• YouTube is testing server-side ad injection to counter ad blockers, integrating ads directly into videos to make them indistinguishable from the main content.
  • This new method complicates ad blocking, including tools like SponsorBlock, which now face challenges in accurately identifying and skipping sponsored segments.
  • The feature is currently in testing and not widely rolled out, with YouTube encouraging users to subscribe to YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience.
  • shortwavesurfer@monero.town
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    6 months ago

    Go right ahead. If they actually manage to do it, that will be the end of my YouTube watching. Except on extremely rare occasions. I don’t need it badly enough to deal with that.

    • wagoner@infosec.pub
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      6 months ago

      As we learned from the reddit app changes, the ending of Netflix account sharing, etc etc the people who will take this action are few enough not to matter. Regretfully.

        • skulblaka@startrek.website
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          6 months ago

          We’re about to have a great big shattering of the internet and I’m all for it. Collating the pieces will be a pain in the ass for a couple years but some handful of nerds out there blessed by the spirit of Ritchie will create a tool for it, and what’s left of our world will be a better place for it.

            • Ænima@lemm.ee
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              6 months ago

              Question, if a square on your bingo card is titled, “collapse of society,” can I still use it for this?

          • Moorshou@lemmy.zip
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            6 months ago

            I’ve been just recommending Lemmy out there as the new internet, which us what this feels like to me, IS like the old internet again!

      • 9point6@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Well I don’t know about the Reddit stuff not mattering—I occasionally still check on it for a couple of niche communities and the Reddit I used to enjoy has basically died, it’s like the place is filled with angry idiots now. Those people were always there before but usually buried under a load of downvotes where you could mostly ignore them; they now seem to be a majority of those left contributing over there.

        They killed the golden goose in scaring off enough of the people contributing most interesting posts and comments (who were doing it entirely for free!) that the lunatics have taken over and shat on everything

        • Pips@lemmy.sdf.org
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          6 months ago

          Everyone I’ve spoken to about it has noted that it’s become a very different place. I’ll still use it for reviews and getting tips for serious things like privacy and some basic DIY. But a lot of that advice will be obsolete in a couple years and very few people are replenishing it. Who’s going to give a shit about the best home theater setups of 2023 in two years?

      • Ookami38@sh.itjust.works
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        6 months ago

        Each of these exoduses moves the bar a little bit. We only lose if we give up. Eventually the bad decisions will catch up to them, as long as we keep pushing.

      • Lev_Astov@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I don’t know about you, but what I learned is we’ll build our own Youtube with blackjack and hookers.

    • kakes@sh.itjust.works
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      6 months ago

      Ngl, I’m torn on this because I’m honestly not sure I could stop using YouTube.

      I hate ads with a burning passion, though, so we’ll see which wolf wins out there.

      If i can’t get around this using something like SponsorBlock, I feel like I’ll probably just set up some kind of pipeline to download videos and remove the ads myself (maybe using AI if it’s that bad) and just serve them over Jellyfin or something. Gonna be a pain, though.

      • shortwavesurfer@monero.town
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        6 months ago

        I wouldn’t particularly like it, that’s for sure. But I would ultimately just bite the bullet and do it. At some point, you’re just pushed too far and it’s just not worth dealing with.

    • Goronmon@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Go right ahead. If they actually manage to do it, that will be the end of my YouTube watching.

      Except on extremely rare occasions.

      I’m sorry, I just find it funny that you walked back the “I’m done with Youtube” claim in the very next sentence.

      • shortwavesurfer@monero.town
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        6 months ago

        I don’t think it can be completely avoided, but it can definitely be trimmed down a hell of a lot. As an example, if you watch YouTube for an hour a day and they make a change like this and you start watching it for 10 minutes a week, that’s a serious reduction.

      • skulblaka@startrek.website
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        6 months ago

        Unfortunately it is such a repository of information that it’s nearly unavoidable anymore. It’s a reference tool. Need to fix your car? YouTube knows how. Need to write a piece of code with a tool you’re unfamiliar with? A random Indian man has posted a YouTube video explaining how. Need to find a hidden item in a video game? YouTube. There are many and varied reasons I’d pull up a YouTube video outside of the intended purpose of “watching YouTube” for entertainment. Many of these things can, technically, be conveyed through different media but often poorly and with a much lower rate of understanding. The sheer volume of knowledge and culture lost if Google ever takes down YouTube’s servers will be akin to the burning of the Library of Alexandria and that is not a joke. I don’t want to “watch YouTube” anymore for the most part but it is inescapable to me for several purposes as a reference material.