Youtube has become almost unwatchable with too many advertisements interupting content

[Emperoff]

Three pages in, and nobody's jumped on this one. I was under the impression that the model didn't work very well. There are a lot of actors in play with values that are at odds. Obviously everyone wants to make money, and that has to come from somewhere. I find ads as annoying as the next person, but at the same time, that's how everyone is paying the bills. That's the cost of "free" content. I'd be all for the idea that content creators could opt out of ads, or at least the more aggressive placement of ads, assuming they can support themselves with sponsorships or their own shops or whatever - but then Google has no incentive to provide them a platform.

It is not the what, but the how.

Having to watch two unskippable 20 second ads to listen to a 3min song busts my balls. That's almost 1/3rd of the song already. Having to watch another 20sec unskippable ad after every song of an album is just infuriating as an user experience. Spotify also has ads, but you do not see that much complaining and there's plenty of people paying for it, unlike Youtube.

Google's strategy is to wreck your nerves until you give up and get the subscription, which in my case it won't fucking happen. Same deal with the "Google Home" piece of shit they sell. "Hey Google! Play some Metallica" -You need a Youtube Music subscription to play music, but here's some music you might enjoy (plays Nirvana). Fuck that. OTOH Amazon Music/Echo at least plays the music from the artist you ask (from a limited selection of music), with NO ADS. And that great free service actually made me purchase a subscription!

 

[TedEH]

Having to watch two unskippable 20 second ads to listen to a 3min song busts my balls.

In some fairness, youtube was never meant to be a music platform. People use it that way because of the general population's aversion to paying for things. Once again, free content has a cost.

Spotify also has ads, but you do not see that much complaining

I think this is because Spotify is both a bespoke music platform, so their ad implementation will vary - but also because they have a higher ratio of paid-to-free users. I assume. I've got nothing to back that up.

 

[Drew]

I had a 6 month trial for YouTube premium that I'm juuuuust about done with and now I don't know if I can live without it...

I've been a subscriber since that's what you had to do to watch Cobra Kai, and honestly, I probably get enough use out of it that I don't feel badly about paying for it. I spend a ton of time jamming along to backing tracks, and any home improvement project I do starts with YouTube. I think I've watched some pro sport events that way too, but honestly I don't really watch much aside from the occasional world tour cycling race, which they generally don't carry.

 

[CTID]

i just pay for a youtube premium family plan and have my wife and some friends who kick a few bucks over to me for their accounts tied to it.

creators get paid better for premium subs so it's my way of supporting creators i like, especially since i watch far more youtube than other content sites

... yes, but to be fair, youtube is made of "air" and guitars aren't...

kind of disingenuous argument, servers have a cost and i can't think of any other site that has the same deal as YT where you're allowed to upload as much of your own content as you want, even if you want to keep it completely unwatchable by anyone else.



conversely, soundcloud makes you pay a subscription to add more than 3 hours of audio where i could upload an 8 hour video up to YT for free every day if i wanted to

 

[Drew]

i just pay for a youtube premium family plan and have my wife and some friends who kick a few bucks over to me for their accounts tied to it.

creators get paid better for premium subs so it's my way of supporting creators i like, especially since i watch far more youtube than other content sites

kind of disingenuous argument, servers have a cost and i can't think of any other site that has the same deal as YT where you're allowed to upload as much of your own content as you want, even if you want to keep it completely unwatchable by anyone else.

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conversely, soundcloud makes you pay a subscription to add more than 3 hours of audio where i could upload an 8 hour video up to YT for free every day if i wanted to

Yeah, hosting and bandwidth aren't exactly costless - it would probably cost me more to host my own channel than I pay for a YouTube subscription, and I wouldn't benefit from all the network effects of being on YouTube and having a thousand or so subscribers.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Three pages in, and nobody's jumped on this one. I was under the impression that the model didn't work very well. There are a lot of actors in play with values that are at odds. Obviously everyone wants to make money, and that has to come from somewhere. I find ads as annoying as the next person, but at the same time, that's how everyone is paying the bills. That's the cost of "free" content. I'd be all for the idea that content creators could opt out of ads, or at least the more aggressive placement of ads, assuming they can support themselves with sponsorships or their own shops or whatever - but then Google has no incentive to provide them a platform.

And sure, you can use ad-blockers or whatever else, all the power to you - but I wouldn't be shocked to find out that for every step users take in pushing back against ads, the ad implementation has to get that much more aggressive to compensate.

Sucks for those who don't use ad-blockers then

 

[Neon_Knight_]

i just pay for a youtube premium family plan and have my wife and some friends who kick a few bucks over to me for their accounts tied to it.

creators get paid better for premium subs so it's my way of supporting creators i like, especially since i watch far more youtube than other content sites

kind of disingenuous argument, servers have a cost and i can't think of any other site that has the same deal as YT where you're allowed to upload as much of your own content as you want, even if you want to keep it completely unwatchable by anyone else.

View attachment 124822

conversely, soundcloud makes you pay a subscription to add more than 3 hours of audio where i could upload an 8 hour video up to YT for free every day if i wanted to

The platform that delivers the product isn't "air" but the product you subscribe to is. The same could be said of public transport compared to investing the same money into buying a car (buses and trains aren't air, but buying a ticket to ride on one doesn't mean you buying a bus/train).

 

[TedEH]

Sucks for those who don't use ad-blockers then

Yup, that it does.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I've been a subscriber since that's what you had to do to watch Cobra Kai, and honestly, I probably get enough use out of it that I don't feel badly about paying for it. I spend a ton of time jamming along to backing tracks, and any home improvement project I do starts with YouTube. I think I've watched some pro sport events that way too, but honestly I don't really watch much aside from the occasional world tour cycling race, which they generally don't carry.

Cobra Kai is on Netflix, which is half the price of YouTube Premium.

YouTube Premium isn't great value for money compared to other subscriptions for online content. Netflix + Spotify combined would only cost $1 per month more than YouTube Premium.

 

[Drew]

Cobra Kai is on Netflix, which is half the price of YouTube Premium.

It wasn't for the first year or two - I forget how far back this was, but Cobra Kai was originally a Youtube streaming series, back in their foray into professional content generation. I'd have to go back and check, but maybe 2016 or 2017?

I'm not saying I subscribe today to watch Cobra Kai, just that I first started years ago for that reason.

 

[ShredmasterD]

Three pages in, and nobody's jumped on this one. I was under the impression that the model didn't work very well. There are a lot of actors in play with values that are at odds. Obviously everyone wants to make money, and that has to come from somewhere. I find ads as annoying as the next person, but at the same time, that's how everyone is paying the bills. That's the cost of "free" content. I'd be all for the idea that content creators could opt out of ads, or at least the more aggressive placement of ads, assuming they can support themselves with sponsorships or their own shops or whatever - but then Google has no incentive to provide them a platform.

And sure, you can use ad-blockers or whatever else, all the power to you - but I wouldn't be shocked to find out that for every step users take in pushing back against ads, the ad implementation has to get that much more aggressive to compensate.

as i said, some ads are expecetd as that is how revenue is genrated. nobody expects everything to be just out there for free without incentive for the provider or creator, but a minute of advertising every miniute of content is rediculous. I have exeperienced exactly that at times. how far is too far? I would say 50% surely is. As to what is reasonable is debateable but this onslought of advertising is recent. In the near past it was nowhere near as much . When is say near past, i mean just a few months ago. That is what I refer to as 'the old model worked fine'. A few minutes of conent and a quick commercial and back to content. Now some commercials are not skipable and some are quite long. Of course some ads to support creators and google/YouTube is fine but commercials every minute or so is not. At least for me its not.

 

[aesthyrian]

Heh this place sometimes.

Multi-thousand tube amps and guitars for bedroom players = solid value love it

$15 per month for near limitless ad free education and entertainment = wtf I'm not made of money

My "youngest" guitar is from 1999. I still own and play through the first head I ever bought(5150) but mostly it's free sims these days. I drive a 2005 SUV. I love all of it.

Just let me be poor dammit

 

[crushingpetal]

Heh this place sometimes.

Multi-thousand tube amps and guitars for bedroom players = solid value love it

$15 per month for near limitless ad free education and entertainment = wtf I'm not made of money

Look up the value of Google. $1300 billion. That "value" comes from the personal information of its users.

They don't need $15 per month.

 

[CTID]

YouTube Premium isn't great value for money compared to other subscriptions for online content. Netflix + Spotify combined would only cost $1 per month more than YouTube Premium.

curious where your figures for this are. if you're using the cheapest plan of netflix as an example ($6.99 a month) then sure, but that still has ads. $9.99 nets you 720p streaming on 1 screen, with $15.49 getting you 1080p on 2 screens and $19.99 getting you 4k on 6. Netflix is expensive as shit imo, especially since their original content is extremely hit or miss, and a lot of the shows/movies i used to watch on it have moved to other platforms.

meanwhile YT Premium is $12 a month or $22 for 5 accounts on it. i've heard talk that 4K youtube is going to be something you have to have Premium for as well, but there's always the chance someone will figure out a way around it.

all that said, I see you're from England so i'm curious if maybe pricing is just drastically different there?


edit: the comment after me also reminded me that yeah, the difference is even greater since you also get Youtube music with it, though i've never used it personally so i'm not sure if it's actually any good lol

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

Cobra Kai is on Netflix, which is half the price of YouTube Premium.

YouTube Premium isn't great value for money compared to other subscriptions for online content. Netflix + Spotify combined would only cost $1 per month more than YouTube Premium.

I watch a lot more YouTube than Netflix these days and YouTube takes the place of Spotify too, so that's a fair trade for me.

Though I'm still salty that they killed Google play music for the inferior YouTube music.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I watch a lot more YouTube than Netflix these days and YouTube takes the place of Spotify too, so that's a fair trade for me.

Though I'm still salty that they killed Google play music for the inferior YouTube music.

I don't use Spotify or YouTube for music (apart from occasionally using free YouTube to quickly check out unfamiliar bands before setting off to a festival), but at least Spotify has the option of 320kbps. Anything less (which includes YouTube's highest quality audio) isn't viable as my primary music platform, even if it's free.

 

[ThePhilosopher]

... yes, but to be fair, youtube is made of "air" and guitars aren't...

... and many if not most get their gear USED...

... and many if not most do consider the added value Youtube brings against their available time to spend with it.

The thing is, youtube is getting payed either way, either you get things for free and eat the adds, or you get adds free subscrition without adds (but since you don't control the algorithm, until when are you getting adds free?).

Brave club here.

I'm surprised that they haven't introduced some sort of algorithm to UA check for Brave and force an ad anyway.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

curious where your figures for this are. if you're using the cheapest plan of netflix as an example ($6.99 a month) then sure, but that still has ads. $9.99 nets you 720p streaming on 1 screen, with $15.49 getting you 1080p on 2 screens and $19.99 getting you 4k on 6. Netflix is expensive as shit imo, especially since their original content is extremely hit or miss, and a lot of the shows/movies i used to watch on it have moved to other platforms.

meanwhile YT Premium is $12 a month or $22 for 5 accounts on it. i've heard talk that 4K youtube is going to be something you have to have Premium for as well, but there's always the chance someone will figure out a way around it.

all that said, I see you're from England so i'm curious if maybe pricing is just drastically different there?


edit: the comment after me also reminded me that yeah, the difference is even greater since you also get Youtube music with it, though i've never used it personally so i'm not sure if it's actually any good lol

Yes, it seems I'm slightly off with my pricing.
For Netflix and Spotify, I was going from memory of prices that apparently have now increased.
I didn't realise the cheapest Netflix deal includes adverts, as that wasn't an option last time I had Netflix...when did that happen? (proportionately, these adverts will be far less invasive than the adverts for short YouTube videos though).
For YouTube, I used the "$15" that people in this thread have repeatedly stated. It costs £11.99 here, which is just over $15, so I had no reason to question that.

FYI:
In England YouTube and Spotify are both the same price in £ as they are $ in the US (i.e. we pay more), but we don't get such a rough deal from Netflix.
£4.99 - 1080p with adverts - 2 devices
£6.99 - 720p for 1 device
£10.99 - 1080p for 2 devices
£15.99 - 4k for 4 devices

 

[CTID]

Yes, it seems I'm slightly off with my pricing.
For Netflix and Spotify, I was going from memory of prices that apparently have now increased.
I didn't realise the cheapest Netflix deal includes adverts, as that wasn't an option last time I had Netflix...when did that happen? (proportionately, these adverts will be far less invasive than the adverts for short YouTube videos though).
For YouTube, I used the "$15" that people in this thread have repeatedly stated. It costs £11.99 here, which is just over $15, so I had no reason to question that.

FYI:
In England YouTube and Spotify are both the same price in £ as they are $ in the US (i.e. we pay more), but we don't get such a rough deal from Netflix.
£4.99 - 1080p with adverts - 2 devices
£6.99 - 720p for 1 device
£10.99 - 1080p for 2 devices
£15.99 - 4k for 4 devices

no worries, i ended up looking into all of that pricing and typing that out before realizing you're in a different country so not only is pricing probably (verified now) different - but the content on there is also different. my understanding is that since Hulu isn't a thing outside the US that a lot of shows/movies on there in the US are still on netflix in other countries. imo netflix is doing everything they can to ruin their own platform, constantly raising prices, doing everything they can to police how people use/share their accounts etc. at this point we're paying like $240 a year on netflix (want to actually take advantage of the 4k TV) and barely watch anything on it.

also yeah, i think that $6.99 with ads tier is new, i'm not sure how bad the ads are on it, but i do everything i can to avoid dealing with them so i may never know

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

I don't use Spotify or YouTube for music (apart from occasionally using free YouTube to quickly check out unfamiliar bands before setting off to a festival), but at least Spotify has the option of 320kbps. Anything less (which includes YouTube's highest quality audio) isn't viable as my primary music platform, even if it's free.

Eh if I'm really in the mood to care about audio quality I'll buy the cd. If I'm just going for a run or sitting at my desk I don't much care.