Those YouTube ads everyone hates made $10.4 billion in just three months

What youtube ads, I haven't seen one in years, fortunately.

I have to see them at school all the time, because our ~~teacher's~~ teachers don't bother installing adblockers.
- teacher's
  
  Now I'm doubly disappointed in your teachers.
- Use Firefox Mobile and ublock origin it will block ads on mobile
- You should teach your teachers.
- @RobotZap10000 @Viri4thus you should teach the teacher...
- Are you blocked from installing browser extensions?
When I watch YouTube on the Roku in my bedroom I see ads and it's terrible. If I see a 30 second ad I go back and hit play again, usually I have to do that two or three times and then I get a 5-second skippable ad. Even then I'm often only two or three minutes into the video before it plays another ad.
- One reason I switched to android TV.
Me neither, as I don't use YouTube at all.

Ads didn’t make 10 billion, Google charged advertisers 10 billion. IMO ads have gone so pervasive they’ve hit a point of diminishing returns. They’re everywhere, we hate them, and those 10 billion spent would have to bring many more billions in sales to be an attractive service.

I can’t wait for the ad bubble to burst, as advertisers understand they’re just giving money away to megaadvertisers for paltry conversions.

I'm an admin in Google Ad Manager for a few hundred sites. Saying that to say I've read a lot of their documentation. They have a great graph showing this very concept. Less ads, less money, happy users. More ads, more money, unhappy users. They're aware. They aren't pouring the poison. They're designing the pitcher and selling different size cups.
- Can I dm you a question about google ad spending?
  
  Edit: ok jesus no ad questions 🤣, how do y'all think people promote their small businesses. I don't advertise much but we're all forced to live in this capitalist bullshit and while word of mouth helps if you have a tucked away location you need to pop up on google maps.
- So they are aware of how terrible ads are and they intentionally want to keep it this way, so that they can sell advertisers "better ads" for higher premium as a form of product and price diversification, with those "better" products they offer eventually end up being terrible and make the ads situation as a whole worse, so they can keep introducing new kinds of "better ads" product to have a "justified" way of asking even more money from advertisers?
- How does it feel to work in that kind of field? Sounds soul crushing
Sadly I still see that ads benefit a lot of my clients. The more advertising they do the more revenue they get, but this is only for small to medium sized companies. However if every company in the world spends 100k on adverts on platforms like Google we would easily surpass the 10b.

Dropshippers are the best example of this. No ads means no revenue.
Influencer sponsorships, especially for beauty influencers, have already been declining. Companies realize that these influencers are just posting ads now and people don't believe their "honest opinion" anymore. So it's a mystery to me why companies still pay so much money for regular online ads.
- Control over the finalized product. You can easily shape an ad to have your exact message reach the right people, and have that ad be more attractive. With an influencer sponsorship you do not have as much control over the final product or the audience.
Competition. It's all about competition between companies. In highly saturated markets ads serve to build brand recognition and are seen as long term investment to gain market share. Good example is TikTok. The social media market is very much saturated and competition very high, so TikTok's strategy was to buy every ad they could to create brand recognition, which in turn helped gaining market share.

So I don't think the ad business is a bubble at all, it's just that the usefulness and function depends on the market a company competes within.
There was a true golden age where the technology for ads was so shitty and the companies didn't even know what they were worth somewhere between 2006-2010. I remember those days where no one was selling me shit besides my dealer.
Companies wouldn't buy the ads if they didn't work.

what ads? taps ublock and firefox android

I can't cope with the shitty translate on Firefox mobile, I live in a non English country and it's driving me insane
- Why not just switch it to English? I'm from non English country as well, most my apps are in English
- I use the Firefox extension Immersive Translate exactly for this reason. Hasn't failed me yet.
- Swedish is fine
- Just get another translate extension.
- There are some translation extensions that are much better than the built-in one. Still not as good as Chrome tho

I say this every time the topic comes up, and I’m always downvoted for it but here goes again:

YouTube is going to do this suit because YouTube CAN do this shit. It’s their company. They can enshitify it as much as they’d like. And they WILL enshitify it as much as they like as long as people continue to use it.

How long have they been in existence now? 18-19 years? And with every year they gets worse and worse, while growing bigger and bigger. Why do you think that is?

Could it be because they know that although everyone will bitch about them, complain about them, and write scathing tech articles about them- people will still gobble their shit up regardless.

Don’t like what YouTube is doing? Maybe think about not using it. Because as long as you’re participating- either by creating content or viewing it- you are a big part of the reason they’re getting away with doing this shit.

Downvote away.

Let's just say, unless YouTube crosses people's bottom lines and there's an alternative being actively advertised, people won't move.

Otherwise, they push that bottom line further.
- The lack of alternatives where creators actually get paid for people watching their videos is the biggest problem.
- Agreed. Seems there no floor to what people will put up with from them. I can’t understand it. I’ve tried products and services I found that I absolutely hated. I don’t have those products or services anymore.
  
  It’s pretty easy to not do something.
Youtube started when hosting video’s was way easier. The files where smaller, the bandwidth of most people wasn’t that great either. Storage was more expensive though.

These days everybody wants 4K footage and everybody was 100-1000+ mbps internet and we have 4K screens so we can also watch it.

The competitors who host it are either paid up front or porn sites. Because there is no real way to start up a competitor to YouTube. I decided to accept that and I have RSSfeeds of all the creators I like to watch so I bypass the algorithm
They get away with it because they don't have serious competition and the reason for that is that allowing anyone to upload videos for free, to be viewed by anyone else for free, is by itself not a viable business model.
- It’s the size really. As with most social media platforms, often they are fairly easy to create (YouTube definitely isn’t, but many could). Problem is that it’s impossible to compete with, because people expect the activity you get from hundreds of millions of users.
  
  Same goes for Twitter, Reddit and whatnot. Since capitalism took over the internet completely, basically none of the large plattforms have been outcompeted really.
  
  To big to fail isn’t the banks nowadays, well then to, but it’s IT as well.
I'm very surprised you got downvoted for saying that
- Me too. I never try to come off as pushy on the topic. Just suggesting an option, but man… people haven’t responded well to it in the past.
People well not pay for anything. I mean you can get YouTube premium without ads. But the vast majority don't want it. And since no one well pay for anything how does a computer to YouTube make money?
- Shit tons of people are paying for it. And the ones that aren’t, are viewing ads- both of these things are a profit for YouTube.
  
  The only option you have is to not use the services at all. This is how you hurt them.
does it count as viewing if every time I just download the videos with yt-dlp, and watch in a good media player?

I use Firefox with uBlock Origin and SponsorBlock. I never see any ads on youtube.

Reminder that Firefox on mobile also has ublock origin and other add ons that improve the experience.
- Yeah extensions on Firefox mobile is fucking awesome
- This is the way. Just make sure to disable the YouTube app on your phone so links people send you don't open in the app.
- Does Firefox on iOS have extensions? I have to use Orion by Kagi to get extensions on iOS.
- I find using it in a browser clunky. Much prefer a dedicated app (now I use Tubular), which gives some extra functions like downloads, history and playlists.
- Safari in itself also blocks a lot of ads, but if that is not enough IOS users can also install Firefox. There is no reason to watch ads anymore

And since they made so much while people are effectively using adblocker, there's no need to fight them back, right?

Right?

It's not about making money, it's about making all the money. Stock holders will pressure to fire the guy that does that.
- It's not about making money, it's about making all the money.
  
  It's probably also about sending a message.

Firefox + Ublock Origin

also works on android
Yep, this works! No ads.
What if you only use the apps?
- RVX, a fork of ReVanced, works well on Android. You'll have to side load it yourself, but it's got very good ad blocking and sponsor block if you don't want to hear shilling during a video.
  
  No idea for iPhone.
- Lookup Grayjay
- Use a third party app like New Pipe, if your on a fruit phone... you unfortunatly cant side load apps, I dont have an answer...

Those poor suckers. I don't think I've seen an advertisement on YouTube in something like five years.

Edit: And I sure as hell ain't paying Google either.

Fuck yeah.

For anyone out of the loop, look into Freetube and Grayjay. There are other apps that do the same thing too, but those are good to start with.
- Or you can setup RSSFeeds direcrly and also include news articles and other stuff
If you see 0 ads and don't pay anyone, I'm not sure how the service could be sustainable. I'm also against ads but only if you're actually paying. That's why I do pay for a yt family plan but also use adblock+sponsorblock.
- I'm not sure how the service could be sustainable.
  
  Bold of you to assume any of us give a shit about keeping Alphabet's operations sustainable for them.
- Google has plenty of money. That's the way I see it.
- It's not. Why do you want it to be? It's one of the most enduring social media monopolies, and it should be brought down. The more they lose revenue, the more they are forced to squeeze, the more they enshittify, the more people are pushed to make and use alternatives, and the stronger those alternatives get.
  
  Honestly once youtube's network can be usurped by something like peertube, I think that might be the ballgame for centralised social media. It is the hardest one to topple because of bandwidth costs, which means once it goes the case for needing a corporation to fund our networks kind of collapses with it.

And yet they aggressively demonitize channels.

Line go up
I mean they don’t want to pay the creators thats abundantly clear.

YouTube ReVanced all the way

I've been getting NewPiped down, myself.

But it's nice to see alternatives floating.
- PipePipe worked for me when stock NewPipe didn't. YMMV
Do you think a GrayJay will stand o a NewPipe for this?

I pay for a YouTube premium family plan. It’s probably a rip off but my kids enjoy content on YouTube more than any other platform but YouTube is not safe for children with ads enabled (and YouTube kids is a joke)

Soggy cereal made a video about how YouTube ads are unsafe a few weeks ago and that was exactly my experience before I started paying for yt premium, look that up if you are curious

Tinfoil hat time:

YouTube allows/endorses/pushes ads not suitable for kids because they know parents, of all people, have no time to curate their kids' ad experience and will just fork over the cash.
- I think your theory is plausible. On the YT smart TV app, the ads seem to be increasingly about unpleasant things like dick pills, period pads, and constipation treatments. I think they literally serve up unsavory ad content as a way of punishing you into shelling out for a subscription. Jokes on them, I just switched to SmartTube.
- And youtube. Kids sucks so much because they don't really want anyone to use it... Sadly though, they don't have to plan to do these things. They just don't invest in making them kid safe.
- Can confirm. As soon as I turn off personalized ads, I get nothing but "find hot ladies in your area" and "play this hentai game" ads across all Google products. It's ridiculous.
It's not just ads on Youtube. It's also all the sponsor crap and filler content to get to 10 minute videos.

I use it with an adblocker and sponsorblock but it's still shit.
- For sure. YouTube creators shilling for honey while Honey stole their affiliation money shows how little time they spend vetting their sponsors. The stuff they peddle is usually a few ticks away from scam, pretty much always overpriced. The day sponsorblock stops working, is the day I stop paying for YouTube premium and using youtube. It's a pity, because there is a lot of good content on there.
- Why ten mins? Do they only paid if they make it ten mins or longer?
There's literally porn ads on yt. Recently an acquaintance of mine got one of those "Look what she said when she saw the size of his dick. You can have a bigger dick if you just buy our product", with plenty of suggestive imagery. And scam ads. My mother got scammed because of a youtube ad pretending to sell products in the name of a famous brand of supermarkets in my region.
I'll just share with you my experience:

I was also paying for a YouTube Premium family plan, but still got ads. What made me cancel was the fact that they're still using trackers, so they were making money off me three times (subscription, ads, and selling my data)!

Coupled with the fact that "content creators" don't really make content for the love of making it. It's all created "for the algorithm", especially the "watch to the end", clickbait titles and thumbnails, "like and subscribe" begging, "only 15% of you are subscribers", sponsored content disguised as education, etc... Videos today are nothing like they were 15 years ago, because it became solely about making money.

Google is one of the pioneers of the enshittification movement!

Pro-tip: Watch youtube on firefox/etc with a bunch of ad blockers. No ads.

uBlock origin is enough :p
- Sponsor block is a nice extra though

Youtube has ads? Since when.

What rock have you been hiding under?
- The ones labeled "NewPipe" and "SponsorBlock"
- Duck player bro
- I think he means native sponsored segment when you're the first person to watch with sponsor blocks. But that's mostly only videos realeased under 5 minutes ago.

thats why i block them all.

they aint making money off of annoying me.

Stop. Using. Youtube.

And replace it with what?
- Pornhub?
- Freetube, and what I use, Newpipe. There are better experiences out there. All one needs to do is search for them. Happy hunting.
- For watching YT videos: NewPipe or Tubular for phone app. FreeTube on Pc. Invidious in browser.
  
  Just a few examples, there is loads more alternatives.
  
  Including different platforms all together. Too much to choose from.
- You have a point it's a monopoly but most YouTube videos I watch now the creators are always suggesting viewing on patreon because of all the YouTube copyright stuff.
  
  I've noticed quite a few have vanished from YouTube so maybe there's some signs YouTube is starting to get to annoying for creators.
- Literally any other form of entertainment.
  
  Though the statement was to stop using it, not replace it.
- Butt stuff
- At least use an adblocker
- I use an alternative frontend for actually watching stuff, just google and find one with a public instance, no ads, can do pip on your phone for free
- Deez nutz
- Touching grass

Google's ad-pocalypse is a self-licking ice cream cone. Boasting about $10.4 billion squeezed from advertisers while users rage-install adblockers? That’s platform decay in action. The “diminishing returns” of shoving 15 unskippable ads into a 3-minute tutorial is laughable.

Creators churning out AI slop just to feed the algorithm? Tragic. Why innovate when you can monetize desperation? The ad bubble will burst soon, and we’ll all laugh at brands paying billions to reach bots and ad-blind zombies.

Keep stacking those trackers, Sundar. We’ll keep finding ways to mute this digital servitude.

edit: toned down bold and italic

not gonna comment on your statements but you emphasize too many things.
- Appreciate the feedback! I've edited the original comment

Ads?

Yeah, what the fuck is the article talking about? I haven't seen an ad on YouTube in years.
Did u mean "tax for the poor and stupid"?

Can't say I've seen them.

havent seen them. are they any different? i am sure it is the same scam google does with Ads. only boomers see it, but are not the target group and the advertisers are just wasting money.

instead of using piped/smarttube i advise to not use US based services at all.I mean fuck you for supporting the ultragreedy.

"But we can't pay our content creators! We're a starving tech company! Niche stuff no one uses or has heard of! We needed to cut the money so they had to push scams!"

I have no issue in paying creators with my YouTube Premium subscription. What annoys me is seeing creators feed the algorithm with “regular posts” or create filler videos for sponsors when they have nothing to say.

That and seeing explainer videos from someone who learned something five minutes before recording… the number of copycats and regurgitating the same news content is depressing.

The same goes for the epidemic of faceless AI videos narrating generic content… horrible. The “don't recommend channel” must be worn off by now, from me alone. :-)

Fantastic exceptions from talented creators make it worth it, so I am happy.

Fortunately LibreTube and NewPipe exist 👍

Yeah. What ads?

Revanced, ublock origin solved the ads issues on android and on the browser.

Anyone have a (free) solution for Google tv?

SmartTube Beta: https://smarttubenext.org/
- Thus guy is an absolute legend, the project has been alive for like ten years at this point and still gets updates and fixes regularly.
- Legend. Actually, I saw a comment further up the thread after writing mine. I installed the beta straight away, works great!
Vpn to albania.

... And has made video content for billions of people unbearable to watch or enjoy.

I'd love to know their cost of storing all the YT videos and serving them.

YouTube runs at a loss, as far as I am aware. The other businesses prop it up. They run it, even at a loss, because they harvest data from it.

On desktop: uBlock origin (Vivaldi or Firefox). On mobile: Newpipe and AdAway (VPN mode, or rooted phone).

Firefox + Ublock also work on mobile.
- On Android.
On the TV, smarttube
On your phone (and other devices) you can also use a DNS adblocker. Less effective, but good for most people.

Mullvad.

Control D.

AdGuard.

ETA: This usually doesn't work on YouTube. Sorry for any confusion. Works decently enough for other ads at least.
- DNS filering alone doesn't work for YouTube in my experience.
Tv: smarttube Android: revanced iOS/ipad: youtube++

Tbh YT premium is well worth the asking price though I wish it subsidized the free experience as that's much more important for the platform.

Only on Lemmy you get downvoted for saying you pay for a service you like...
- The problem is yt premium is not able to sustain google's platform. Only google's synergic monopolies make youtube possible and alternative financially unviable. Youtube, very literally, must die. As long as youtube exists it will maintain critical mass and kill everything else judt by existing. To fund youtube is to reinfotce this entrenchment. Both paying or watching ads and arguably just watching it, empowers google momooly position and its capture of the zeitgeist.
- Nope. I was well into negative on Reddit for the same.
There are tools that let you do what YT Premium provides for free unless you're hooked on the music.
- I am hooked on the music.
- I know all the tools but I'd rather support Youtube which has ben an incredible service for me and I think it's a net good for the society so it should remain sustainable.
- Sadly I haven't found a tool that works on smart TVs, so I just pay for it
- Musify exists.

What ads? My adblocker still works.

Still need a good strategy for blocking ads on my TV. Mostly watching YouTube through a Chromecast so I can control it from my phone

PiHole can mostly block ads on propetiary software
- Not YouTube because the ads come from the same "source", so blocking that DNS would mean blocking the actual video, too. That's my week understanding of it, at least.
Same but I don't use YouTube I tend to use it for TV. Cast and forget cable TV for free.

I hate edge but edge also let's you stream from your PC to TV with no ads.
GrayJay seems to work for that.
SmartTube
- You need an android TV or an android box similar to a Roku to use that? Not super familiar. Any recommendations to be compatible with my current non-smart TV?
Android TV https://smarttubeapp.github.io/

I dont see ads a since 2 years, for FREE. Android https://github.com/polymorphicshade/Tubular Android TV https://smarttubeapp.github.io/ For others Brave browser, or Firefox based with uBlock extension.

I don't hate them. I think 80% should go back to the creators though.

When they’re every few minutes, screw that. I do.

Ads? What ads?

EDIT: Not reading any of the replies, so enjoy your circle jerk.

Use the Brave browser and you won't get any ads. Glorious.

Then you only have to endure the ignominy of using a browser from a homophobic anti-vaxxer
- Whilst enduring YouTube
- A bad person can create a good product. It's that simple.
  
  Also, I love that you're self-righteously typing this out on a computer produced by slave labor, likely involving kids.
  
  You're better than me for sure.
Never use a browser that aggressively advertise itself.
Ublock Origin + Firefox fork :3
- Also a good option, but I like that Brave's native adblocker works better without addons.
Yup, it's my backup if I need a chromium browser for something. I just don't engage with the BAT nonsense and it's about as good as a chromium browser can get IMO.

Firefox w/ uBlock Origin is my main though, mostly because I want to support independent browser engines.
EDIT: Not reading any of the replies, so enjoy your circle jerk.

That's what I do as well when mozillatards begin questioning my browser choice, thinking they're much better person than I am. Hope they enjoy their dying browser.