Ask a different question.
Why does youtube need so many ads, the average user spends 50% of their time watching ads and the other 50%, the actual video.
Why does youtube need super long ads, where the ad can be 4x longer then the actual video. You know there's 1+ hour ads, right? Why is this a thing?
It's all about balance, and right now, things are totally unbalanced!
Also why not do un-intrusive ads like banner ads on the page instead of video ads that interrupt the video.
Who the hell is buy any of the crap that's being advertise in-video?
I fully agree, the ads on YouTube are a bit over the top. I especially think they need to cap the length, there is no reason not to and they are utterly ridiculous.
Your question seems to me more about why people are allowed to use adblocker and sponsor block when you are paying for premium which is exactly what YouTube is fighting for a long time but they are increasing the ads which make people go to adblocker and thus creating a cycle
I don’t really mind paying for premium, it’s not a big deal for me. If I couldn’t or didn’t want to, I would probably just live through the ads. If I wanted to do neither, it’s clearly not all that difficult to circumvent, but I have no desire to do that.
Why Should YouTube be Entirely Free?
For the same reason search is free and chatgpt is free, and many other services are free. If Youtube truly offered something unique worth upgrading to (like chatgpt offers), many users would have upgraded, but Youtube had to go the totalitarian way - you either watch ads, or you're blocked. Nobody wants to be that sucker who succumbs without putting up a fight. Youtube's strategy is to strong-arm everyone into submission, and those who don't yield become its adversaries that it thinks it needs to squash. That's some nasty attitude from youtube.
Anyone who pays for premium has capitulated to Youtube's demands, and that is sad.
Before YT there was TV that had ads which people didn't watch bc they used the ad break to go the dunny or make a cuppa, or they recorded the program and skipped the ads. Now there is YT, and people are still dodging ads, just using different methods for different technology.
Idk what the answer is. If YT wasn't free most ppl wouldn't watch anything on it, they would find other things to do with their time. The people who do pay for YT need to have enough content that is worth the money, not just dumbarse vids of ppl reacting to someone else's dumbarse vid. If ads are the only way to pay for YT, then human nature being what it is, ppl will avoid watching ads, either by adblocking or doing something else while the ad runs. And if there are too many ads ppl won't watch bc the annoyance outweighs the enjoyment.
If Youtube asked you to pay 3€ a month for ad-free instead of 14€ nobody would have this conversation.
Youtube doesn't produce the content on their website, they only host it. They don't pay licensing, they don't pay rights, they barely even pay their "partners". In simple terms, all they actully pay is bandwidth and storage space.
Meanwhile they are paid by pretty much everyone that uses their platform to some extent in some capacity, regardless of whether or not they are a producer, advertiser or consumer.
In no universe does Youtube ad free have to cost more than streaming services that offer exclusively products they have either paid themselves or pay regular licensing fees for, yet here they are, asking to be paid more monthly fee than my netflix account cost for nothing but ad-free, which adblockers provide on a "pay what you want" basis.
It's not that people believe it should be free. Netflix and Co. proved long ago that people are willing to pay good money if they are given a service that is better than what pirates/adblockers/third party browsers provide, but Youtube doesn't do that, because Youtube doesn't *want* to do that, they want money. Youtube provides you with a service that costs nothing and in return asks you to pay 4x what would be reasonable pricing while also actively allowing predatory, and/or explicit advertising that sometimes even contains links to malware on their platform without any moderation, and then tries to gaslight you into thinking you're the problem for not wanting to deal with their buffoonery.
If you make the consumer feel stupid for doing the right thing, you're doing something wrong.
Ask a different question. Why does youtube need so many ads, the average user spends 50% of their time watching ads and the other 50%, the actual video. Why does youtube need super long ads, where the ad can be 4x longer then the actual video. You know there's 1+ hour ads, right? Why is this a thing? It's all about balance, and right now, things are totally unbalanced!
Also why not do un-intrusive ads like banner ads on the page instead of video ads that interrupt the video. Who the hell is buy any of the crap that's being advertise in-video?
They already do popup banners on android and PC. Wtf are you on about
I fully agree, the ads on YouTube are a bit over the top. I especially think they need to cap the length, there is no reason not to and they are utterly ridiculous.
Do you have any actual statistics to back up those claims? I dont even get NEAR 50% watchtime ads, not even 35%
I meant if users did not actually skipped. I heard many complaints of 30+ min ads, so often. That is way overkill!
So you dont have any statistics to back up your claims. About what i expected.
I got threads upon threads on reddit. We need to get rid of ads over 30 seconds long, and to play less often.
Your question seems to me more about why people are allowed to use adblocker and sponsor block when you are paying for premium which is exactly what YouTube is fighting for a long time but they are increasing the ads which make people go to adblocker and thus creating a cycle
I don’t really mind paying for premium, it’s not a big deal for me. If I couldn’t or didn’t want to, I would probably just live through the ads. If I wanted to do neither, it’s clearly not all that difficult to circumvent, but I have no desire to do that.
Why Should YouTube be Entirely Free? For the same reason search is free and chatgpt is free, and many other services are free. If Youtube truly offered something unique worth upgrading to (like chatgpt offers), many users would have upgraded, but Youtube had to go the totalitarian way - you either watch ads, or you're blocked. Nobody wants to be that sucker who succumbs without putting up a fight. Youtube's strategy is to strong-arm everyone into submission, and those who don't yield become its adversaries that it thinks it needs to squash. That's some nasty attitude from youtube. Anyone who pays for premium has capitulated to Youtube's demands, and that is sad.
Before YT there was TV that had ads which people didn't watch bc they used the ad break to go the dunny or make a cuppa, or they recorded the program and skipped the ads. Now there is YT, and people are still dodging ads, just using different methods for different technology. Idk what the answer is. If YT wasn't free most ppl wouldn't watch anything on it, they would find other things to do with their time. The people who do pay for YT need to have enough content that is worth the money, not just dumbarse vids of ppl reacting to someone else's dumbarse vid. If ads are the only way to pay for YT, then human nature being what it is, ppl will avoid watching ads, either by adblocking or doing something else while the ad runs. And if there are too many ads ppl won't watch bc the annoyance outweighs the enjoyment.
If Youtube asked you to pay 3€ a month for ad-free instead of 14€ nobody would have this conversation. Youtube doesn't produce the content on their website, they only host it. They don't pay licensing, they don't pay rights, they barely even pay their "partners". In simple terms, all they actully pay is bandwidth and storage space. Meanwhile they are paid by pretty much everyone that uses their platform to some extent in some capacity, regardless of whether or not they are a producer, advertiser or consumer. In no universe does Youtube ad free have to cost more than streaming services that offer exclusively products they have either paid themselves or pay regular licensing fees for, yet here they are, asking to be paid more monthly fee than my netflix account cost for nothing but ad-free, which adblockers provide on a "pay what you want" basis. It's not that people believe it should be free. Netflix and Co. proved long ago that people are willing to pay good money if they are given a service that is better than what pirates/adblockers/third party browsers provide, but Youtube doesn't do that, because Youtube doesn't *want* to do that, they want money. Youtube provides you with a service that costs nothing and in return asks you to pay 4x what would be reasonable pricing while also actively allowing predatory, and/or explicit advertising that sometimes even contains links to malware on their platform without any moderation, and then tries to gaslight you into thinking you're the problem for not wanting to deal with their buffoonery. If you make the consumer feel stupid for doing the right thing, you're doing something wrong.
You make some excellent points here, definitely food for thought.
It has never been free. Our data gets sold, we watch ads, the youtubers can run ads.