This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
uBlock Origin works wonders. I haven't seen a YouTube ad since I installed it.
I either watch YouTube without ads or don't watch at all. We need a new platform for videos.
Tell you the truth, once upon a time I really didn't mind the ads. In fact I was quite happy to support the creators that I like with watching the ads that appeared on their videos. But then YouTube started getting smarmy by blocking my suggestions because I didn't use history on my account. And then there's the problem of the ads getting longer. At which point I got fed up and downloaded the adblock software to stop seeing this garbage. And then this little war broke out over ads on the platform.
Quite frankly, so long as the people who make the software to block ads continue to do that kind of work I will continue to download their software and make Google spend boatloads of their own money to try to block the blockers. Because the blockers aren't going anywhere. Not to mention that the blockers were not quite as popular before Google started this little campaign. And now they have made people so hyper aware of the fact that they can actually go out and find some way to skip these stupid ads that they've basically dug their own grave. Broadcast TV spent decades on this failed quest.
Peertube looks good... but has nearly no content or content creators, which is the reason Google nearly has monopoly with Youtube
Not a fediverse thing, but I pay $5 a month for nebula. I think it’s worth it to support creators. And I believe the whole “if you’re not paying for something you’re the product”. Though you can still be the product even if you do pay.
Using Youtube without Revanced or uBlock is like using a phone without a case.
Eh, using a phone w/o a case is reasonable. I'd liken it more to watching live TV. Why do that in the era of streaming services when you can (well, could) avoid ads and watch exactly what you want instead of whatever slop the network decides you should watch?
Youtube is like that bully that asks for your lunch money and when you say no, they slam you into a locker.
When you say no again, they start hitting you until you finally give that lunch money.
Once you do, they will show you the others are being abused harder when they demand more money from you.
I would love to contribute to the end of youtube.
To me, the value of youtube and it's music is far below the €18 it costs to get me and my wife ad free. My internet costs roughly that and offers a lot of possibilites, so why should i pay double for a service that supplies about 1 millionth of what the internet itself has to offer, especially considering my wage has barely changed while i watch my rent and groceries triple in cost.
Y'all need to realize there is an end to my money, you can't keep taking.
Look, I don't disagree with you. YouTube has many flaws and they've rapidly enshittified to increase monetization. But YouTube is a far more complex* operation than your ISP. It took a decade to start making a profit on YouTube.
The amount of hardware behind it is insane. The amount of work behind it is insane. A lot of that work is performed by really expensive software engineers in the US and Europe.
It was never sustainable from the get-go. Not with a single pre-watch ad and no premium tier, anyway. They HAD to add more ads and a premium ad-free tier. Where I disagree with them is the amount of ads and the cost of the premium tier.
*The big cloud providers (including Google) have grown so big, they don't use ISPs in the traditional sense to connect their data centers. They run their own subsea cables between continents to improve connectivity. Whether or not you like the companies, they put a LOT of work into keeping you on their platforms. Of course this is for Google Cloud customers, but YouTube basically IS a Google Cloud customer. Just an in-house one.
I'm laughing at ~~their~~ YouTube's response. Obviously someone used a thesaurus to write it and didn't know that "incalcitrant" is not even the word, no major dictionaries list it. It's like using irregardless instead of regardless The word ~~they~~ YouTube wanted is recalcitrant.
And it's very telling that ~~they~~ YouTube used that word because it shows they think they are King.
Recalicitrant:
Stubbornly resistant to authority or control.
Unwilling to obey orders or to do what should be done.
Resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant.
Edit: I'm laughing at YouTube's response. I thought that was clear by context.. I guess people who didn't read the article didn't get that? Maybe it was paywalled to them?
Words matter, and by using the one they did, YouTube is basically saying that they demand people obey them.
Youtube is like that bully
Except no one is forcing you to face that bully.
You can simply stay away.
We’ve launched a global effort to urge viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium for an ad free experience.
By drastically increasing the rates every 6 months. Raising it past the prices of actual production streaming services. And paying the people making the content less and less money, until they have to put their own ads and their own content.
Youtube when I use Ublock Origin on my Thinkpad and ReVanced on my Pixel:
While the company stops short of directly saying as much, it sure feels like the preposterously long ads we’re seeing here are an example of one tool in Google’s arsenal for effectively disabling YouTube playback for violators of the site’s ToS.
That makes no sense at all. It isn't like skipping ads results in a black screen for the length of the ad.
People with adblockers aren't going to see hour long ads or black screens when they don't see ads in the first place.
It's hilarious that they think it would matter to anyone with an ad blocker. I haven't seen an ad for years on youtube. Hell I haven't even seen promotions in videos for a few months now that I found a sponsor segment blocker.
There's a chance ad blockers are eating up the 'Skip' button while also failing to block the ad.
A CHANCE?
Only trash adblockers like Adblock Plus and Adguard have that "chance". uBlock Origin the goat fr frf
While the company stops short of directly saying as much, it sure feels like the preposterously long ads we’re seeing here are an example of one tool in Google’s arsenal for effectively disabling YouTube playback for violators of the site’s ToS.
I don't get it. When my adblocker works, I don't get to see this shit. Only if it fails I'llbe confronted with hour-long ads, so the incentive to find a better blocker is even higher?
They are trying hard to block all known adblockers. And if they ever do, this will become a serious problem.
While their statement is entirely correct, they're still wrong. YouTube is basically unusable without an ad blocker. Multiple 10 to 15 second long unskippable ads before the video even starts, and unless you watch videos all the way through you end up watching as much ad as you do content. It is damn near impossible to hop around between videos trying to find the one you want because of the pre-roll ads on every vid. On the other hand, with an ad block enabled YouTube is actually quite nice. The engagement algorithm is fucking trash of course but if you know what you're looking for and you go directly to it it's pretty good.
Some Alternatives:
Firefox + Ublock Origin
This right here. No longer using chromium-based browsers is a really good start.
just make it a subscription service already and see how many people remain...
The YouTube owner explains that normal non-skippable in-stream ads are limited to just 15 seconds in length.
This is bullshit. I don't use an ad-blocker and often get a full minute of ad. And an extra minute if I happen to pause the stream for like 30 seconds and come back to it.
This is bullshit. I don't use an ad-blocker
You should be kinder to yourself.
I consider the internet unusable without an ad blocker, ESPECIALLY youtube. I can't imagine life without it. It would be like camping without a tent, I guess I could get by but it can really suck depending on where you go.
Are ad blockers to blame?
Why do you make me hit you?
The funny thing is using a good adblocker and I haven't noticed a single youtube ad, so if they're to blame, they're also the solution. I don't see how this move functionally does anything other than punish those who can't block ads.
Sharing another app suggestion(s) for Android: Tubular [0] or the more up-to-date LastPipeBender [1].
Both apps differ from NewPipe and its variants by integrating with PeerTube along with YouTube, apart from providing features like SponsorBlock and ReturnYouTubeDislike.
I have started using PeerTube much more often as my subscriptions from YouTube and PeerTube are now shown together, which makes for a seamless and superior experience altogether.
[0] https://github.com/polymorphicshade/Tubular [1] https://github.com/MaintainTeam/LastPipeBender
Haven't seen these but my solution would be just don't watch the video. These ads may be unskippable but they aren't un-watch-something-else-able.
One solution to that problem is to close YouTube on your device and do something else with your time.
I came across a few days ago with Pipepipe, which is a Newpipe Hard fork with sponsorblock. It seems that it is better maintained than Newpipe ( Newpipe stops working sometimes ), and has more features. https://f-droid.org/en/packages/InfinityLoop1309.NewPipeEnhanced/
Explanation: they weren't using an (functional) ad blocker for some reason.
