YouTube is running an experiment asking some users to disable their ad blockers or pay for a premium subscription, or they will not be allowed to watch videos.
  • dan@lemm.eeEnglish
    27·
    2 years ago

    Then I’m going to begin not fucking watching YouTube.

      • vividspecter@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        2 years ago

        Also youtube-dl/yt-dlp (or mpv directly) if you just want to play and/or download videos and don’t care about the UI or subscription stuff.

        • pvqEnglish
          1·
          2 years ago

          That’s not bulletproof either. I remember I used to watch Twitch using mpv, but I stopped around the time Twitch started experimenting with injecting ads in the stream directly… So I would get them even in mpv. They probably stopped experimenting with that, but it’s technically possible for them to do.

      • RudeeEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        Isn’t that something they can also target and shut down? Either through legal action or blocking calls from unverified sources?

    • kadu@lemmy.worldEnglish
      16·
      2 years ago

      There is a federated version of YouTube…

      But storing video is a massive challenge, way harder than dealing with a Lemmy or Mastodon instance.

      • dan@lemm.eeEnglish
        181·
        2 years ago

        My rational mind realises it’s such an expensive system to run that it’s reasonable for them to charge or show ads. The problem is they’ve been extremely aggressive with ads and pushing subscriptions, to the point where I’m pretty resentful of the idea. Plus they’ve neglected so many things (like allowing aggressive copyright predators and refusing to implement sensible human-based appeals processes) that they really should have dealt with and instead embraced an algorithm that I’m pretty sure is at least partially responsible for the radicalisation of large groups of people.

        I… don’t mind paying for shit. I just don’t want to give them money.

        Also: wow there’s federated video sharing? Bet that’s not cheap to run.

        • NatureLover@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          2 years ago

          I’ve been paying for YouTube since it was YouTube Red. Then they increased the price of the family plan by 50% and I quit paying. Adblocking has been working well. This news about YT blocking adblocking came out a few weeks ago and since then I have been watching and listening via YT non-stop.

        • CoffeeBot@lemmy.caEnglish
          1·
          2 years ago

          I think the other issue is that giving them money doesn’t stop some of the ads iirc

      • Banzai51@midwest.socialEnglish
        2·
        2 years ago

        The federated version also breaks one of YouTube’s bigger strengths: Just browsing for something interesting.

      • JoYo 🇺🇸English
        11·
        2 years ago

        even google is having difficulty storing video.