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Comment by m00x | Hacker News Reader

No fucking way. Cable TV channels had as much ads as they had content. Youtube is around 2x1min ad per 30 min video, longer ones are skippable and you get no ads if you pay for $15/m for it.

You paid cable TV $90/m for 12-15 min of ads on 30 min shows.

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Aside from noise cancelling headphones and a roomba, paying for YouTube to avoid ads is the best quality of life improving purchase I have made.

Youtube Vanced. Google can't expect my $10 when they take all my data for free.

So you’re willing to hurt creators earnings because Google has some data on you?

A lot of creators have multiple revenue streams that one can support (merch, patreon, affiliate links). Not watching youtube ads does not have to mean you are hurting creators.

Not watching YouTube ads means they get less money. Yes, there are still alternatives for them to eek out some revenue, but they are making less than if you just watched the ad or got YT premium

So you just pay more on Patreon right?

This is anecdotal, but it seems like most career youtube creators are only relying on youtube ad revenue for a small portion of their total income. Video claims and unreliable monetization have long plagued youtube so it makes sense for creators to look to things like brand deals and patreon for the majority of their income. I’d much rather not watch ads and then compensate for it by supporting them through some other means.

We shouldn't want to want people watch advertising. It's mental real estate that doesn't need to be there.

Yes.

Not parent. The few YT channels that I know of and that produce worthwhile stuff are either unmonetized or can be supported via merch or directly, so no harm done blocking ads.

Especially now that there's ads even on videos by unmonetized channels and YTers who do and share shit because they authentically enjoy it. You know, those that made the site worthwhile in the first place in 200x.

And the mind-crushing amount of clickbait and spam by "professional content creators"? Well, that can go the way of the dodo.

Youtube is probably varying the rate of ads displayed for each user based on some factors. I was watching an hour long interview and was shocked that I was served a 30 second ad every 3-4 minutes. I scanned the comments for outrage, but there were no negative comments. I think YT may have increased my ad rate because I was using a VPN.

I think they will use ads as a form of tax, to discourage certain behavior, and even certain content. I think I notice this more on libertarian leaning videos (although I definitely haven't done any rigorous analysis re that).

Can't wait for the day everything is decentraly hosted, and we access it through whatever portal we want.

> I think they will use ads as a form of tax, to discourage certain behavior, and even certain content. I think I notice this more on libertarian leaning videos (although I definitely haven't done any rigorous analysis re that).

That is an extraordinary claim, and needs some extraordinary evidence to back it up.

I watched a Jordan Peterson video on Dr. Oz's official channel, and I got an ad every 3 - 4 minutes. What do you make of that evidence (given I'm not lying)? None of the comments acknowledged it.

I'm not sure if you mean that's a lot of ads or not but I thought creators chose where the ads are played.

I thought so too, but it's been so periodic and so often that I thought it couldn't be the content creator. The fact that no one complains in the comments makes me think there are other options as well, and not ones that the content creator controls.

I think it means Dr. Oz is extraordinarily greedy since his channel chooses when to show ads.

Been lurking on hn for a year now, finally made an account because I can give some value with a comment

Youtube content creators can choose where to put the ads themselves. You will come across many videos with only the first ad or the ads set sparely in the video, some even put the ads in breaks. You can also chose to let YouTube put the ads but that’s also a one and done, one setting per video. I can confirm though that YouTube, on the automated setting, put way more ads in the past year or two than before.

I've had several videos now where I get an ad every few minutes, and I'm curious how consistent it could be when none of the comments acknowledge it. Are you aware of different viewers getting different numbers of ads?

Isn't there a limit on how often you can run ads? I remember some Youtuber talking about how people are deliberately making their videos just over 10 minutes long because then they can also put an ad in the middle, not just at the beginning or end, or something like that.

Cable TV has 12-15 minutes of ads per hour depending on network. It's been that way for a very long time, but slightly on the rise for the last few years.

I'm from India and YouTube Premium is less than $3/m for family plan here. Definitely worth it

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