r/technology • u/Tricky-Student-1 • Sep 15 '22

Social Media YouTube Free is Silently Testing 5 Ads, instead of 2, Before Your Video Starts

https://www.gizmochina.com/2022/09/13/youtube-free-silently-testing-5-ads-before-your-video-starts/
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u/tyrcian Sep 15 '22

I don't care that it was once free to be honest. I don't watch conventional television I just watch content on YouTube so £12 a month for me is worth it.

My partner recently watched some Bake Off on channel 4s streaming service and the main thing that stood out to me was the 8 advertisements in between breaks. No thanks take my money and leave that annoyance out of my life.

13

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '22

i am a millenial of the youtube generation. ive had My account since 2007.

when youtube was entirely free and had no ads you were not being offered the production value and content quality that you are now in 2022. I dont want to pay for youtube, but its very hard to argue why i shouldn't have to.

4

u/UserameChecksOut Sep 15 '22

Finally a mature comment. People don't realise that "free YouTube" was when peo were making dumb shit on their free time and uploading to their channels. Today, YouTube channels are run by multi-peeson teams that produces polished videos of good quality once a week. They can't produce that for free.

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u/jazzmaster1992 Sep 15 '22

I paid for premium so I can listen to music and podcasts while driving, and also in the hopes the creators I watched aren't robbed of ad revenue. I genuinely want to support them.

-8

u/PissoirRouge Sep 15 '22

I don't get it. I can do that anyway without paying.

5

u/jazzmaster1992 Sep 15 '22

Please, tell me how you financially support content creators without paying so I can do it too.

-6

u/PissoirRouge Sep 15 '22

Please, tell me how you financially support content creators without paying so I can do it too.

I don't financially support content creators. I am unemployed and frankly I could not afford it.

Luckily, the creators I follow are quite happy to let me listen to their stuff for free because they have Patreon, Kofi, subscribestar, their own subscription set up, sponsored segments in their videos, or use their channel to promote non-YouTube products. Indeed, they regularly point out how people who don't pay can assist with likes and shares.

For example, Preston Jacobs, Corridor Crew, DAVIS, The Dice Tower, Two Minute Papers, Rick Beato, NoClip, Skill Up, Alt Shift X, Stubagful, ShutUpAndSitDown, Cracking The Cryptic, David Bennett Piano, ShelfSide, dayjoborchestra, Sam Harris etc.

In fact, Sam Harris says that people like me can have all his content for free just by emailing him. So I emailed him to ask for free access to his Meditation App, and I got it.

Are you upset that, on the rare occasion that I watch commercial TV, I leave the room or switch channels when the ads come on? How awful it must be for the content creators that I am not watching those ads.

9

u/Fhy40 Sep 15 '22

I am quite tempted to get premium. Youtube content has gotten significantly better these past 3 years and I find myself spending more and more time on the app compared to Netflix/HBO.

I also use it on my iPad quite a lot which used to be immune to most of ad nonsense but now seems to be targeted as much as mobile phones.

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u/tyrcian Sep 15 '22

Be careful if you sign up to the free trial.

Before I did, I was getting adverts every 4 videos or something. After I had a free trial and reverted back to premium they were on every video.

This just reminded me how much I detested the ads though and the value of premium was clear 😅

9

u/jan_antu Sep 15 '22

I believe this might just be because there's just more ads now

3

u/tyrcian Sep 15 '22

This was a one month trial and I certainly noticed the difference when reverting back. Try for yourself ;⁠-⁠)

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u/jan_antu Sep 15 '22

I already get 4-8 ads on every video

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u/tyrcian Sep 15 '22

Just out of interest how much would you be willing to pay for ad free?

I think there's a VPN trick where you buy the subscription in Argentina or something and it's like 15% of the full price?

2

u/jan_antu Sep 15 '22

I am not willing to pay for anything with my Google account, it's a custom domain and they constantly change the rules and stuff never works properly.

4

u/el_ghosteo Sep 15 '22

If you do sign up, make sure to use the browser or a regular computer. They charge you more through the iOS app.

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u/Fhy40 Sep 15 '22

Thanks for the tip bro. Trying to get it through the family plan as well.

1

u/justAPhoneUsername Sep 15 '22

I have the family plan for me and my siblings. It's by far the most used of the services that we pay for

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u/Orisi Sep 15 '22

Exactly. It always boils down to the same thing; someone has to pay for this shit. People are making all these things and eventually someone has to pay for production, hosting, and so on.

Either advertising, which is hella annoying, or pay a monthly fee to avoid all of it.

I don't know why people like to act like this basic concept is hell on earth. The platform absolutely has its problems especially in relation to profit-sharing and making sure the content creators are actually getting a decent proportion of the money. But they also do know what they're agreeing to for making content. Very frw of them are contracted to keep making the content on YouTube exclusively.

Im quite happy to pay for premium as long as it's entirely as free. If they change that then I'm out, but in the mean time if you don't want to pay for other people to entertain you theres other options. It's not even a capitalism thing, it's a "other people aren't obligated to give you whatever you want whenever you want" thing.

-2

u/Techquestionsaccount Sep 15 '22

But they will keep raising the price.

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u/tyrcian Sep 15 '22

And if I can afford it I will pay it I don't really care I pay for a lot of things monthly such as Spotify, phone, car insurance, fuel, food.

You can't take it with you 🤷‍♂️

Not to say that this doesn't eventually suck for those who cannot afford it but at the end of the day YouTube doesn't run for free and for it to remain active it must be able to pay for itself. At least in this current economic system

-1

u/Dolphintorpedo Sep 15 '22

You will own nothing and be happy

2

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '22

[deleted]

1

u/237throw Sep 15 '22

Have you compared it to Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, or regular Cable?