YouTube: Difference between revisions

Retina (talk | contribs)
m Changed "wikipedia.com" to "wikipedia.org" in the references. Information cannot be grabbed from "wikipedia.com", as all "wikipedia.com" links redirect to "wikipedia.org" automatically.
New sources, and revised sections, everything looks a lot more neutral now!
Line 16: Line 16:
YouTube has faced criticism and regulatory scrutiny on multiple fronts. Concerns have been raised about content moderation policies, the platform's role in the spread of misinformation, and its impact on user privacy, particularly in relation to data collection practices. Additionally, YouTube has been under fire for its algorithms, which some argue promote harmful or divisive content to maximize engagement.
YouTube has faced criticism and regulatory scrutiny on multiple fronts. Concerns have been raised about content moderation policies, the platform's role in the spread of misinformation, and its impact on user privacy, particularly in relation to data collection practices. Additionally, YouTube has been under fire for its algorithms, which some argue promote harmful or divisive content to maximize engagement.


==Anticonsumer actions==
==Anti-consumer actions==


===Advertising overload in YouTube===
===Advertising overload in YouTube===
:<i>See also: [[Advertising overload|Advertising Overload]]</i>
:<i>See also: [[Advertising overload|Advertising Overload]]</i>
<!-- Needs citations -->
Advertisements are YouTube's primary source of revenue,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/our-commitments/sharing-revenue/</ref> but because the platform is run by a publicly shared parent company, it is forced to grow its revenue by any means necessary. This has led to advertisements becoming more pervasive on the platform<ref>https://www.33rdsquare.com/why-youtube-has-so-many-ads-and-why-there-will-probably-be-more/</ref> such as an increasing number of spaces for static ads,<!-- No article specifically states this, but whenever I use a device without an adblock, I have been seeing more static ads on the home page and video sidebar. I think it is reasonable to assume they don't mention it because they are distracted by the more annoying video ads - JamesTDG --> longer ad breaks (which some users have documented being longer than the videos they watch<ref>https://www.androidauthority.com/youtube-long-unskippable-ads-problem-3519957/</ref><ref>https://www.pcworld.com/article/2590352/hours-long-unskippable-ads-spotted-on-youtube-whats-going-on.html</ref>), increased ad frequency in videos,<ref>https://www.howtogeek.com/youtube-is-adding-even-more-ads/</ref> and poorer quality ads.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRjGn54O4Zg</ref><ref>https://sherwood.news/business/mobile-game-ads-industry-fake-misleading/</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsKlfN9phAs</ref> Practices are also put into place in order to force non-paying users into seeing these ads as well, such as subscription-gating playing videos in the background.<ref>"Background play so you can watch while using other apps or with your screen locked" Via: https://www.youtube.com/premium?ybp=Sg0IBhIJdW5saW1pdGVk4AEB</ref> Even these paywalls are beginning to lose their value, as users have reported seeing ads while paying for YouTube Premium.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/18ll7y6/i_have_youtube_premium_why_am_i_getting_adds/</ref><ref>https://9to5google.com/2024/11/13/youtube-premium-ads-statement/</ref>
Ads fund YouTube, but because the platform is run by a publicly shared parent company, it is forced to grow its revenue by any means necessary. This has led to advertisements becoming more pervasive on the platform such as an increasing number of spaces for static ads, longer ad breaks (which some users have documented being longer than the videos they watch), increased ad frequency in videos, and of course, poorer quality ads.
<!-- Needs citations -->
Practices are also put into place in order to force non-paying users into seeing these ads as well, such as paywalling playing videos in the background. Even these paywalls are beginning to lose their value, as users have reported seeing ads while paying for YouTube Premium.


===Crackdown against ad-blockers===
===Crackdown against ad-blockers===
<!-- Needs citations -->
<!-- Needs citations -->
Due to the platform's reliance on advertisements as a revenue stream, YouTube has been pushed into integrating more and more ads, especially those of dubious quality or ethics. This led to the increasing usage of ad-blockers on the platform. While remaining relatively niche in the beginning, Google eventually turned towards a tirade against adblockers.  
Related to the incessant usage of ads on the platform, consumers have been needing to use adblockers while on the platform merely to watch their videos. Unfortunately, Google sparked a game of cat and mouse, and has been attempting to integrate a variant of DRM onto YouTube to make consumers watch ads.<ref>https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2024/06/20/youtubes-ad-blocker-ban-just-got-even-bigger/</ref><ref>https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/11/youtube-tries-to-kill-ad-blockers-in-push-for-ad-dollars-premium-subs/</ref> However, these attempts usually only work for a short period before AdBlock tools find new ways to circumvent the advertisements,<ref>https://community.brave.com/t/brave-no-longer-blocking-youtube-ads-as-of-march-27-2024/540032/2</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
<!-- Note: this section will need to be revised since it mostly covers the aftermath and cites only speculation -->
https://ublockorigin.com/ --> resulting in these actions taking place reflecting the Streisand Effect. <!-- SEO hates me here, want a source directly mentioning this but all I am getting slammed with is one specific adblocker in 2020 eating up RAM from a bunch of news sources. -->  
It is reported that in Googles crackdown on ad-blockers some users are inexplicably receiving hour long advertisements, in which speculations rise are a crackdown on ad blocking extensions.<ref>[https://www.androidpolice.com/youtube-hours-continuous-ads-google-says-not-bug/ "YouTube is serving up hours of continuous ads for some, but Google says it's not a bug"] - androidpolice.com - accessed 2025-01-30</ref>  
 
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2590352/hours-long-unskippable-ads-spotted-on-youtube-whats-going-on.html
 
<!-- End note goes here-->
 
==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}