YouTube: Difference between revisions
→Crackdown against ad-blockers: wording-tone changes |
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However, these measures typically exhibit limited efficacy before ad-blocking tools develop new methods of circumvention,<ref>{{Cite web |first=Kate |last=O'Flaherty |title=YouTube’s Ad Blocker Ban Just Got Even Bigger |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2024/06/20/youtubes-ad-blocker-ban-just-got-even-bigger/ |website=Forbes |date=20 Jun 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=Scharon |last=Harding |title=YouTube’s ad blocker crackdown escalates, aggravating users |url=https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/11/youtube-tries-to-kill-ad-blockers-in-push-for-ad-dollars-premium-subs/ |website=Ars Technica |date=1 Nov 2023 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101170643/https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/11/youtube-tries-to-kill-ad-blockers-in-push-for-ad-dollars-premium-subs/ |archive-date=1 Nov 2023}}</ref><ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMaFH4KzOVg YouTube blocks adblockers; will this be their downfall?]</ref> a dynamic that some analysts suggest exemplifies the<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brave no longer blocking youtube ads as of March 27, 2024 |url=https://community.brave.com/t/brave-no-longer-blocking-youtube-ads-as-of-march-27-2024/540032 |website=Brave |date=27 May 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240801101510/https://community.brave.com/t/brave-no-longer-blocking-youtube-ads-as-of-march-27-2024/540032 |archive-date=1 Aug 2024}}</ref><!-- Can someone add a source from ublock? Here's their site and wiki if anyone wants to chip in. | However, these measures typically exhibit limited efficacy before ad-blocking tools develop new methods of circumvention,<ref>{{Cite web |first=Kate |last=O'Flaherty |title=YouTube’s Ad Blocker Ban Just Got Even Bigger |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2024/06/20/youtubes-ad-blocker-ban-just-got-even-bigger/ |website=Forbes |date=20 Jun 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=Scharon |last=Harding |title=YouTube’s ad blocker crackdown escalates, aggravating users |url=https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/11/youtube-tries-to-kill-ad-blockers-in-push-for-ad-dollars-premium-subs/ |website=Ars Technica |date=1 Nov 2023 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101170643/https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/11/youtube-tries-to-kill-ad-blockers-in-push-for-ad-dollars-premium-subs/ |archive-date=1 Nov 2023}}</ref><ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMaFH4KzOVg YouTube blocks adblockers; will this be their downfall?]</ref> a dynamic that some analysts suggest exemplifies the<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brave no longer blocking youtube ads as of March 27, 2024 |url=https://community.brave.com/t/brave-no-longer-blocking-youtube-ads-as-of-march-27-2024/540032 |website=Brave |date=27 May 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240801101510/https://community.brave.com/t/brave-no-longer-blocking-youtube-ads-as-of-march-27-2024/540032 |archive-date=1 Aug 2024}}</ref><!-- Can someone add a source from ublock? Here's their site and wiki if anyone wants to chip in. | ||
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki | https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki | ||
https://ublockorigin.com/ --> {{Wplink|Streisand effect}}.<ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GARcKCaUfI YouTube's adblock war is backfiring in the worst way possible 🤣]</ref> | https://ublockorigin.com/ --><nowiki> </nowiki>{{Wplink|Streisand effect}}.<ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GARcKCaUfI YouTube's adblock war is backfiring in the worst way possible 🤣]</ref> | ||
Additional strategies have involved the integration of advertisements directly into video streams. This approach has impaired the functionality of certain browser extensions, including SponsorBlock, a community-driven tool designed to skip sponsored segments within videos. The extension relies on user-submitted timestamps to identify these segments; its effectiveness is significantly reduced when personalized advertisements, which vary in duration and placement for each viewer, are embedded into the stream itself.<ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weP62wPEjRw Youtube is dedicated to making this website worse; destroys sponsorblock with ad injection changes]</ref> | Additional strategies have involved the integration of advertisements directly into video streams. This approach has impaired the functionality of certain browser extensions, including SponsorBlock, a community-driven tool designed to skip sponsored segments within videos. The extension relies on user-submitted timestamps to identify these segments; its effectiveness is significantly reduced when personalized advertisements, which vary in duration and placement for each viewer, are embedded into the stream itself.<ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weP62wPEjRw Youtube is dedicated to making this website worse; destroys sponsorblock with ad injection changes]</ref> | ||
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According to YouTube, this was implemented after user testing revealed that users were less likely to feel incentivized to actively try and manipulate the dislike count on videos if the dislike count was not visible to them.<ref name=":2" /> This spurred the creation of "Return YouTube Dislike" by Dmitry Selivanov, a third-party web browser extension to expose the dislike count again. YouTube discontinued the related API, upon which the extension relied, on 13 December 2021. From thereon "Return YouTube Dislike" switched "to using a combination of archived dislike stats, estimates extrapolated from extension user data and estimates based on view/like ratios for videos whose dislikes weren't archived and for outdated dislike archives."<ref>{{Cite web |first=Michael |last=Can |title=Browser Extension Brings Back Dislike Count to YouTube Videos |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/browser-extension-brings-back-dislike-count-to-youtube-videos | According to YouTube, this was implemented after user testing revealed that users were less likely to feel incentivized to actively try and manipulate the dislike count on videos if the dislike count was not visible to them.<ref name=":2" /> This spurred the creation of "Return YouTube Dislike" by Dmitry Selivanov, a third-party web browser extension to expose the dislike count again. YouTube discontinued the related API, upon which the extension relied, on 13 December 2021. From thereon "Return YouTube Dislike" switched "to using a combination of archived dislike stats, estimates extrapolated from extension user data and estimates based on view/like ratios for videos whose dislikes weren't archived and for outdated dislike archives."<ref>{{Cite web |first=Michael |last=Can |title=Browser Extension Brings Back Dislike Count to YouTube Videos |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/browser-extension-brings-back-dislike-count-to-youtube-videos | ||
|website=PC Mag |date=29 Nov 2021 |access-date=13 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130001311/https://www.pcmag.com/news/browser-extension-brings-back-dislike-count-to-youtube-videos |archive-date=30 Nov 2021}}</ref> | |website=PC Mag |date=29 Nov 2021 |access-date=13 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130001311/https://www.pcmag.com/news/browser-extension-brings-back-dislike-count-to-youtube-videos |archive-date=30 Nov 2021}}</ref> | ||
===Anti-features and dark patterns to trick the user into staying longer<!--This is pretty self-evident, but we should still add some sources I must concur, needs more refs - JamesTDG-->=== | |||
YouTube has introduced multiple features that are designed to make the user stay longer on the platform and watch more videos than they intended, thus increasing ad revenue. They come at the cost of making it harder to watch the content the user actually wants to watch. | |||
This includes the introduction of a feature called Autoplay that resumes playback of another video (chosen by the platform) immediately after the current one ends (after a delay of about 8 seconds), in the hope that the user gets hooked and continues to watch. By default, this feature is enabled,<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 Apr 2025 |title=Autoplay videos - YouTube Help |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6327615?hl=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250401080124/https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6327615?hl=en |archive-date=1 Apr 2025 |access-date=13 Jul 2025 |website=[[Google]]}}</ref> and the user is not immediately informed that it is enabled. | |||
Another feature like this is the inclusion of irrelevant videos in search results.{{Citation needed}} If the user searches for something and scrolls down the list too far, the likelihood of them finding what they were looking for decreases since results are generally sorted by what the platform deems relevant to the search query. Hence, if the user scrolls down too far, it is likely that they give up and leave the site. Therefore YouTube started to add random videos out of its recommendation list for the user into the search results, increasing the probability that they see something they will click and watch.{{Citation needed}} This makes it much harder and more inconvenient to find relevant search results since the user has to scroll past all the noise that is designed to distract them. It also means that a video that is actually relevant is less likely to be discovered — especially if it still has low view counts — since unrelated videos are promoted in search in its place. | |||
===High number of bots<!--NEEDS citations-->=== | |||
Upon the initial publication of a video, the comment section is frequently targeted by coordinated automated accounts.{{Citation needed}} These accounts often engage in disruptive activities, including attempts to direct users to external scams or artificially inflate engagement.{{Citation needed}} | |||
These accounts commonly employ identifiable tactics, such as: | These accounts commonly employ identifiable tactics, such as: | ||
* Utilizing profile pictures of popular public figures or suggestive imagery. | |||
* Reposting highly-liked comments from the same video, sometimes with minor edits if the comment gains significant traction. | |||
* Posting generic comments that are irrelevant to the video's content or the channel's focus. | |||
Despite consistent feedback from content creators and the broader community, effective platform-level measures to automatically detect and mitigate this activity appear limited.{{Citation needed}} Consequently, content creators and their moderation teams are often required to manually review and remove these comments on a per-video basis to maintain the quality and safety of their community interactions.{{Citation needed}} | |||
=== | ===Crackdown against third-party front-ends <!--Still want to include more examples of frontends breaking-->=== | ||
Since the beginning of 2025, users have been reporting issues with 3rd-party frontends accessing the platform.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 Feb 2025 |title=Youtube changed something, again! |url=https://nadeko.net/announcements/invidious-02-20/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250816014757/https://nadeko.net/announcements/invidious-02-20/ |archive-date=16 Aug 2025 |access-date=16 Aug 2025}}</ref> For FreeTube, there has been a heightened amount of people receiving [[wikipedia:HTTP_403|403 errors]] associated with IP blocks when attempting to view videos via this frontend.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gevaarlijk |date=Jan 31, 2025 |title=[Bug]: [BAD_HTTP_STATUS: 403] Potential causes: IP block or streaming URL deciphering failed #6701 |url=https://github.com/FreeTubeApp/FreeTube/issues/6701 |access-date=Aug 30, 2025 |website=[[GitHub]]}}</ref> | |||
==References== | ==References== |