I watch a large, large amount of content on YouTube. For me, it’s easily worth it, but I also have to mention that I used a VPN to subscribe in a country where the prices are cheaper, and most likely would not pay the “real” price.
This also means that I have no real idea about the current ad situation.
Still, I know how expensive hosting gets, and there are no real alternatives to Google. Amazon and Microsoft can do it, but even if they launch a service, they need creators on it, and, more importantly, they need users. YouTube had more than a decade to establish itself. Any new platform needs a few years to get users, and it will lose money every second of that time.
You have your smaller platforms, but they need to survive as well, and not everyone is willing to pay a monthly price to access it. Nebula lives as long as there are users willing to pay for it. Floatplane requires a subscription as well. Both platforms only host a limited number of creators.
In the video hosting business, unfortunately, there are no bad guys. I can understand why no one wants to watch the same 30 second long ads, 3-4 at a time, 2 times a video. I also understand the platforms that want to survive, and make a profit. Unfortunately, adblocks, as much as necessary, are the cause of the problem as well.
krogoth@lemmy.sdf.org 8 months ago
I’m never going to shed any tears for Google losing revenue, and I’ve got no issues with people using adblockers etc. That said, I think saying that not being able to understand why people pay for it risks being a bit narrow minded.
Paying for things that you use shouldn’t be seen as some abherrent action. If you watch an hour of YouTube a day on average that’s still less than a buck an hour even with the price hike. I imagine some folks also like the convenience of being able to just use the official aps without fucking around, particularly if they have iPhones.
Pay for premium, or watch ads, or get into the ad-avoidance arms race, or stop using YouTube. It doesn’t bother me which one people choose. But this opinion that some folks seem to have that they are for some reason entitled to gratis, ad-free video streaming is so bizarre.
whofearsthenight@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Indeed, and as I posted elsewhere these days I’m far less likely to buy into a product where it’s not clear how money is being made as was the case for Youtube and the last decade. It’s only been free and easily ad-blockable for this long because the Silicon Valley way is to make a product that really can’t exist on it’s own but survives due to the deep pockets of the company or VC until it dominates the market and then turn the screws. Tie this to the fact these are all publicly traded and there is never enough growth, and we get here.
This is why enshittification is suddenly top of mind for everyone. For the last couple of decades, we’ve been enjoying the fruits of this model and we’re now reaching the part where everything has consolidated and the surviving companies start jacking up prices and so forth. Netflix, Uber, Amazon, Reddit, Google/Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, etc have all done this in one way or another.
Agreed, and further if a company today presented this as their model, I would be skeptical as hell and unlikely to even try the service.
That said, I’m not losing any tears for Google. I’m in the US so not subject to this price increase, and while I do pay for Premium and find a lot of value in the service, I wouldn’t be able to tolerate a near doubling in price.
krogoth@lemmy.sdf.org 7 months ago
Those are some good points, and I think what you’ve highlighted is probably a part of the reason why so many people seem to have the “YouTube should be free” reaction. They literally cannot remember a time before VC money was paying for a lot of services on their behalf.
calypsopub@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I agree. I don’t watch YT often but when I do, I usually let the ads play for my favorite creators because I want them to get paid.
Emprx@lemm.ee 8 months ago
My favourite creators say “turn on adblock and if you can, support me on Patreon”