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YouTube's new anti-adblock measures

(iter.ca)
990 points smitop | 5 comments | 20 Jun 25 17:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.798s | source
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dkga ◴[21 Jun 25 09:45 UTC] No.44336118[source]▶
Dear YouTube,

It’s not so much that I don’t want to see ads - nobody does, but very very often the ad breaks the vibe of what I am watching and it displeases me to the point I will invest my soul and energy to block ads. Some real-life examples:

- watching a video about coding where the creator has a monotonic, calm voice that keeps me engaged, and VS Code in dark mode which is easy on my eyes in my dark room at 2am, then suddenly comes an ad with bright lights, incredibly high sound and a high-energy backtrack.

- watching a meditation video, the exact same ad appears.

You get the idea.

At the very least, please ensure the ad is in the same volume as the original video. That alone wouldn’t be too hard. In addition, please at least try to match the background overall brightness or color, and the vibe. All this would create value because people would actually watch much more ads.

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AlienRobot ◴[21 Jun 25 10:29 UTC] No.44336336[source]▶
>All this would create value because people would actually watch much more ads.

I'm very skeptical about this statement.

There is a simple way to stop watching ads: pay for premium. It's 100% effective and works right now.

What you are saying is that you want Google to make your ad experience better because you don't want to pay money to use their service.

You somehow use it enough for ads to bother you but not enough to pay for it.

This paradoxal type of user is too common and makes no sense to me.

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1. vprcic ◴[21 Jun 25 10:46 UTC] No.44336412[source]▶
> There is a simple way to stop watching ads: pay for premium. It's 100% effective and works right now.

For now. With the ever increasing number of "premium" services that promised no ads, but slowly start introducing them, it is just a matter of time before YouTube does the same.

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2. dxdm ◴[21 Jun 25 11:03 UTC] No.44336521[source]▶
At which point, if it ever gets to that, you're free to stop paying them. I do not understand what point you're making here.
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3. chongli ◴[21 Jun 25 11:48 UTC] No.44336792[source]▶
Yeah the problem for YouTube is that they bundle a bunch of other services with the premium package. They occasionally conduct surveys to gauge user awareness of these features. I myself don’t use any of them, just the ad-free experience.

Thus trying to reintroduce ads to the premium users will remove the only reason I’m paying for it in the first place.

4. ptero ◴[21 Jun 25 11:51 UTC] No.44336810[source]▶
Not the poster, but the point I think that Google is engaging in a clear-cut bait and switch. First, "free email, good UX", "free video hosting, minimal ads". Then, once the dependency sets in, use a standard playbook of degrading the lower tiers and charging for removing the inconveniences.

I am not claiming that Google is the only company doing that; it is not. But there is a reason that bait and switch is illegal in most places. My 2c.

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5. harvey9 ◴[21 Jun 25 12:17 UTC] No.44336995{3}[source]▶
This is not bait and switch, going by the definition on the Wikipedia page. It's closer to 'dumping' where goods or services are supplied below cost to drive out competitors.