Impact of YouTube not allowing ad-blockers?

[Mambo42]

We travel a lot and found out that if you use VPN and set it to a completely different language than the country where you really are you won't get that many ads.
Let me explain.
We are in Greece at the moment, so get a lot of Greek ads. The Greeks apparently have the money to spend it on advertisement, so we get bombarded. However, when I watch the same video (e.g. MV Freedom) but set the VPN to Colombia I get only a few ads at the beginning, all the others are gone. Why ? Because in Latin-America hardly anyone watches these videos in English, so advertisers don't have interest in them, meaning almost no ads. So far it has worked flawless, can recommend it.

 

[twistedtree]

UBlock works great. Thanks for the tip.


As for the funding model for YouTube, I'm not very sympathetic. Google's annual revenue is $300B. That's nothing short of obscene. And the glimpses I have gotten into the revenue stream for producers, it's at least as much (if not more) from affiliate sales, merchandise, product placements, and paid ads, as it is from YouTube. When forced to display the ads, I don't watch them and I don't click on them, so they are not getting any revenue from me anyway. And if forced to display the ads, I stop watching completely which hurts them even more. So I have no qualms whatsoever about blocking ads. The ad-model may work for YouTube, but it doesn't work for me, so if at some point we need to go our separate ways, so be it.


And I feel much the same about TF and other forums. I think I pay my fair share through content contributions, which in turn is what TF and others use to draw eyeballs and make money. If anything, TF should be revenue-sharing with me, but they aren't, and I accept the arrangement as it currently works, with ads blocked.

 

[CompuNerd]

I'm in the Selene and twistedtree camp. uBlock Origin and no ads.

Alphabet/ Google/ Youtube have been making money from user data since Day One. They make obscene amounts of money from all internet activity. I want control of my information and decide who gets it and how it's used. To the extent I can prevent it, no one gets to use my info for their profit. If a company demands that I pay again with time or money just to increase their profit, the answer is HELL NO.

Content creators receive minuscule compensation for monetizing the channel. A little searching shows that Youtube, as it became a monopoly, REDUCED creator compensation to the extent that creators have to monetize elsewhere, such as merch or actual product. Ad revenue is not a substantial fraction of creator income.

Content creators have no choice of ads that play during their content. If boating channels could select boating-related ads, then I'd give them a watch now and again. I'm not into gambling, dating sites, pop culture, ad nauseum (pun intended). But ad companies will shove their ads in wherever they can. Beer ads on the back of church pews, anyone?

If a person pays the annoyance fee for Premium, that's fine. If someone else doesn't mind ads, that's fine too; it's their choice. But I'm going to fight mandatory viewing of their content or paying a subscription because they already make money from me. Helping Youtube hit their quarterly profit goal provides no benefit, only negative impact to me.

 

[Slo-Mocean]

I would like to hear from one person who watches these ads and buys something that they would not have bought anyway. So ads are just an intrusion, an annoyance and serve no purpose other than a click fee maybe.

I say this all the time to my wife, there is next to nothing we would ever buy because of an advertisement on TV or the internet. Only thing i watch is BOGO in the Publix flyer if there is a great deal.

 

[MYTraveler]

I would like to hear from one person who watches these ads and buys something that they would not have bought anyway.

Good advertising assists good decision making by providing information about which a consumer might otherwise be unaware. Targeting advertising provides that information about products most likely to be of interest to a particular consumer.

In any event, I am that person. I spent the last few hours setting up a product that I didn't even know existed until I saw a targeted ad. That product is an ultra short throw 120" projection TV. I was targeted for that ad because I had been researching large OLED TV's. And the ad addressed the concerns that had always dissuaded me from any serious consideration of projector tvs in years past. Similarly, I have been toying with the idea of getting a high end audio system. After a few google searches, I have received a lot of ads that help me better understand what to look for -- in fact brands that I might otherwise not discover. My interest in the speakers I have in mind, as well as the amplifier, are both the result of targeted ads. Similarly, the last new car I purchased I considered only because of an advertisement.

 

[SteveK]

NYTraveler, thanks.
You ended up with what you wanted anyway.
I end up with what I want by looking for it, and in a way when I am looking google shows me what it thinks I am looking for.
The difference IF an AD popped up when I am not looking, well that has not happened for years, so not sure what I would do. I glanced up and see adguard blocked two such ads on this page.

 

[jbinbi]

Good advertising assists good decision making by providing information about which a consumer might otherwise be unaware. Targeting advertising provides that information about products most likely to be of interest to a particular consumer.

In any event, I am that person. I spent the last few hours setting up a product that I didn't even know existed until I saw a targeted ad. That product is an ultra short throw 120" projection TV. I was targeted for that ad because I had been researching large OLED TV's. And the ad addressed the concerns that had always dissuaded me from any serious consideration of projector tvs in years past. Similarly, I have been toying with the idea of getting a high end audio system. After a few google searches, I have received a lot of ads that help me better understand what to look for -- in fact brands that I might otherwise not discover. My interest in the speakers I have in mind, as well as the amplifier, are both the result of targeted ads. Similarly, the last new car I purchased I considered only because of an advertisement.

I am not exactly sure what you are saying...

Are you saying that you got this information from clicking on an ad while watching a youtube video? Or are you saying that you saw/maybe clicked on a targeted ad while on a page.

Two different things in my mind. First, regarding YT, the few times I did click on the ads, it brought me to between a 2-30 minute video, which in no way was related to the content I was watching (was watching boat porn and the ad was for how to fix a slice). Second, as someone who has paid google to advertise our website, if our products show up on a page while you are searching, it goes directly to my page and I benefit. My content, me paying google, directly comes back to me. Unlike YT.

I was in marketing, and as they say in advertising, 'why advertise?', 'because it works'. So I am not disputing that targeted advertising works. Just don't like YT creators thinking they are going to make money when they put up their videos and they have no real control over it. The formula for pay changes by the number of viewers/subscribers you have (why you always hear them say, 'hit the like button').

Sometimes you want to be on a vpn, using the brave browser, with duck duck go ;-)

 

[SaltyDogg]

I watch Youtube more then TV. I did finally this year purchase the premium, could not be happier.

 

[MYTraveler]

I am not exactly sure what you are saying...

Are you saying that you got this information from clicking on an ad while watching a youtube video? Or are you saying that you saw/maybe clicked on a targeted ad while on a page.

I don't get youtube ads, so not from youtube. My comment was in response to the question about whether anyone bought anything that they wouldn't have bought anyway but for the ad. In my case, yes. I would not have purchased a UST, and probably would have waited until the existing TV dies entirely (currently, it gets hot and times out after a few hours -- frustrating in the middle of a football game).

My daughter works for Google and sells advertising. They have amazing technology to identify the best target audience. They can demonstrate a direct relationship between an ad and sales. Advertisers can "fine tune" their ads to be more effective. None of that is possible with, for example, a SuperBowl spot. I don't think I am spilling a trade secret (I don't think I know any trade secrets) but my daughter's involvement is by invitation only. The vast majority of Google advertisers cannot get the deep analysis and penetration that my daughter provides. They, instead, rely on third-party consultants who are not privy to Google's metrics. So, it doesn't surprise me that the vast majority of youtube advertising is unwanted.

 

[f508]

I use a program called "FreeTube". It still blocks the ads, but seems to work around the YouTube block.


Before that my solution was to use"4K Video Downloader". With that one I could download the videos, watch them locally, and then delete them, all without the ads.



I don't use the premium service because you have to log in, which amplifies their ability to track and sell you. And while that doesn't really matter, it bugs me, so I avoid it.

 

[sunchaser]

Maybe it’s time to go boating and forget about whose ad blocker works best. That said, I do enjoy looking at all the new vessel ads in the boating mags.

 

[SteveK]

Can someone post a link (any) to a youtube that has ads while watching. I am unable to find one to see what everyone is seeing with the ad policy change.
I found this link
so I went and found some Simon's cat youtube. Nope, no pop up ads.

 

[dwpsco]

I use Brave browser and it has built in ad blocker, no hassle and brave collects the least amount of personal data. YouTube has been trying to thwart Brave but within an hour or two brave is handling it.

 

[Barrie]

I keep my ad blocker on all the time. Haven't found Youtube to be a problem with ads as i mainly use it for searching "how to fix" items.
Stopped watching movies on regular TV sometime back because it was 10 ads every 12 minutes and couldn't remember them anyway. And no, i have never bought anything from an ad.
Cheers

 

[bumpkin]

While the talent may not get much in the way of compensation from YouTube, they get the platform to use. What do you think it would cost the presenters to build a delivery system and then advertise their shows?

I originally went premium Youtube years ago because of the cost of bandwidth. As to ads, I like cookies, so the ads I see are generally ones I want to see. That was the holy grail of the internet years ago, eliminating wasted time. No more feminine product ads showing up on men's electronics and no jock itch products on women's.

I'm now toying with the idea of adblockers on my apps because of the slow loading of ads. An article will stop downloading while waiting for the ad platform to send the ads. It is annoying to pay for highspeed internet and wait for ads to load before I can see my search results.