Comment on Google says adblockers caused YouTube views count to drop - this is what adblockers told us really happened

Jestzer@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

• A_norny_mousse@feddit.org ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  OK. I mean Fuck Alphabet anyhow, but this means a youtuber who relies on view counts for monetary income (I guess) would actually have reason to worry about adblockers?

  Again, I’m not saying I’m against adblockers or even this particular feature. And I very well see what Google is doing here, trying to get their creators up in arms against adblocking. I just want to know if this is debunkable or if youtubers would have a genuine argument here.

  I did not really understand above explanation. I guess I need it ELI5.

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  • orclev@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Basically Youtube instead of counting views via actual requests for the videos instead uses a separate call that essentially says “hey, someone watched this video”. All the ad blockers rather than use a hard coded list of URLs to block which would quickly go stale instead use one of a couple different 3rd party lists the most popular of which is EasyList. EasyList decided to block the URL that youtube uses to register views on the principal that it was a privacy violation because it not only registers “hey someone watched this” but also captures exactly who watched it which allows Google to track your viewing habits.

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  • Funwayguy@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    It wouldn’t matter whether it was intentional or not. Put simply, Google can continue indirectly punishing creators for tolerating adblockers then redirect blame, even though they could have easily separated the metrics from the advertising and telemetry endpoints that blockers filtered. This way they get their money either from unblocked ads or from creator’s reduced view counts, win-win for Google.

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    • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      So you’re saying Google packaged the viewcount that’s relevant to monetization into a 3rd party js data request instead of just counting the actual video’s views, and so manages to play content creators against privacy-conscious users?

      Worthy of a Roman Emperor, that.

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      • Funwayguy@lemmy.world ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        See that’s the fun part. Google is the ad company so it’s all 1st party data. Google can package the Trojan horse however they please, which why it’s such a fine line for the blockers to walk.

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  • Mirodir@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I kept up with the drama until about a week ago so what I’m saying here is the status from back then someone please add any new context if I’m missing any new developments:

    From what it appeared, view counts dropped but ad revenue stayed the same. Even before this whole thing, YouTube pays out for ads watched (and clicked). Pay out was not dependent on raw view count for a long time, if ever.

    This suspicious behavior of view count dropping but ad revenue staying the same is actually what tipped people off that the issue was adblock related. The fact that channels with a larger focus on a younger audience seeing less of a drop also helped.

    Now those view counts dropping could still have an indirect, negative effect on ad revenue, if it, e.g. automatically leads to YouTube recommending their videos less prominently.

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    • orclev@lemmy.world ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Reported view counts are also important for sponsorships as sponsored video payouts are often tied to hitting specific view counts, and even getting sponsorships and their rates are also typically conditional on view counts. So yes, even though it doesn’t directly impact ad revenue it still directly impacts total channel revenue for anyone that accepts sponsorships.

      All that said, Google caused this entire mess by bundling their view counting in with their telemetry. If they just reported the raw download stats for the streams instead of trying to determine every last detail of who is watching the video (for all that juicy advertising data) this problem wouldn’t have happened in the first place.

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  • doingthestuff@lemy.lol ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I have a few YouTubers I like to support with views of all of their content. Because I want them to get the support, I watch their content on YouTube with no ad blockers.

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    • Covenant@sh.itjust.works ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Louis Rossmann says if you donate 1 dollar direct to the YouTuber you give them more support than a couple of years of watching ads. Keep using a adblocker and buy some merch for support.

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      • doingthestuff@lemy.lol ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I have bought merch, but not everyone has merch for sale. Also I don’t have much extra cash, and they definitely get money from views too, it’s why I advocate other people giving them views also. Also, one of the biggest income drivers for them are sponsorships, and you have to have high view counts to attract sponsors.

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