For context I’m in the US. The last time I used YouTube without an ad blocker, there were 2 ads back to back, and way too frequently. I tried watching on my PlayStation tonight, and not only are they more frequent, they’ve increased in quantity by 150%. It’s also very common for the last ad to last 2 minutes to over an hour long. What the actual fuck, why would anyone watch YouTube without an ad blocker at this point? It’s literally unwatchable

Edit: the amount of unsolicited advice in the comments is unreal. I don’t get ads on my phone or on desktop, I’m very aware of how to block them. I simply won’t watch YouTube on my PlayStation anymore. I’m not looking for suggestions, please stop with the recommendations.

  • BenEnglish
    12•11 months ago

    I think YouTube is dying.

    Already, I see many of my favourite channels being restricted (one Ukrainian blogger) whilst the completely moronic, yet dangerous conspiracy theory/Flat-Earthers flourish.

    Meanwhile, the most common thing we see is the push to sign up and pay them - yet with all the censorship (not simply censored for non-paying customers to allow the advertisements) it is not a viable option.

    Thankfully I still use a Desktop - with Firefox and decent extras the actual ads are still not affecting me at all, but YouTube’s policies really are.

    They are completely above the law - they don’t need to respect their own TOS (the reasons many people are blocked is more related to some secret narrative, and it goes against their own stated terms).

    There is no way to appeal outside YouTube, and good luck with any idea of taking them to court for removing your income stream, or censoring a very useful source of information whilst spamming you with algorithms that treat you like Spongebob, and expect you to watch completely moronic content.

    I suggest YouTube is a conspiracy to destroy the world, starting with the world population’s ability to think.

    Convince me I’m wrong ;)

      • BenEnglish
        3•11 months ago

        There seem to be many ‘sources’. Youtube have a policy where you can show explosions, you can show guns shooting as long as you can’t see the targets - it’s clearly written. Yet several people are demonetised for showing clips related to Ukraine for a start - and YouTube doesn’t respond to requests to explain, it’s a secretive policy that doesn’t follow the written policy.

        It’s also very easy to find other videos which would more clearly break the actual rules as they are written. Basically, they do have an agenda - it applies to many similar channels - and they keep very quiet about real reasons for doing so, instead quoting some bullshit rule which isn’t true, and doesn’t apply, both at the same time.