I used to spend a non-negligible amount of time on YouTube - listening to podcasts, watching product reviews and learning things. And I used to do that on my laptop - in the browser - when I lived by myself. And I did what any normal person with technical background did - blocked all ads. It was a reasonably pleasant experience, except for the occasional shell-shock when I tried to open YouTube on a different device that did not have ad blocker installed.
Life went on and I no longer lived by myself. Then we bought a TV. A “smart” one. With YouTube on it. We wanted to watch videos. That turned out to be an unbearable experience. That’s when I bit the bullet, put down the pirate hat and paid for YouTube Premium.
At first, it was great - pure content, no ads. But as the years went on I noticed more and more ads integrated directly into the videos. A sponsored content. You know what I mean:
- VPNs
- web hosting services
- skill shares
- meal kits
- “investment” platforms
- subscription boxes
- shaving razors
Why am I seeing this? I explicitly pay to not see any ads.
I understand that creators want to make money. But they get their cut from my subscription on the videos that I watch. No need to shove ads down my throat. I got pissed …
And started investigating. How can I skip sponsored segments? The official app can’t do that. But there is a solution: SponsorBlock. Originally a browser extension that exposes sponsor timestamps and many alternative YouTube applications integrate with it:
And guess what - all of them block the standard YouTube ads as well! They deliver exactly what YouTube Premium promised but failed to deliver - an ad-free experience.
Lessons learned 🔗
- For YouTube: The official app should be better, or at least on par with free alternatives
- For creators: Monetize too aggressively and end up with nothing