YouTube algorithm needs work

I use YouTube videos to play along with songs. The songs I play along to are classic rock, blues, some country, and a little bluegrass.

As most of you know, fairly recently they started putting ads before every video unless you pay for ad-free. So, given that they can clearly track what videos I use, youā€™d think theyā€™d customize the ads to me. But no, I keep getting ads for the latest albums by current pop stars; music Iā€™d never listen to. Some of the artists Iā€™ve never heard of, some I barely recognize. Like today one was for a new album by Doja Cat.

If theyā€™re going to force me to watch ads, at least make them for something I might be interested in.

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Ads on youtube? Iā€™d forgotten about those. You should get AdBlock or similar.

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At least you get music adds, I only get adds about car accessories (I couldnā€™t care less about the way my car looks) and programs to quit smoking (never smoked).

Off topic, that reminded me of a joke:

slightly rude joke

ā€œDo you smoke after making love?ā€

ā€œI donā€™t know, I never lookedā€

Regarding YouTube, I would say that all of the ā€œtargettedā€ ads always suck, on just about every platform. For instance, I have often purchased stuff on Amazon, and then for weeks after had ā€œtargettedā€ ads for the thing I already bought popping up everywhere.

I think the only time theyā€™ve been effective is on Facebook when used for illegal political campaging (cough Cambridge Analytica).

Cheers,

Keith

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Iā€™m actually happy about the fact that the ads I see arenā€™t directly related to my interests. This means that google doesnā€™t have a lot of information about my browsing habits. I prefer some privacy. Being provided with many ads in general is frustrating, yes, but Iā€™m not concerned about the fact that I see completely irrelevant ads. Not sure if that makes senseā€¦

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I always thought this was funny, too.

If I just bought a water filter for my specific refrigerator (and Amazon has data that I always have bought that filter), why advertise another filter immediately, especially for ones that wont fit my fridge?

I also get a lot of adds to buy guitars and associated equipment. I wonder whyšŸ¤”?

What does worry me though, are the ones not linked to browsing. I was driving in the mountains with my phone on its magnetic dash mount (iPhone). On the way up, I drove past a Tesla Cybertruck. Later I was talking to some friends in the car as we went to the ski hill and was commenting on how ugly and imposing I thought the Cybertruck looked. Within seconds I got a text (!) advertising the Cybertruck and how awesome it was. Then for weeks kept getting cybertruck adds everywhere. Note, I did not search or physically enter anything about this into my phone.

Apparently they listen, but donā€™t actually hear what you are saying, because I was not saying good things about it.

Maybe it doesnā€™t need tuning at all, perhaps theyā€™re trying to drive you towards premium!

Personally I do pay for YouTube premium and have no issues about doing so. I watch plenty on it across multiple devices and donā€™t subscribe to other streaming platforms. It also includes music so I donā€™t need a separate subscription to Apple Music or Spotify

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Same here, I watch by the hour, so worth it for me.

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I used to have an adblocker, but YT detected it and wouldnā€™t show videos if it was not switched off. What do you use? :thinking:

I use AdBlock. When youtube got upset about that, I disabled it and got uBlock, which worked. A few days after that I heard that AdBlock released a new version that youtube canā€™t block. In the end, I have both AdBlock and uBlock activated, Iā€™m not sure which one is actually blocking the ads, probably both.

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Ad blockers arenā€™t particularly common for large screen TVs either! Sure i can connect my laptop to my TV but thatā€™s just a faff I can do without. I watch more YouTube than anything else so Iā€™d rather just pay and have the best experience

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Cheers fot that :smiley:
Just checked and it seems to be working effectively again.
I was a bit disappointed that my ā€˜freeā€™ premium service was no longer available, but thought fair enough :rofl:
While Iā€™m getting free tech advice, any decent free adblockers for android phones out there? :rofl:

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Sure :smiley:
I use the ā€œNewPipeā€ app on my android phone, and installed it via the F-Droid store. https://newpipe.net/. No ads, no tracking, background playing, and other features. Google unfortunately announced that they might block this app in the future, but at the moment it still works perfectly for me.

Edit:

If you donā€™t want to install yet an other app it is also possible to add the uBlock Origin extension to your mobile Firefox. Unlike Chrome on Android, Firefox supports extensions. I have not tested this solution though, but I donā€™t see why it shouldnā€™t work.

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Thanks for the heads-up. I had my AdBlock turned off, because as brianlarsen said, YouTube wouldnā€™t play unless I disabled it. Iā€™ll turn it back on and see if itā€™s workable now.

Woohoo! AdBlock Plus worked perfectly on YouTube for this afternoonā€™s guitar session. Thanks!

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Any idea if there is an Adblock or an equivalent when watching YouTube on a SmartTV (mine happens to be an LG)?

Hey, who told a forum lady not so long ago that wanting everything for free and without advertisements is not the right way :face_with_raised_eyebrow:ā€¦ just pay that tenner (thatā€™s what YouTube music costs here) and all your irritations are over ā€¦

Now letā€™s find something for difficult Dutch people ey ā€¦ :roll_eyes:

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Iā€™m afraid my memory cells are denying access to that particular comment (so a link would be helpful :pray:), but my general attitude is- I am happy to make use of ā€˜freeā€™ items in general, but find it weird when people complain about the quality/functionality of that ā€˜freeā€™ service. This happens eg with the Justinguitar website/forum, YouTube, social media platforms etcā€¦
I thought you were busy watching a stone that stopped rolling? :thinking:

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Ooo sorry noā€¦ 3/4 month ago and

In this context it looks a bit better and the other thing will certainly be said in that feel as wellā€¦so of the hook you areā€¦ :sweat_smile:

:rofl: :joy: :rofl:

Unfortunately it was a short conversation about the upcoming documentary and a total waste of my timeā€¦although I just kept chatting hereā€¦thatā€™s going to stop for a while because it almost gives me a rough voice :roll_eyes:ā€¦

See that you have posted another song, I will listen to it later this afternoon or tomorrow :sunglasses:

Greetings

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Might have been about folk complaining they canā€™t use Don Henleyā€™s music for free anymore?

Gonna need Google Translate for that. Thisā€™ll be like a game of Chinese whispers :rofl:
Iā€™ll stop typing and start playing now :sunglasses: