YouTube is Bringing 30-Second Unskippable Ads To Its TV Apps (engadget.com) 164
An anonymous reader shares a report: If you watch YouTube videos primarily on your TV, you may soon come across 30-second ads you won't be able to skip, just like commercials on traditional TV channels. The video platform has announced during its Brandcast event for advertisers that it's bringing 30-second unskippable ads to connected TVs. It will make the option available through YouTube Select, which is a targeting option open to eligible clients who want to reach the audiences of the website's most popular channels. YouTube says 70 percent of Select impressions land on TVs, so the new format will give advertisers the chance to show more of their services or products in a way that allows "for richer storytelling." If you already regularly see two 15-second ads consecutively, then the new format wouldn't make that much of a difference for you -- unless they show up more frequently, of course. The format is now generally available in the US and Canada and will expand worldwide later this year.
OK It is Official (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:OK It is Official (Score:5, Insightful)
ok? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:ok? (Score:5, Informative)
Consider his stated usage - "how to do X" type stuff. He wanted to tie a knot, I was working on fixing carburetors(both my and dad's riding lawn mowers weren't working well).
That's what I've been hitting youtube the most for recently, and I'm a bit irked that youtube drowns out all non-youtube results. Because while I'm fine with the theoretical way carbs work, especially simple lawn mower ones, the specifics can still trip me up.
As such, we're unlikely to be watching any "channel" of such things.
And yes, I start and abandon a lot of videos. But consider the annoyance of starting a 3 to 12 minutes video, but before you can see whether it is any good, you have to sit through 30 seconds of ads. Only to discover in the next 10 seconds that it isn't a suitable video, so you find another one - and up comes another 30 seconds of ads.
Keep in mind that I might have a carb sitting my my desk in front of the computer screen waiting. I'm already generally skipping to halfway into a video to try to determine suitability in a lot of cases to simply skip the "like and subscribe" and in-video sponsor bits.
Re:ok? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:ok? (Score:5, Insightful)
If I had mod points, I'd give them to you. I'm a dev by trade and when I google for how a particularly obscure language point or command works, the first thing that comes up are f***ing YT videos. I want TEXT.
I don't want to waste 5 minutes looking at a dumb ass video that I'd have to keep rewinding to look at, when I can keep a page of text up and keep referring to it.
Re: ok? (Score:4, Insightful)
>I don't want to waste 5 minutes looking at a dumb ass video that I'd have to keep rewinding to look at, when I can keep a page of text up and keep referring to it.
It is bloody annoying. I exclude YouTube from results to avoid this. For example: -site:youtube.com polymorphism swift
I don't need some gurning twat rambling on for the algorithm before answering a simple question covered in 5% of the video.
I agree. (Score:2)
I prefer text(and pictures for some stuff) as well, but like I said, YT tends to drown those out.
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Just FYI, in case you haven't already run into it, Smarter Every Day does a whole episode or two on how carburetors work that might be educational for you. The presenter got really excited about them from a previous video on some related topic, and that's what happens.
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The problem here is that I already know how carburetors work - theoretically. Which is what Smarter Every Day gives.
What I needed are the specifics on how to tear down, clean, reassemble, and tune a carburetor for a Honda GCV190 engine. Or a Briggs&Straton 405777. Etc...
I remember that video - watched it once while doing other stuff. He straight up mentions that real carbs are more complicated than his example one(though it does work), and has a follow up video where he gets to tour an actual carbur
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There also used to be a downvote button but ... YouTube got woke and decided it might hurt people's feelings.
It was more that people started offering downvote services where 100,000 people in developing countries would go and dislike your rival's videos for you.
Re: OK It is Official (Score:3)
Try smart tube next. It has sponsorblock built in, which is pretty good about skipping all of that shit. And I do mean all of it.
Re: OK It is Official (Score:3)
https://invidious.io/ [invidious.io]
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"sponsorblock for youtube" chrome extension.
Skips straight to the substance of the video
You are welcome.
Re:OK It is Official (Score:5, Interesting)
>"sponsorblock for youtube" chrome extension.
You should be using Firefox:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-... [mozilla.org]
You are welcome back at ya! :)
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Use Your Browser (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Use Your Browser (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, that's the rub.
Sure, when I'm in the office, on work breaks or to do somethings....it's where I'll watch some YouTube and the experience with ad blocker, etc...is great.
Trouble is, I don't want to be parked in my office all night, I'd rather watch at night (or mornings when waking up at times) on my big screens. I didn't buy 65" OLED units to not use and watch on a 27" screen in the office?!?!
I like to watch YouTube a lot....often photography channels and now home brewing stuff.
The ads to date, DO piss me off...it was tolerable but of late really I get to a spot where I just quit and switch to Hulu or something.
But 30 second unskippable...?
That's the straw that breaks the camels back.
With the longer ones currently, I'll hit play..see a long 15 sec, I hit back and then play again...sometimes it takes a few times to get to a commercial I can skip in 5 seconds....but that usually works.
But 30 second ones....and at the rate they're increasing them, sorry...I'm done at that point.
I like my Apple TV and Fire TV cubes I have in the house on the various "real" TVs.....I bought them to watch in bed or living room, or kitchen, etc....and the ones in living room with good sound to go with it....
I don't want to spend my time watching on an inferior screen and sound system just to avoid commercials...so, I'll watch something else.
YouTube is shooting themselves in the foot somewhat over this.
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Solution, wireless keyboard with a touch pad built in, plug you laptop into the TV. If you are willing to layout cash for a 65" TV why not invest some more on a raspberry pi or something where you can install whatever you want including an ad blocker.
Re: Use Your Browser (Score:2)
Or just use smart tube next.
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Buy an Android TV box and install SmartTube. No ads, sponsor block, various other useful features.
The Xiaomi Mi Box range are decent and reasonably priced, or there is the Nvidia Shield that offers a bit more performance. Install Kodi for your media library too.
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If you hit back and play a 3rd or 4th time, the ads stop. Or this ist he behavior on my Roku branded smart TV.
I'm looking for a cheap pc to use as a media player for the TV so I can run firefox and and a real adblocker.
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The problem is your TV is too smart. Dumb it down, hook up a real computer to it, one that lets you install Firefox with Adblock or something.
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You know, I have no problem with relevant, well-made ads. I really don't. However, I don't remember the last time I saw an ad that actually interested me, except for some (rare) in-video ads that some YouTubers have.
My general experience with YouTube ads is: I want to watch a video about history, and there are a couple ads at the beginning which have absolutely nothing to do with the video. I just tried. Opened YouTube app on my mobile device, the ad at the beginning of a "40 weird moments caught on camera"
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In my country, it's drug ads, mostly. Nothing beats having lunch and watching diarrhea and vaginal dryness ads.
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$12 does remove all the ads, unless the content provider is putting in their own directly into the content. If you don't like that just watch different channels.
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So do adblockers. Plus I can run sponsorblockers because I already know how awesome the latest VPN providers and vegan ... whatever are.
Re: OK It is Official (Score:5, Insightful)
For me it has nothing to do with the cost, and everything to do with the fact that I really don't want to log into YouTube for a multitude of reasons, part of which is the stupid recommendation algorithm, which is unavoidable without logging out. And the problem with the stupid algorithm is if you watch just one video that you have only a passing or even momentary interest in, it just keeps feeding you more of that shit. And that's not even getting into the whole privacy issue.
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I never, ever check out an unfamiliar channel without testing it in private/incognito mode. I got sick of watching 3 seconds of clickbait, only to have YouTube shove everything from that channel in my face for the next 3 weeks.
I know it only works on desktop computers, but yeah, private mode really does work to stop my recommendations from getting screwed up.
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that's just encouraging more shitty behavior on the part of youtube.
>that's a very nice viewing experience you have there, it would be a shame if something were to happen to it
>However if you're smart and do the right thing, we can take care of that for you with a low monthly fee
Yeah no thanks, just say no to extortion.
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It's not extortion. It is necessary revenue to continue producing content. YouTube pays out about half of its revenue to content producers. Without them it isn't much of a platform at all.
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I don't go to YouTube because of what YouTube makes. A lot of what they make is garbage. I go because the videos are hosted there.
Maybe Google should go after the people uploading things. Make them pay for the things after they get a certain size or limit.
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What content? YouTube doesn't produce content. It is gloried video hosting service.
YouTube produces content on their platform by paying the people who create and host content on the platform. I'll admit I would have been more accurate by stating YouTube needs to ensure content is produced on their platform instead of saying YouTube is producing the content, but that doesn't change the meaning behind my post. YouTube still needs to generate revenue or else most content production on the platform would end.
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So it ends.
NEXT!
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Everything good will get ripped and someone else will experiment with hosting everyone’s videos for free and maybe peer- to-peer video services might have some chance of catching on.
I won’t cry the death of any major website that’s not paying me. They all sit in the way of a better open internet.
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it's giving them every incentive in the world to increase the ad load as way to cajole/prod/pester/annoy/irritate viewers into subscribing. But you already know this, I'm not sure why anyone would simp for google/YT, but alas here we are.
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> Without them it isn't much of a platform at all.
That’s fine there’ll always be someone stupid enough to pay for our video hosting.
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There were many millions of YouTube videos before they decided to put advertising on it.
In the beginning YouTube ran on VC funding from Sequoia Capital. Obviously they needed to monetize at some point. It was purchased by Google less than two years after it was launched and before they had made significant strides in monetization. Once again, any shortfall between the cost to run the platform and pay for content could be covered by Google in the short term, but not forever.
The videos that wouldn't exist without revenue are mostly ones you wouldn't want to watch anyway.
Most videos I watch on YouTube wouldn't exist on the platform without monetization. I watch content which is mostly a vide
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Agreed. I pay it too and gladly. I watch more on youtube then anything else.
As much as I hate paying for things, I don't see the problem here. I read people complain that there are no legit ways to skip ads so they will block all ads. Google offers a legit way to skip all ads (except for those the content producer manually inserts into their streams.)
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Google offers a legit way to skip all ads (except for those the content producer manually inserts into their streams.)
So does Google have a way to block all ads or not? I am not paying $12 a month, and I am especially not paying if all the ads aren't removed.
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Why do that when I can just use adblockers and invidious and not even see their sponsorships? All for free.
Full Circle (Score:5, Insightful)
Ah, I see we've come full circle now and Google...much like the greedy morons before them... figure they can do whatever they'd like and folks will just continue to use them because...reasons.
Yep, worked out well last time. The enshittification continues.
https://m.youtube.com@End of woes (Score:2)
Put that as a favourite of the built in browser of your TV. End of story
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youtube.com/?app=desktop works better
Sorry, you are right.
I forgot that not everyone is BW limited and has as strict data caps as I have in Venezuela
Might not hurt to buy a YouTube sub? (Score:4, Interesting)
Nothing wrong with blocking/skipping ads, but of all the streaming subscriptions, I've found YouTube the most useful. Might be worth paying the 10-11 bones for that, just as a way to support YouTube content providers.
Re:Might not hurt to buy a YouTube sub? (Score:4, Insightful)
All the content providers are on Patreon and/or other paid platforms since the Adpocalypse. Google continues to be their own worst enemy. The tighter they grip the more slip through their fingers.
I watch youtube the most. On a computer on a browser (FF) with the best ad blocking plug-in (ublock origin) on a network with multiple daily updated DNS black list feeds for trash. On a computer, I literally NEVER see an ad.
On the 4K FIrestick in my TV (no, I didn't buy a new one just because you refused to update a cert you greedy fucks, Samsung), some things are already nearly unwatchable from the amount and length of ads - mostly used as mealtime entertainment. We have other options.
Google does this at their own peril. Not everyone is conditioned to believe captive app portals are the only way - although many do.
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So do you subscribe to the Patreon of every every single creator you watch a video for? It's great to throw some money at your favorite creators but that doesn't help all the other people when you watch their video. It also doesn't help Youtube actually pay for the platform that you are watching the videos on. The idea that Youtube is somehow out of line for trying to make money for themselves and their creators is dumb. If you watch it, just pay the $10 a month for premium and then you get to support the p
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Nope. I thumbs up their videos. Depending on the topic I sometimes recommend them to other people too.
Some of these channels have no ads at all anyway because they didn't put any in (rare, but they exist, there are people making content trying to help others not trying to turn a profit - fucking shocking, I know).
If YouTube where in any way an independent company I would probably agree with you. But they're not. They're another head of the Privacy Rape Hydra who already makes billions on shit you never
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Might not hurt to buy a YouTube sub? Nothing wrong with blocking/skipping ads, but of all the streaming subscriptions, I've found YouTube the most useful. Might be worth paying the 10-11 bones for that, just as a way to support YouTube content providers.
Does it though? TFA says nothing about Prime subscribers not being subjected to these ads.
Re:Might not hurt to buy a YouTube sub? (Score:4, Informative)
uBlock Origin blocks all YouTube ads for me and I support several channels directly by giving to them via Patreon. I also give Slackware $1 each month because they're still alive and kicking and haven't done the same dumb shit as every other modern distro.
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This UBlock thing...does it only work on computers, or is there an app for it on Apple TV or Fire TVs units?
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On an Amazon Fire (Google TV) device you can use SmartTubeNext [github.com].
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It only works on Chrome and Firefox.
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You know...I pay for YouTube TV already, they should throw in regular YouTube with commercial free with that!!
Re:Might not hurt to buy a YouTube sub? (Score:5, Interesting)
new cable (Score:2)
YouTube is the new cable. They'll plod along for a while until everyone gets fed up again and starts cancelling. They'll have to come up with a new term, won't be cutting the cord anymore.
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YouTube is not even close to the new cable. A YT subscription is $11/mo for unlimited viewing and zero advertisements. The cheapest cable plan in my area when I canceled years ago was $65/mo and every program on every channel still had tons of ads. YT is a significantly better value than cable ever was.
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$73/month - https://tv.youtube.com/welcome... [youtube.com]
Price will go up every year, likely more than inflation.
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That's a different service then we're talking about.
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What makes you think the non-TV TV is any different?
Check the history of cable prices. YouTube's prices will do the same, whether for TV TV or non-TV TV - whatever the fuck you want to call it.
https://www.businessinsider.co... [businessinsider.com]
$11/month for no ads is crazy. I guess it won't be obvious for a couple of decades again.
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Extraction (Score:5, Interesting)
"I predict the new CEO of YouTube, Neil Mohan, will be seen as the guy that destroyed the creator economy that has built up this platform. His focus on trying to squeeze the most money out of Shorts at the expense of everything else will wind up making it almost impossible for anyone to make a living on YouTube - and the one real advantage they have as a platform in terms of their relationship with content creators - a reliable and predictable way to earn money from content - will disappear.
The effect of the shift is apparent in the shape of the traffic curves - what used to be spikes followed by a slow decline in attention are now just sharp up and down. The focus is just on what is new and as much as they pretend that Shorts (vert) and longer videos (horizontal) are separate somehow it is absurd to imagine that they aren't part of exactly the same zero sum attention economy.
YouTube long ago abandoned the idea of showing content to subscribers. Subscribers is a silly vanity number at this point with almost no correlation to who is shown what. This CEO will take the platform even further from a system where you can build up a relationship with an audience, learn from them and create culture.
I'll keep going on here as long as I can, but what has happened recently makes it feel like time is short for shows like mine on YouTube. Pun intended.
edit: in terms of what to do about it? I'm not sure. Form a union? Support efforts to break up Google's monopoly on advertising? What do you think?"
-Ze Frank
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I am not sure what you mean by that because the only discussion among viewers I ever see on youtube is all over on the day a new video is released, all the people who subscribe to that channel immediately appear and make their comments and from then on it's dead.
Re:Extraction (Score:4, Informative)
It means subscribing to a channel doesn't mean you will be recommended videos from that creator in the future. You might, maybe. Most videos now only get recommended for 24 hours before they are "removed from ram to make room for shorts". That's why the comments drop off suddenly. None of this is how the recommendation engine worked 1 year ago.
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I don't watch videos on CNN because every god damned one starts with a 30s commercial. Fuck them.
I'm not talking live stream, that's TV with normal commercials. I mean stuff like man bites dog, with a short video pushed, and click, it goes to that story page. Wait 5-10s while robots sell off the ad to whoever will pay the most based on my avatar's recorded interests, then 30s ad play countdown. Close box.
There's a couple problems with this (Score:2)
The goal of any modern start up isn't to compete, it's to get bought out and a fat pay day from the buyer. That was inevitable when we stopped enforcing anti-trust law, and it means
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I don't want TikTok....
"Freetard"? (Score:3)
The "audience" has grown so accustomed to getting something for "free" - even if they are paying with their data - it makes it very difficult to challenge the dominance of a platform like YouTube, especially when the company that now owns it has almost bottomless pockets.
If their wasn't this prevalence of "freetardism" , then surely more bespoke platforms could flourish.
They may not have as many numbers in terms of eyeballs, but if the quality is there and if there's an easy way to pay a subscription fee, t
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What would have been a solution, would have been microtransactions, but those have been so abused that it makes money for companies, and gives the artists and content producers next to nothing. If there were a way to get people to just pay 99 cents or so for a monthly fee, with no ad-supported tiers, this model would likely go a lot further than the conventional YouTube model. You can look at World of Warcraft, and other successful MMOs, and see that most of them are still going because people pay the sub
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It's less the free aspect as much as being antagonistic to the people who produce content. Some have broken down how much they make on millions of views and its pennies on the dollar. And that's with both ad and subscription dollars.
Add to that being antagonistic towards viewers with unskippable ads and the like and you have people with less reason to create content and people with less reason to watch, much less pay in either time (ads) or money (subscriptions).
Watch this space next year for total viewersh
They really go the distance... (Score:2)
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There is no money in piracy. That is the whole point. It is done out of the goodness of their hearts because reasons.
Solution: Stream from your desktop to your TV (Score:2)
We removed the YouTube app from Roku TV for precisely this reason. I do not get ads on the desktop version for the stuff I watch, so I can just connect to my Roku TV with my computer and stream right to the TV.
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I bought a Hisense Roku tv and connected it to the internet exactly once. It was really buggy out of the box and barely worked. I let it do an update and then it worked great. Never let it connect since. Everything plays through a browser window on my desktop or from a saved file. Built in apps are so shitty and clunky.
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That kind of defeats some of the nice stuff of a TV and Roku. I go upstairs and start streaming from the PC, then run downstairs to watch it, then run upstairs to pause it, then run downstairs... The reason I watch it on the TV is so that I can sit on the couch and use my remote control. Sure, I could get a mini form factor PC just for this purpose, but that's a lot of money and effort and time just to skip a few ads.
And I find other things sucking with Youtube. It cannot figure out what want to watch.
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How do you do this?
I don't have Roku...but I have Apple TV and Fire TV cube....wondering if it can be done with those?
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For me I go to desktop --> display settings --> connect to wireless display. Select the correct device. Your tv will prompt if you want to connect.
I did this last week to watch some playoff hockey from my couch rather than my computer chair. I wasn't sure if the sound wo
"YouTube is bringing 30-Second Unskippable Ads..." (Score:2)
Meanwhile, in my little corner of the Internet, I am bringing YouTube its very own line in my hosts file, opposite "127.0.0.1".
Maybe not unskippable, by definition, but certainly unviewable.
Lack of anti-trust lets them get away with this (Score:3)
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Pi hole (Score:2)
Re:Pi hole (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah. I have two Android TV devices and I'm kind of sick of the ads versus what my desktops with SponserBlock or similar extensions installed. I don't really watch a lot of youtube on my TV, but sometimes my animals are stressed out and I put on some bird or squirrel videos for them. And I really don't think it is appropriate to expose my impressionable pets to ads.
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Can any Pi hole users comment if this freezes up video streams when done behind the back of a TV app? Or does it work relatively seamlessly like Firefox + uBlock Origin? I'd like to set this up on the home network but its going to be a non-starter if the app hangs up on my family where it is expecting to inject an ad.
Meh (Score:5, Interesting)
As long as Youtube Premium keeps them off my screen I'm happy to keep paying that.
I generally just won't watch stuff with ads anymore. If there's a reasonably price option to avoid them I'll pay it. If its not available or the option is too expensive I just won't watch.
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I kinda like seeing some ads (Score:2)
30 seconds unskippable might be a bit much though. It's been ages since I've sat down and watch regular TV.
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Paying for YouTube premium doesn't make sense as it only addresses a tiny portion of the ads. It's bad enough that everyone has a 2-minute sponsor messages and full ad integration into the content, but now it's becoming conventional for channels to post tons of Shorts that are just clips of larger videos, and creators regularly pin their own comment to post yet more ads.
Over the last few years, I've just spent less time watching YouTube. There's just too much damn spam.
There is a reason traditional TV is dying (Score:3)
Unskippable? Ha! (Score:3)
Hello. DVR. (Score:2)
>"you may soon come across 30-second ads you won't be able to skip, just like commercials on traditional TV channels."
No, it is not like that at all. There is this thing called a DVR. I never watch ANY commercials on "traditional TV channels". Everything I watch from cable (would be same with OTA) is recorded by a TiVo and I skip or fast forward through ANYTHING I don't want to see. So please don't make the comparison of something unskippable on streaming to be "just like TV." The true evil potentia
Obviously (Score:2)
Unskippable ads are the reason I no longer watch TV.
No more Youtube for me then (Score:2)
Good Ad Skippers? Suggestions? (Score:2)
Since we're talking about this, I'm curious as to what plugins, browsers, software etc everyone is using?
I'll start.
I've been using a Safari plugin on my Mac's for a few years now called "Dynamo" [apple.com].
Seems to work by changing the video play speed to max which means the Ad finished more or less instantly.
Don't watch YouTube on anything else but my Macs.
So how will YouTube make the video unskipable?
I'm curious as to how they plan to fix the video play rate, assuming my guess is correct on how something like Dynam
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What is "screencast"?
Looking on Fire TV box and Apple TV...don't see that as an app?
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If they start forcing them, like by showing an ad then a pop quiz afterward to ensure the user saw and heard and understood the message, I suspect viewership will go over a goddamned fucking cliff. OR... people will get so mad that they'll make a point to note which advertisers' ads do this, then send nastygrams to those companies letting them know that their participation in this kind of business has cost them all future business from them and their families in perpetuity
I already keep a (mostly mental) list of products and services I won't have anything to do with, giving avoidance priority to the ones that show "video will play after ad" over the five-second "skip ad", although I have yet to encounter a YouTube ad that was for anything I was interested in. If they've got an algorithm to tailor ads based on my viewing history, it's crap. But if I have to extend my advertiser-deprecation to emailing declarations that their companies' unskippable ads has cost them my busines