I mean, I dont actually mind ads… within reason. But over the past few years I have watched less and less youtube content due to the ratio of ads to the actual bloody content I wanted to view.

One recent video about a bloke’s guitar amp was great. The ads not so much. I had to view two lots of 30 second unskippable ads before the 9 minute video would start. The guy starts this amazing guitar solo half way through, only to be cut off by TWO MORE bleeding adverts. The solo continues, the guy shreds it out then the video ends… two more adverts, 30 seconds each no skips (I reloaded the browser in the end which seemed to trigger a 2 minute ad at the start of another video).

Use Piped I hear you cry. Great idea. But how long is that going to last? I am certain that youtube and their parent company are feverishly pushing their engineers to find ways through, around, over and under any tool that stops them making money. The real solution is to tell everyone we know to use other platforms as much as possible and avoid Youtube. Tell every creator we love and respect to diversify where their content goes.

I know people here dont like the politics and trolling that happen on other platforms but thats because they’re insulated. With more exposure those platforms will tackle it. Or quarantine it. The other danger is if we dont diversify our viewing and creator hosting then Alphabet will just hold a monopoly and strangle any other real chance.

  • Steve
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    28 months ago

    Hmmm…well, their fight against the adblockers is quite concerning, especially if the ads are so intrusive that they disrupt the user experience in viewing content, thus pushing more users to get Premium or go to another platform. It’s not uncommon these days to find people migrating away from Big Tech platforms and going to other platforms that have more reasonable and sustainable services that benefit both the client and the vendor. The challenge is the content, which may not be as numerous as what you would find on YouTube, and along with that, there’s the challenge of convincing creators to go onto those other platforms.

    But, I am doubtful that Alphabet will be financially impacted. They might see a loss around YouTube, but that loss could be offset by profits from other products in their portfolio. Furthermore, because they have a paid option, it wouldn’t be surprising to see people going for that option, especially if the cost is reasonable, and they are getting premium services not just for themselves but also their friends and family.

      • @[email protected]
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        38 months ago

        Niche hobby content creators have very few other methods of distributing their media content if it’s longer than 60 seconds. Look at Technology connections for example. Maybe now the larger of those niche creators could build a small platform for theiyown, but there’s no way new creators could rise up. And I watch 10 times as much of that type of content than I do of Netflix/Disney and Prime combined.

        • @[email protected]
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          38 months ago

          I don’t know the backend but there is Nebula which has a few select bigger creators on it. I don’t know if it’s too much extra work for the pay they get from it, or if people don’t know it exists.

          • @[email protected]
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            18 months ago

            Yeah, but last time I checked they weren’t looking for new creators, though I’ll admit I know nearly nothing about this platform. But it is the platform I meant with the select few creators that made their own thing.

      • xenu
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        28 months ago

        I’m in the same boat, but some people really like YouTube.

      • Steve
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        28 months ago

        Perhaps not, but I am not certain if “amateur” is the right word in describing the creator contents on YouTube. Certainly, we’re not talking Disney-level video quality, but most of the creators I follow appear to have some skill in AV recording and video editing. Plus, they do present some things that are of interest to a wide variety of audiences. Therefore, I don’t necessarily see such content as “amateur-created”. Now, that’s not to say there are no amateur-level content on YouTube. I’m sure there are plenty of contents that really are of poor quality and not worth your time and money.

        Please be aware that I am not trying to convince you to jump onboard YouTube Premium. That’s your decision.

        • @[email protected]OP
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          18 months ago

          Oh I am not saying YTers are unskilled. I am saying the perception is that they are. That will prevent many from paying for those premium subs. Where as with Disney and Amazon, for all their faults people know they’ll get TV and movies written by big teams with big casts.

          • Steve
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            28 months ago

            Ah, I see. In that case, then yes, I would agree that the perception you just described would indeed raise the question of the Premium price, especially when compared to Disney and Amazon.

      • Entropywins
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        18 months ago

        Pete Kelly’s history time is better than anything Disney’s amateur production can imagine…