this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2023
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Inside the 'arms race' between YouTube and ad blockers / Against all odds, open source hackers keep outfoxing one of the wealthiest companies.::YouTube's dramatic content gatekeeping decisions of late have a long history behind them, and there's an equally long history of these defenses being bypassed.

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 1 year ago (6 children)

What Google seems to forget or simply not care about is I can always just... leave.
I used reddit a lot more than I use YouTube.
If enough viewers and content creators were to jump ship, they'd scramble to change their tune.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (3 children)

That's a big if though. Unless an actual creator-exodus happens, it's not going to happen.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't disagree with you, I'm just saying that YouTube is nothing without both its creator and viewers.
A viewer-exodus and a creator-exodus would be tied together, they both feedback into each other.

I even get why YouTube doubledown on catering to their advertisers over the creators and viewers, that's just money talking.
I'm just saying I don't owe them my time or attention.
They would hardly be the first Internet giant to fall, thinking they're too big to fail, not that I see it happening soon though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Very true. But if Reddit didn't fall I very much doubt YouTube will.

Perhaps you and I might leave, but it won't be enough.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

And creators wont leave despite making less and less from youtube and relying more and more ftom direct support from fans, like through patreon.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I went through a period of de-googling a couple of years ago. Swapping browser, mobile os, search engine, storage, maps, music, video purchases, voice assistant and even email service was relatively simple, there are alternatives out there which do the job just as well if not better than what Google offer.

The only exception is YouTube, yea there are individual sites that occasionally offer some of the videos I want (often with a subscription attached), there are some federated systems like NewPipe which have some videos but there is no one offering remotely the quantity or quality of what you can get on YouTube for free.

As the article states, it’s basically a monopoly at this point without a viable alternative.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What FOSS mobile OS are you using?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Non-Google Android.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What are you using instead for Maps and email?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I use Organic maps and K9 mail

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

k9 mail has a really poor rating on the app store. I hear Thunderbird will be revamping it though. Are you happy with where it is at right now?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Yeah, it works great. I haven't had any problems

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've had good success with FairEmail its open source and on Fdroid appstore but google made it so it will only work if you download through the play store which is BS.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Definitely fair email, code is solid and so is the dev. Its got more features for customization than any other mobile email client. Super frequently updated too. And no ads even in the unpaid version.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Apple Maps and Fastmail.

Fastmail is paid but the 1Password and disposable email address system makes it worth it for me.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Not going to happen. Most of us, and the ones making the service profitable pay.

You have no value for Google and lemmy isn't a population Google cares about in the first place.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Exactly, I had people tell me that we should support YouTube, because it costs money and if we don't it will disappear.

I would celebrate the day it would happen, YouTube is actually the reason we don't have much competition there. They used their position and Google monopoly in other areas to establish this monopoly.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

There's creators out there running a non YouTube channel in parallel, mostly on Odysee. Good to see an alternative out there.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I just looked up Odysee. They use Google AdSense on their site, so really all you’re getting is a bad YouTube

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Right enough. They're also owned by Google! Probably not a good alternative then. PeerTube any good?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

They probably do smell.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I’ve heard of PeerTube, but haven’t looked into it yet

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The only one I know of is Nebula, and I only know of it because of ads. Ironically, ads on YouTube.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That is and big if though. Yeah you, me and half the people here might leave over this, but we block ads already and so are not highly valued to YouTube or a lot of the creators and are only a small drop in the ocean of viewers.

YouTube is betting on more people turning off ad blockers then those that leave. And i am glad to see that it might be having a small effect on more people actually discovering ad blockers instead. Which I bet is something YouTube did not expect to see.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

No one in the 90s could imagine the internet without AOL or Yahoo either, and yet..

Or the great Myspace collapse of 2008. Digg before that. Tumblr most recently.

Big sites go boom fairly often.

Now, watching Google go Boom, that's gonna be like modules breaking loose of the ISS and rez-entering the atmosphere. Drawn out over months, as one wing goes, government breaks up another wing, class action lawsuits bankrupt another wing.

Alphabets circling the drain. And good. Fuck em. Fuck Apple, Fuck Meta, Fuck Amazon, Fuck Reddit.

Just a couple more years now and imma nominate Craig from Craigslist for all the years nobel prizes for officially winning the internet.

Specific niche forums, Craigslist and Wikipedia are the last bits of honestness and fun online. And ymmv with Craigslist people being honest.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

In what world Craigslist is honest and Alphabet is circling the drain? They make billions of profit per quarter and they have majority control of the biggest two platforms worldwide (mobile and web). We are not in the wild west years of the early web. It will be decades before Meta or Alphabet collapse, in favor of TikTok or a similar, or even worse, competitor. Mastodon and lemmy are an exception and a niche, not a rule.

Wishing something very hard doesn't make it true.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Can't fucking wait to see Google disbanded hopefully in my lifetime , then Amazon

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Top execs fucking dragged to the street and get their just desserts drawn and quartered.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Why would creators leave? They only earn money from users that watch ads or use premium. Ad blocker users leaving doesn't affect them.

And if you "just leave", guess what? You just saved them a few bucks in bandwidth. It's a win-win for them.

It's YouTube, they don't need "exposure". They are out to make a profit.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I donate to creators I like.