web YouTube commercials, Yay or nay?

[TheMisterManGuy 344]

Commercials have long been a double edge sword in the TV industry since it's inception. On the one hand, video advertising is the most efficient way to get people to buy your product. But for every commercial that does interest an individual, there's about a dozen or so for products not everyone will care about. This is why many people are cynical towards advertising on TV, because commercial breaks nowadays bombard you with too many products you have no interest in. However, YouTube works differently. Not only is there simply one commercial per video, but the ads that play are based on the age and interests associated with your Google account. Plus, more often then not, YouTube allows you to skip most ads, so if there's a product you don't care about or an overly long commercial playing, YouTube allows you to skip it.

Personaly, I don't mind how ads are handled on YouTube, it's certainly better than sitting through endless commercials for irrelevant crap on cable. However, that isn't to say they can't be annoying at times. The interest based system is spotty, meaning there are quite a few ads for things I don't care about, and it's rediculous how you have to watch a :30 ad before you get to see a video that isn't  even a minnute and a half long. Which is why know some people just don't like advertising period, which is probably why YouTube created YouTube Red for those who want to fund YouTube directly. So can you deal with a 15-30 sec. ad for medium or long length content (videos 4 min. and over)? Do you whitelist those you want to support, then block the rest? Or do you adblock all the things regardless?

[Celtore 2,770]

I think that ads are an acceptable evil for websites which host content for free. It's an easy way to generate funding while simultaneously providing viewers with content. I don't, however, support tracking browsers and identities across short or long periods of time.

 

Big data is freaking insane and the number of accurate conclusions a data superpower like google could draw from its various services about its individual users would be astonishing. With advertisements on the TV or radio, they're generally targeted at a generic demographic. For example, I listen to my local classical radio station and a lot of the ads are targeted towards middle aged to senior listeners. Google can figure out my interests based on my youtube history, my subscriptions, my google searches, my android photo album, my nonexistent google plus account, my GPS location history via phone and image metadata and even my emails.

 

Despite my opposition, I whitelist the sites I support. My political stance on advertising shouldn't affect the content creators that I care about with substantially less money than the superpower they're hosted on. I mostly use adblock for protection against content that I don't want to see as most of the sites I view on a regular basis aren't ad filtered, like pictures, social media buttons (I dont use social media) and clickbait.

 

Boost your credit score! Lose x pounds by using this one weird old tip! Dermatologists hate her! The web is so much nicer without these stupid ads I'm not dumb enough to click cluttering the view.

[Jonny Music 3,470]

Since it's YouTube and I have YouTubers that I do support, I don't mind the ads and leave them on (I'll never use AdBlock, ever! Because I am also dependent on Ad revenue for two of my YouTube channels (since they are partnered)).

[TheMisterManGuy 344]

I think that ads are an acceptable evil for websites which host content for free. It's an easy way to generate funding while simultaneously providing viewers with content. I don't, however, support tracking browsers and identities across short or long periods of time.

 

Big data is freaking insane and the number of accurate conclusions a data superpower like google could draw from its various services about its individual users would be astonishing. With advertisements on the TV or radio, they're generally targeted at a generic demographic. For example, I listen to my local classical radio station and a lot of the ads are targeted towards middle aged to senior listeners. Google can figure out my interests based on my youtube history, my subscriptions, my google searches, my android photo album, my nonexistent google plus account, my GPS location history via phone and image metadata and even my emails.

 

Despite my opposition, I whitelist the sites I support. My political stance on advertising shouldn't affect the content creators that I care about with substantially less money than the superpower they're hosted on. I mostly use adblock for protection against content that I don't want to see as most of the sites I view aren't ad filtered, like pictures, social media buttons (I dont use social media) and clickbait.

 

Boost your credit score! Lose x pounds by using this one weird old tip! Dermatologists hate her! The web is so much nicer without these stupid ads cluttering your view.

It's nice to see that some people understand the importance of advertising and make an effort to support what they like. I'm not going to castricise those who use adblock or Ublock origin since I can understand where they're comming from sometimes, but a lot of times, they just seem like cynical people who don't really understand that advertising isn't inherently bad and that it's the reason services like YouTube can be avalible for free. I understand if you don't like ads, but at least understand why they exist. Also, If you don't like Google data mining your info, you can always turn off interest based ads in your account settings. That's what I did since I didn't really notice any difference in ads.

[best poni 1,521]

no no no no No No No No No NO NO NO NO NOOOOOO!!!! I HATE YOUTUBE ADS!! 

[Celtore 2,770]

It's nice to see that some people understand the importance of advertising and make an effort to support what they like. I'm not going to castricise those who use adblock or Ublock origin since I can understand where they're comming from sometimes, but a lot of times, they just seem like cynical people who don't really understand that advertising isn't inherently bad and that it's the reason services like YouTube can be avalible for free. I understand if you don't like ads, but at least understand why they exist. Also, If you don't like Google data mining your info, you can always turn off interest based ads in your account settings. That's what I did since I didn't really notice any difference in ads.

 

That I dont think anyone can disagree with. There are usually three types of revenue for the web to propagate: ads, subscription and donations. You take on a large amount of risk if you go the donation route and you limit your audience if you go the subscription route. If you take ads out of the equation... well, whats left?

 

On the note about google's switch, I've done that and I think it's more of a PR thing than anything else. My point there though was just that big data is a privacy monster that can breach your comfort zone in terms of privacy without you even realizing it and google specifically is in the perfect position to exploit the massive volumes of data it logs rather than just selling it off.

[Jonny Music 3,470]

no no no no No No No No No NO NO NO NO NOOOOOO!!!! I HATE YOUTUBE ADS!! 

 

We get that you hate them. But can you give us a good reason, besides that they are annoying, why you don't like them? Do you not want YouTube to continue to be free to use? If you want YouTube to still be free to use and watch, you'll just have to deal with the ads otherwise. There's no point in complaining about them, they're not going away anytime soon (unless you subscribe to YouTube Red (and not use AdBlock, as you will face consequences in the near eventual future for even using AdBlock)).

Edited November 5, 2015 by Jonny Music

[best poni 1,521]

We get that you hate them. But can you give us a good reason besides that they are annoying, why you don't like them? Do you not want YouTube to continue to be free to use? If you want YouTube to still be free to use and watch, you'll just have to deal with the ads otherwise. There's no point in complaining about them, they're not going away anytime soon (unless you subscribe to YouTube Red (and not use AdBlock, as you will face consequences in the near eventual future for even using AdBlock)).

They waste 15 to 30 seconds of my time

[Jonny Music 3,470]

They waste 15 to 30 seconds of my time

 

Even if those aren't skippable, you have to learn to tolerate unskippable ads that long. 15 and 30 seconds are only fractions of a minute. They are not that big of a deal to begin with.

[best poni 1,521]

Even if those aren't skippable, you have to learn to tolerate unskippable ads that long. 15 and 30 seconds are only fractions of a minute. They are not that big of a deal to begin with.

I just got adblock to deal with the problem 

[Cwanky 17,655]

Honestly as annoying as they are, ultimately most Youtube ads are only 15-30 seconds long. Some can be skipped after just 5 seconds. If you can't be bothered to wait just a few more seconds before watching your videos, you may have a problem. Unless you're Walter White or Jack Bauer, you can spare a few seconds.

 

That said I don't blame those that seek to get adblocking software. But you have to remember, a lot of these Youtube videos are made possible because their creators earn lots of revenue from these ads on their videos, among other sources. Put up with the ads, not for the sake of the advertisers, but the people that make your videos.

 

They're still better than TV commercials anyway.

[Jonny Music 3,470]

I just got adblock to deal with the problem 

 

Use it if you want, but you may get in trouble for using it eventually if YouTube Red ever becomes a success (which seems pretty likely).

 

I don't get why so many people have so little patience for wanting to watch their favourite YouTuber's videos? Good things come to those who wait. Rushing it will just make things worse (especially when it comes to the YouTubers who work their butts off to create the content we love and enjoy. I'd say to give them the time they need to impress us and not rush on how they make their videos/movies, etc.).

[TheMisterManGuy 344]

On the note about google's switch, I've done that and I think it's more of a PR thing than anything else. My point there though was just that big data is a privacy monster that can breach your comfort zone in terms of privacy without you even realizing it and google specifically is in the perfect position to exploit the massive volumes of data it logs rather than just selling it off.

Well I do the bulk of my YouTube viewing through my PS3, so I don't notice any effect of user controled ads. It's a decent Idea in theory, but it just ends up as a useless gimmick.

[El Duderino 879]

Nay. I don't like commercials at all. They just encourage the consumerism habits of people who can't afford it. There are many people out there who go into debt because of credit cards and over spending. These habits are what caused the great depression in 1930's America, and it is bound to happen again. However, on youtube, they are handled well and are not THAT bad, but they do get in the way of my youtube binge watching, and that's annoying.

Edited November 5, 2015 by McDude

[TheMisterManGuy 344]

Nay. I don't like commercials at all. They just encourage the consumerism habits of people who can't afford it. There are many people out there who go into debt because of credit cards and over spending. These habits are what caused the great depression in 1930's America, and it is bound to happen again. Also, they get in the way of my youtube binge watching, and that's annoying.

IMO, commercials can be a good thing if used responsibly and if the ad is interesting to me. However I do have my limits, I dislike having the same ad play 5 times in a row, I also dislike those uneccecary 1-5 minnute ads for products I don't give two shits about. So yeah, I don't think commercials will entice you to buy all the things, they're good in moderation, but I understand if you don't like them.

[Nit Pick 247]

As long as I'm able to legitimately (without ad-block) skip the ad with a skip button. I got no beef with them. I did try to make the ads target my interests but I forgot how I did that. So the ads that I get are not THAT bad. However...

 

GEICO. I despise geico commercials. Hearing that song or that stupid gecko saying "15 minutes could save you 15 percent or more on car insurance" just frustrates me to no end.

 

I would like to see some old commercials from the 80s or 90s on Youtube (as real ads not videos), those would be fun for a minute. But yeah I'd basically like to see more than one commercial over and over again.

[green 331]

I don't like them. Sometimes I'll click on one and get an anxiety attack cause I think my device is gonna get infected.

[Jonny Music 3,470]

As long as I'm able to legitimately (without ad-block) skip the ad with a skip button. I got no beef with them. I did try to make the ads target my interests but I forgot how I did that. So the ads that I get are not THAT bad. However...

 

GEICO. I despise geico commercials. Hearing that song or that stupid gecko saying "15 minutes could save you 15 percent or more on car insurance" just frustrates me to no end.

 

I would like to see some old commercials from the 80s or 90s on Youtube (as real ads not videos), those would be fun for a minute. But yeah I'd basically like to see more than one commercial over and over again.

 

What about the Old Spice Commercials? I find them creative and hilarious. I never disliked one Old Spice commercial.

[Trixie Heartstrings 434]

I use Adblock Plus for pretty much every site. I may choose to white list YouTube in the future, but it doesn't look like it as of now. At most one or two channels I watch on YouTube depend on ads, and I don't even watch them that much. The channels I watch the most are channels that only have ads on their videos when a company hits them with copyright, and the channels don't get any money from it, the money goes to YouTube and whoever claimed copyright on the video. And Adblock is the reason I don't see YouTube Red going anywhere. If people are annoyed with the ads (like me), I think people would rather choose the option that doesn't cost money (and is completely legal btw, or at least not illegal). You may complain about me using Adblock, but remember that I'm not actively trying to get people to use it. Whether or not you want to use it is completely up to you.

[Jonny Music 3,470]

I use Adblock Plus for pretty much every site. I may choose to white list YouTube in the future, but it doesn't look like it as of now. At most one or two channels I watch on YouTube depend on ads, and I don't even watch them that much. The channels I watch the most are channels that only have ads on their videos when a company hits them with copyright, and the channels don't get any money from it, the money goes to YouTube and whoever claimed copyright on the video. And Adblock is the reason I don't see YouTube Red going anywhere. If people are annoyed with the ads (like me), I think people would rather choose the option that doesn't cost money (and is completely legal btw, or at least not illegal). You may complain about me using Adblock, but remember that I'm not actively trying to get people to use it. Whether or not you want to use it is completely up to you.

 

You need to remember otherwise that AdBlock leaves a negative impact and causes consequences for the people who passionately create the content that depend on ad revenue.

 

I have YouTubers that I fully support. Therefore I will not care if the ads are there, because I want them to continue succeeding with their hard work on creating the content I enjoy from them (while keeping YouTube free to watch. The main purpose of ads on YouTube is to keep it free anyways).

Edited November 5, 2015 by Jonny Music

[Nit Pick 247]

What about the Old Spice Commercials? I find them creative and hilarious. I never disliked one Old Spice commercial.

 

Oh right, those are pretty funny!

[Rawzy 1,302]

I don't mind them that much, they only get annoying if they are the really long ones and you wanna watch the video really bad!

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 42,015]

I am fine with ads under two situations: 1. They are not both unskippable and 30 seconds long, that is irritating beyond belief and 2. If they are ads for a channel that I really like and want to support. I feel like one should sit through the ads if they really like a certain channel, it is a simple and easy way to support them. 

[AnArtisticPontato 91]

It depends on what the ad is about. If it's a new Halo game for example, I'll watch it. If it's for Arby's, I don't want to watch it for fear of getting too hungry.

[cmarston1 5,962]

As long as they aren't unskippable and like 30 seconds long I am fine with them.

I don't like them a lot but most of the time they don't annoy me.