Originally published at: YouTube disabling video playback for people using ad blockers | Boing Boing
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I guess I’ll go somewhere else then. I mean they think they’re that important that I’ll stick around for ads? LOL
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Just as the ads get more numerous and a pain to deal with. hint VideoDownloader extension for FF
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Between this and Reddit, maybe I’ll just quit the internet.
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I suppose this is a push for people to sign up for paid subscriptions. Of course, according to the ensh*ttification model they’re start pushing ads there too once enough users sign up, and disable playback for them when they use blockers.
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I don’t block ads, but I do block doubleclick.net. I’ve blocked them since before Google bought them, and I’ll block them six months after hell freezes over. Some ad-block detectors false-trigger on that, but (besides blocking tracking) the only thing it does is dead-end any sponsored links in Google’s results.
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Ad-blockers are the only thing that makes Youtube usable, so…
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That’s not really surprising, although it is frustrating.
There’s a browser extension named uBlock Origin that nukes the ads before, during and after YouTube videos. (Highly recommended.) Unfortunately my employer won’t let me install it at work, and it’s annoying to listen to music playlists with ads, so my wife and I decided to subscribe to YouTube Family. Yay, no more YouTube ads at work!
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It’s another Red Queen endeavor. As soon as Youtube starts blocking videos when ad-blocking software is detected, it’s only a short time before someone created a less detectable ad blocker.
Maybe youtube should work on de-shittifying things instead of driving users away. I used to get so annoyed watching 3 minutes of ads to watch 3-minute video. Or, worse, when I’m trying to listen to a longer program in the shower, and they break in with one of those 2-5 minute long ads that you have to manually skip, so I’m stuck listening to a long-form commercial instead the desired content. Youtube was THE reason I installed ublock origin. If they block content on me, they can piss right off.
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The sad thing is that ads may be the least problematic thing on Youtube, and the ads are fucking awful.
I mean, nearly all of my Youtube watching is related to music and I still get alt-right grifters in my recommendations. And every now and then I make the mistake of reading the comments.
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Youtube now thinks that in the middle of a 30 minute video, I’d rather be watching 30 minutes of Christiane Amanpour, a explanation of how to use docker, or an exciting new income opportunity.
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Blocking the ads doesn’t hurt the creators nearly as much as YouTube is claiming here. Many of the content creators I follow do their own promos within the video itself and either do a decent job of keeping the personal ads short and balanced against the length of the content or they’re soon no longer creating content.
As far as blocking goes, I use both the AdBlock and Unhook extensions. Killing ads, hiding end screen feeds/cards, and turning off the comments was the only way to make YouTube watchable for me. I’ll note I was perfectly fine leaving those on until they became too intrusive. I actually left the end screens alone until I had one too many videos with text or images in the last 30 seconds I was trying to read.
Go ahead and try it, YouTube. I wonder if I’ll even ever notice it?
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Oh yeah, I’m friendly with a few moderately successful YouTubers (and a bunch who are far less popular but also monetise their videos), and nobody’s making a living wage just off ads up into the six-figure viewing range, for sure.
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It occurs to me that creators who insert personalized ads into their videos actually bring us better ads. When Ginny Di takes a minute out of her 15 minute long video to do a quick plug for some gaming accessories, I take it as a personal recommendation from someone who’s at least tried it and knows how it relates to the content of her channel.
When I have seen ads on YouTube (e.g., watching on my Roku while on the treadmill) I’m left wondering what kind of demographic do they think are watching because it’s rare that I’m in the target group for those ads, at least not in the sense that it would appeal to me. (Ads that target people like me? Oh yeah, they those those aplenty.)
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uBlock Origin rules. if YouTube wants me to stop using their platform, disabling video playback for having an ad blocker installed in an excellent way to do it. I hope content creators start pulling their videos and going somewhere else.
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If you have a google account you can tell youtube to no longer recco certain users’ vids. I’ll actually search for a thing which is not pertinent to my interests so I can block a buncha users who post that thing, like American football. It felt good to block the nfl’s official youtube channel.
The ads that play after vids do not generate any $$$ for youtube’s content creators, only youtube.
I also wish there were a youtube adblocker for roku. Shit drives me spare sometimes.
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Speaking of which, this apparently circumvents the Youtube block:
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Figured something like this would happen. If you don’t do it 100% on the server, they’re getting blocked, it’s a cat and mouse game.
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