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, youād think theyād customize the ads to me. But no, I keep getting ads for the latest albums by current pop stars; music Iād never listen to. Some of the artists Iāve never heard of, some I barely recognize. Like today one was for a new album by Doja Cat.
If theyāre going to force me to watch ads, at least make them for something I might be interested in.
At least you get music adds, I only get adds about car accessories (I couldnāt care less about the way my car looks) and programs to quit smoking (never smoked).
Regarding YouTube, I would say that all of the ātargettedā ads always suck, on just about every platform. For instance, I have often purchased stuff on Amazon, and then for weeks after had ātargettedā ads for the thing I already bought popping up everywhere.
I think the only time theyāve been effective is on Facebook when used for illegal political campaging (cough Cambridge Analytica).
Iām actually happy about the fact that the ads I see arenāt directly related to my interests. This means that google doesnāt have a lot of information about my browsing habits. I prefer some privacy. Being provided with many ads in general is frustrating, yes, but Iām not concerned about the fact that I see completely irrelevant ads. Not sure if that makes senseā¦
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 whyš¤?
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 donāt actually hear what you are saying, because I was not saying good things about it.
Maybe it doesnāt need tuning at all, perhaps theyāre 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 donāt subscribe to other streaming platforms. It also includes music so I donāt need a separate subscription to Apple Music or Spotify
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 canāt block. In the end, I have both AdBlock and uBlock activated, Iām not sure which one is actually blocking the ads, probably both.
Ad blockers arenāt particularly common for large screen TVs either! Sure i can connect my laptop to my TV but thatās just a faff I can do without. I watch more YouTube than anything else so Iād rather just pay and have the best experience
Cheers fot that
Just checked and it seems to be working effectively again.
I was a bit disappointed that my āfreeā premium service was no longer available, but thought fair enough
While Iām getting free tech advice, any decent free adblockers for android phones out there?
Sure
I use the āNewPipeā 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 donāt 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 donāt see why it shouldnāt work.
Thanks for the heads-up. I had my AdBlock turned off, because as brianlarsen said, YouTube wouldnāt play unless I disabled it. Iāll turn it back on and see if itās workable now.
Hey, who told a forum lady not so long ago that wanting everything for free and without advertisements is not the right way ā¦ just pay that tenner (thatās what YouTube music costs here) and all your irritations are over ā¦
Now letās find something for difficult Dutch people ey ā¦
Iām afraid my memory cells are denying access to that particular comment (so a link would be helpful ), but my general attitude is- I am happy to make use of āfreeā items in general, but find it weird when people complain about the quality/functionality of that āfreeā 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?
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¦
Unfortunately it was a short conversation about the upcoming documentary and a total waste of my timeā¦although I just kept chatting hereā¦thatās going to stop for a while because it almost gives me a rough voice ā¦
See that you have posted another song, I will listen to it later this afternoon or tomorrow
ā¦ just pay that tenner (thatās what YouTube music costs here) and all your irritations are over ā¦
), but my general attitude is- I am happy to make use of āfreeā items in general, but find it weird when people complain about the quality/functionality of that āfreeā service. This happens eg with the Justinguitar website/forum, YouTube, social media platforms etcā¦
