 second youtube ads that finally got me to install adblock again after 3 years without. Same here. I couldn't be bothered to install AdBlock for many years, but the mandatory before-video ads were the straw that broke the camel's back for me. > Also the javascript late load "oops click" tricks they're pulling to scam advertisers now (google search, youtube, bing search - all use late load javascript to get misclicks). I've lost track of who is trying to scam who. The users are collateral damage anyway.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  > Same here. I couldn't be bothered to install AdBlock for many years, but the mandatory before-video ads were the straw that broke the camel's back for me. That's because people in general don't mind wasting a bit of screen space but the mandatory wasting of time is of a completely different order. Time is our most precious capital.
- on_and_off 12y ago
  I don't mind the 30 seconds ads (to be fair in my area very few video ads are unskippable on Youtube). I consider these ads the price to pay for a free video website like Youtube. I could even consider paying to remove ads in Google products (or for something like Google Play Music Unlimited that also remove ads on Youtube now that it will be used for music as well). I use uBlock though in order to remove the numerous popup/popunder ads on some websites. These are just a pain in the ass without any justification (and most of the time are tied to suspicious offers).
  - TeMPOraL 12y ago
    I do mind them, because the most common use I have for YouTube is background music and short clips. A song is usually 3-4 minutes long, which makes the ad 12-16% as long as the content. Clips are even shorter, and the very disruption of my state of mind is annoying.
untog 12y ago
(google search, youtube, bing search - all use late load javascript to get misclicks). Of course, go back a year or so and everyone was screaming at ad providers for using blocking JavaScript.
- zo1 12y ago
  And what is stopping them from having the placeholders a specific size, instead of expanding them when the javascript finally loads/starts up? If that sort of thing was unfeasible to do then fine, I'll give you your point. But they have no excuse. So they're either just too lazy to do it properly (and enjoy the nice mis-clicks on ads) or they just like the mis-clicks on ads and did it purposefully.
  - untog 12y ago
    I'm not familiar with the systems, but I imagine that not knowing the eventual size of the ad would prohibit that. Or the fact that you'd have to have the user insert some HTML alongside your currently very simple <script> entry.
    - brador 12y ago
      Most likely A/B testing showed increased revenue on the page when they did the slimy javascript jump.

by brador 12y ago

TeMPOraL 12y ago

> It's the 30 second youtube ads that finally got me to install adblock again after 3 years without. Same here. I couldn't be bothered to install AdBlock for many years, but the mandatory before-video ads were the straw that broke the camel's back for me. > Also the javascript late load "oops click" tricks they're pulling to scam advertisers now (google search, youtube, bing search - all use late load javascript to get misclicks). I've lost track of who is trying to scam who. The users are collateral damage anyway.

jacquesm 12y ago
> Same here. I couldn't be bothered to install AdBlock for many years, but the mandatory before-video ads were the straw that broke the camel's back for me. That's because people in general don't mind wasting a bit of screen space but the mandatory wasting of time is of a completely different order. Time is our most precious capital.
on_and_off 12y ago
I don't mind the 30 seconds ads (to be fair in my area very few video ads are unskippable on Youtube). I consider these ads the price to pay for a free video website like Youtube. I could even consider paying to remove ads in Google products (or for something like Google Play Music Unlimited that also remove ads on Youtube now that it will be used for music as well). I use uBlock though in order to remove the numerous popup/popunder ads on some websites. These are just a pain in the ass without any justification (and most of the time are tied to suspicious offers).
- TeMPOraL 12y ago
  I do mind them, because the most common use I have for YouTube is background music and short clips. A song is usually 3-4 minutes long, which makes the ad 12-16% as long as the content. Clips are even shorter, and the very disruption of my state of mind is annoying.

untog 12y ago

(google search, youtube, bing search - all use late load javascript to get misclicks). Of course, go back a year or so and everyone was screaming at ad providers for using blocking JavaScript.

zo1 12y ago
And what is stopping them from having the placeholders a specific size, instead of expanding them when the javascript finally loads/starts up? If that sort of thing was unfeasible to do then fine, I'll give you your point. But they have no excuse. So they're either just too lazy to do it properly (and enjoy the nice mis-clicks on ads) or they just like the mis-clicks on ads and did it purposefully.
- untog 12y ago
  I'm not familiar with the systems, but I imagine that not knowing the eventual size of the ad would prohibit that. Or the fact that you'd have to have the user insert some HTML alongside your currently very simple <script> entry.
  - brador 12y ago
    Most likely A/B testing showed increased revenue on the page when they did the slimy javascript jump.