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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: 0.836s | source
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akersten ◴[21 Jun 25 01:03 UTC] No.44333609[source]▶
Thank you for your important work fighting this battle, it must be exhausting.

The more Google insists on forcing advertising on us, the more we should look closely at the wildly inappropriate and downright scammy ads they are hosting. If they can't leave well enough alone and look the other way on ad blocking, (which is the only way to avoid exposing myself and family to these dangerous ads), they need to be under a lot more scrutiny for the ads they choose to run.

replies(14): >>44333634 #>>44333715 #>>44333722 #>>44333741 #>>44333772 #>>44333866 #>>44333880 #>>44334127 #>>44334295 #>>44334478 #>>44334895 #>>44336346 #>>44336472 #>>44339901 #
cyberax ◴[21 Jun 25 02:03 UTC] No.44333880[source]▶
I'm sorry, but Youtube got to keep its servers up somehow and pay the content creators. This means ads.

If you don't like them, then pay for Youtube Premium and you can get ad-free experience. Although if it's not available in your country, then adblocking is a reasonable approach.

replies(1): >>44334535 #
jfoster ◴[21 Jun 25 04:33 UTC] No.44334535[source]▶
The sheer resistance to paying for YouTube Premium is proving the need for ads.
replies(1): >>44334630 #
hirvi74 ◴[21 Jun 25 04:55 UTC] No.44334630[source]▶
YouTube has an estimated worth, if it were a stand-alone company, of $475 billion to $550 billion. I'm sure they'll survive off just fine continuing to sell my personal information just like that always have.
replies(2): >>44335051 #>>44335174 #
Mindwipe ◴[21 Jun 25 06:49 UTC] No.44335174[source]▶
Google do not, and literally never have "sold your personal information."

They deliver targeted advertising due to the information they have. That's the model. They make literally zero dollars a year selling personal information.

replies(1): >>44335930 #
madeforhnyo ◴[21 Jun 25 09:05 UTC] No.44335930[source]▶
Source? Google is literally an online ad monopoly, and being sued for it. They did track and continue tracking users, and they sell data though their SSP, DSP, ad networks, ad exchanges they own.
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1. Workaccount2 ◴[21 Jun 25 11:30 UTC] No.44336670[source]▶
Find the webpage where you can buy googles user data. Not where you can buy ad slots, but where you can buy the raw tracking data like data brokers sell.

I'll wait.

replies(2): >>44346427 #>>44355752 #
2. clippyplz ◴[22 Jun 25 12:39 UTC] No.44346427[source]▶
Try looking for something like "cia ads track" in your favorite search engine. The data comes with the ads, it's not a secret.
3. madeforhnyo ◴[23 Jun 25 13:43 UTC] No.44355752[source]▶
Wait no further: https://ads.google.com/intl/en/home/tools/insights-finder/
replies(1): >>44356879 #
4. jfoster ◴[23 Jun 25 15:39 UTC] No.44356879[source]▶
Heavily aggregated data. Nothing even close to personally identifying.
replies(1): >>44378482 #
5. madeforhnyo ◴[25 Jun 25 15:33 UTC] No.44378482{3}[source]▶
Still, it is _personal_ data collected and sold by Google, which was the point raised by gp comment. As for it being personally identifying, the aggregation/pseudonymization/anonymization process doesn't even prevent precise identification [0]. I'd say it's pretty close.

[0]: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-10933-3