Skip Navigation

What does it look like for a YouTube creator when the audience uses something like NewPipe or Freetube?

I'm not too tech savvy so I appreciate responses in layman's terms.

I have a rough concept of how NewPipe works, (correct me if I'm wrong though!) basically it's a scrapper so it somehow reads the information in YouTube, anonymously, and filters the ads for you.

What I'm interested in knowing is, how does this behaviour look like from YouTube's perspective. Can the platform "tell" that someone is accessing their content but not the ads that should go before and inbetween the videos? Do these views requested by NewPipe count towards the global amount of views a video has? Do content creators still get money from youtube ads with NewPipe views? Do they also get to see engagement data from views (such as which parts are skipped)? Etc etc.

61

You're viewing a single thread.

61 comments
  • There is definitely the concept of monetised (ie ad-viewing) vs unmonetised views, here's a random day example from mine:

    Unfortunately I can't see a way to filter to just unmonetised views, to take a look at the traffic sources. I did have a quick look through the traffic sources in general though and can't see any of the popular frontends listed in external, other YT, or anywhere else. So if those views are counted (which it seems like they are from the experiment in top comment) I expect they probably end up in one of the "unknown" buckets. Whether that means it really is unknown or just that YT don't want to be drawing attention to these services by name, who knows.

    • As a creator, how do these things make you feel? Do you understand the users of sponserblock or ...?
      Ive legit always wondered if creators were always fully against adblocking, or if they understood those users and wished it was different. Idk :')

      • Oh yeah I don't care. My videos go up on PeerTube as well, don't make any money there, just enjoy sharing my crafts with people really! I won't deny the bit of extra cash is nice and it definitely helps afford stuff for new videos, which I struggled with sometimes before getting monetised. But that doesn't take much, anything else is just a bonus.

        You'd probably get a different answer from someone who's into it like a proper business and trying to grow grow grow.

        • As someone who despises ads, if adblock on YouTube were to stop working tomorrow I wouldn't use YouTube until it's fixed. So creators I do watch aren't missing out on ad revenue they'd otherwise get with me. If I recommend a video to a friend who doesn't block ads, a friend who otherwise wouldn't see it, the creator still benefited from my view. For creators I enjoy often, I support them in other ways - subbing if they stream, buying merch, etc.

          • Not sure you meant this to be a direct reply to my comment but fwiw I completely agree with you.

            Some people are ok watching with ads because it supports creators. Some people aren't, but choose to donate to individual creators instead. And others are either unable or unwilling to do either but the moral support of their views and comments is lovely regardless.

61 comments