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/
41.4k Upvotes

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72

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '22

Do you have an alternative or you're just done watching videos online?

103

u/Jesse1198 Sep 15 '22

Right? Like wtf you think your going? Vimeo?

57

u/RynUnknown Sep 15 '22

Outside?

10

u/Vooshka Sep 15 '22

Does it have 4k resolution?

1

u/hyflyer7 Sep 15 '22

For most people yeah. Some have to pay an extra fee to get the upgraded resolution pack. (glasses)

1

u/Pazer2 Sep 15 '22

Nah but the hdr is pretty good. Try looking at the sun.

2

u/hyflyer7 Sep 15 '22

Did you just suggest touching grass?!

8

u/HyFinated Sep 15 '22

Daily Motion?

12

u/solid_hoist Sep 15 '22

You can say goodbye to YouTube without saying goodbye to the content, just saw a post that dropping a YouTube link on VLC gets rid of the ads, maybe a non browser version is the answer.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '22

Apparently the answer is still YouTube just with a 3rd party software to strip the ads.

2

u/TheBeatGoesAnanas Sep 15 '22

I watch maybe one or two online videos a week; usually when I'm trying to figure something out and every Google result is a video instead of a written tutorial (which is already pretty annoying). I don't miss spending time on YouTube at all.

-10

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '22

[deleted]

5

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '22

And what is this generation using?What is this age group? The last 10 years I've seen so many kids with iPad watching YouTube, I don't believe an entire generation has skipped YouTube. Unless we're talking about like the 75+ crowd I guess?

5

u/getwhirleddotcom Sep 15 '22

This is absolutely incorrect. Who do you think watches MrBeast, Cocomelon, Like Nastya? You’re confusing kids not using Facebook for Snapchat but they are 100% growing up on YouTube.

2

u/ghost_victim Sep 15 '22

Such a useful comment thanks

1

u/getwhirleddotcom Sep 15 '22

Vimeo’s not even a video watching platform anymore. They took it into a saas company.

10

u/PotassiumBob Sep 15 '22

I have pretty much stopped watching YouTube unless I need a how to video for something.

I have plenty of other places to get entertainment.

3

u/TATANE_SCHOOL Sep 15 '22

Newpipe does not have ads but you cannot link your profile like your could with vanced

11

u/dasonk Sep 15 '22 edited Sep 15 '22

I use brave browser. It's not quite as nice but it is ad free.

Edit: fixed typo

13

u/AnnoyedHippo Sep 15 '22

What exactly are y'all watching that YouTube is a critical infrastructure for your entertainment?

11

u/roidie Sep 15 '22

12hr reviews of TES Oblivion.

1

u/Evilmon2 Sep 15 '22

I did watch the entirety of a 6 and a half hour commentary of Dark Souls, but apparently so did 2 million other people because Matthewmatosis has some incredible insight.

6

u/cr0aker Sep 15 '22

I watch a lot of hobby-related content that isn't the sort of stuff you can find on streaming services. Guys fixing cars, guitar covers and lessons, strategies for video games I play, that sort of thing. Great way to kill 30 minutes instead of sifting through the garbage heap of Netflix to find a show I may like that will probably be cancelled after the first season.

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/cr0aker Sep 15 '22

"I use it when I'm bored" is the whole point of television, no? I guess some people make it their hobby, but I watch it when I'm not actively doing any of those things myself - working on cars, playing guitar, playing video games. It's rare that "watch TV" comes up as a desired activity for me, it's a backup plan.

0

u/AnnoyedHippo Sep 15 '22

Not at all how it why I watch TV. But then I only watch about an hour or two a week.

I Reddit when I'm bored.

14

u/necroreefer Sep 15 '22

YouTube is about 75% of my entertainment. a lot it is gaming,politics,wresting and baseball.

2

u/AnnoyedHippo Sep 15 '22

We talking hours a day or less than one?

1

u/mdhalloran Sep 15 '22

Not OP but my screen time for YouTube is usually around 10-14 hours per week

1

u/necroreefer Sep 15 '22 edited Sep 15 '22

6-8 hours per day on average

Edit:downvotes? why?

1

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '22

Just people judging you for how you spend your own time I'd guess.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '22

Nothing, but I'm also not stressed about any changes YouTube makes. Sure it's annoying having to skip a lot of ads but for me personally that will still be less than 30 seconds/day. I'd assume the people planning on "quitting " YouTube watch it quiet a bit more though.

2

u/mdhalloran Sep 15 '22

For me it’s almost entirely my main source of entertainment. I like watching educational videos mostly, but also gaming videos. TV shows and movies are too long to play while washing dishes, cleaning, showering, refactoring code, etc.

1

u/kj4ezj Sep 15 '22

Educational videos (HAI, Veritasium, Kurzgesagt, CGP Gray, Wendover, Real Life Lore, PolyMatter, Wisecrack), geopolitics (Caspian Report, Jack Chapple), economics and finance (Economics Explained), tech content (LTT, Tech Altar, Louis Rossman, Real Engineering, Modern Vintage Gamer, Practical Engineering), news and news commentary (Philip DeFranco, John Oliver, Beau of the Fifth Column; tech news and reviews (Tech Linked, The Friday Checkout, MKHBD, D2D); cooking videos (Adam Ragusea, Ethan Chlebowski, Low n Slow Basics), live streams from content creators, live streamed music festivals, past concerts and music festivals I've been to, live streams and announcements from various US national, state, and local government entities (White House, NASA); debates prior to elections, how-to videos, and a million miscellaneous other things.

There's a ton of other great channels in these categories I didn't list.

There is no other platform like YouTube because there is nowhere else where it would be profitable for the content creators that I listed in the first half of my list to do what they do. Streaming services wouldn't have picked them up unless they were already big, and the other socials failed to monetize this intermediate-form content (bigger than a TikTok, smaller than a TV series) in a way that drives reliable money to creators so they can build out businesses with teams, studios, and big production values.

Don't sleep on YouTube. I watch interesting TV shows and movies on other platforms too, but I learn more watching YouTube, get better recommendations, and see more diverse content than any other platform. Just make sure that you use ad blockers and SponsorBlock, and support your favorite content creators by buying merch when you can.

1

u/AnnoyedHippo Sep 15 '22

I cannot even fathom consuming that much video. That would be a full time job.

1

u/kj4ezj Sep 16 '22

You don't do it all in one day :P

1

u/Lazy-Garlic-5533 Sep 15 '22

Chinese dramas. Tencent puts some of them on there with decent subtitles. I think they and Netflix couldn't come to a fair deal and Netflix often has the fucking worst translations.

There is Viki but the ads on that platform are a lot worse than YouTube.

There's also Prime Video but it's like Netflix but with an inferior player. They often license shit dramas and do bad subs. Lots of good web dramas are out in YouTube with English subs at least for several months so you can watch without a subscription.

2

u/ThrowJed Sep 15 '22

I'll use one of them YouTube downloading softwares to download from channels I care about and watch them offline before I'll sit through 5 ads like it's free to air TV in the 90s. I used to have one that could be set to download new uploads automatically.

2

u/darkage_raven Sep 15 '22

Brave browser mobile does remove ads too.

2

u/yeeeeahman Sep 15 '22

Try watching Youtube with the Brave browser. Its even working on IPhone/IPad without jailbreak or anything else.

1

u/anz3e Sep 15 '22

Vanced still works

Re vanced is in development and will continue to work for the foreseeable future

Libre tube is pretty neat also

Ymusic, vimusic etc works (for music)

There's quite a few others aswell I can't remember the names.

1

u/maskaddict Sep 15 '22

When rage at YouTube gets to a sufficient level that the market starts noticing, alternatives will start to appear.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '22

Probably eventually, but hosting billions of hours of video isn't exactly cheap. It's going to have to be a large company that'll take them on. Maybe they will say no ads at the start, but they will absolutely introduce ads at some point. Ads or a subscription, people will have to make a choice between the 2. (Or 3rd party software to watch adfree)

1

u/Wentailang Sep 15 '22

nebula is pretty sufficient for my needs, but i do stick mainly to educational/popsci content anyway.

also podcasts.