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YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers (www.bleepingcomputer.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (19 children)

I'll say something unexpected: I pay for YouTube. With money! Why?

I use it every day and I'm a human who likes boosting the things that I enjoy
I think YouTube's content recommendations are a genuine value-add and not easily replaced
A cut of my subscription fee goes directly back to the video creators that I watch
The "premium" encoding levels are actually a substantial improvement to video bitrates
- Important: the premium bitrate is higher than anything previously offered and probably would not have been otherwise practical to serve for free

So yeah. I personally like YouTube enough to pay for it and I have the financial means to do so. Am I a clown for expressing personal appreciation towards a faceless megacorp? Yes. Yes I am. Constantly trying to win at every transaction in life is a drag though, so I think I'll continue to enjoy getting swindled.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

I don't think there is anything wrong with paying for what you consider to be value. I pay for Nebula for similar reasons. Similarly, I don't have a problem with free services including modest ads to cover their costs and even make a profit.

I do have a problem with ads that have gotten so aggressive that the free experience becomes unusable. For many providers, I feel like they have lured in content creators by promising free access and then changed the bargain after the fact by making the free tier intolerable.

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