"Very dramatic shift" - Linus Tech Tips opens up about the channel's declining viewership

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• r0ertel@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I came here to see if it was the early signs of the demise of YouTube. I secretly want all these content producers to move to a privacy-respecting platform, especially those who produce tech or privacy related content.

  Now, for why I don’t watch videos anymore, the medium isn’t as easily consumed by me. I prefer text. At home, it’s noisy and I get interrupted every 90 seconds. I lose interest quickly and fast forwarding isn’t as easy as scanning text for a topic shift. My mind wanders on some topics, internally exploring that topic deeper. With text, i can just stop reading. With video, i need to realize that I’m processing a thought and hit pause, then rewind a bit. I get interrupted a lot. On the bus, I need to remember headphones and I hate when people shoulder surf. That’s harder to do with text. Give me a plain text RSS feed that I can read anytime.

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  • sibachian@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    i mean; this has always been my take but people don’t understand that we’re all different and insist video medium is best medium.

    and now blogs are dying because of ai.

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• spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  Google is now expecting users to watch ads that are sometimes a full 25% of the viewing time, or slowing access and requiring logins when adblock is being used.

  And even if you wade through all that, watching Youtube tech and info videos has become a lot like looking at online recipes. The majority of what you find is fluff and filler for only small amounts of useful content.

  I used to go to Youtube daily for research and entertainment. Now I avoid the site completely whenever possible.

  It seems we’ve finally reached an enshittification tipping point. It’s about time.

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• x_pikl_x@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Stopped watching this douche nozzle when they were having a big meet and greet to celebrate their new studio. And he looks at the camera guy and tells them inf front of all the fans they’re having a good time with… Overtime tonight guys, we gotta edit this footage and have it online today. Would have quit my job on the spot and as a viewer I quit my part in the bullshit right then and there.

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  • humanoidchaos@lemmy.cif.su ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I dunno, I realized a long time ago this is just a business for the people engaging in it.

    Of course they’re making more money than they need and are partying as much as possible with it.

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  • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    May care to link to what you mean?
    Can’t remember what you are talking about.

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• whosepoopisonmybutt@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I was never a fan of Linus tech tips. He always seemed like a weird guy. I did watch that video where he totally fucked his Linux installation by being really dumb. The package manager warned him that he was about to destroy his system and made him type something like “Yes, I know what I’m doing”. He then reacted like, “why would Linux do this to me!? It’s so hard!”

  Either a paid shill or an absolute moron.

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  • aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    por que no los dos

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  • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    can be both, yes and i also noticed wierd vibes from. cant understand the fans shilling for this pseudo-tech person that thinks hes jack of all trades.

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• dataprolet@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Maybe post actually interesting content instead of pumping out a bunch of variations of the same video about building yet another PC on a dozen of channels. After the whole drama about video quality we got a few more citations but the overall video quality got worse. And then 1/3 videos are paid as if Linus weren’t a multi millionaire. Realize it LTT sucks.

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  • lepinkainen@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Then why are other channels noticing a viewer drop too?

    youtu.be/cpVnx4_yqTo

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  • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    i read that his producing company was worth 10+million at the time.

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• Redex68@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  The more interesting part for me, that they mentioned on the WAN show, is that while viewers dropped significantly, the revenue basically hasn’t changed. They’re more or less making the same amount of money from half the amount of reported viewers.

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  • leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    They’re more or less making the same amount of money from half the amount of reported viewers.

    This would pretty much confirm that they’ve stopped counting viewers who use adblockers.

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  • GamingChairModel@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Isn’t that the formula? They take all of the revenue, set aside the percentage they’ve set for revenue share, and then divide that among all channels based on viewer counts. Dropping viewership for all channels proportionally means that the same amount of revenue will still be distributed to the channels in the previous ratios.

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    • Redex68@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I’m not quite sure I understood what you were talking about, but they specifically showed their revenues from YouTube AdSense for the past year or so, and they showed exactly how much they gained from each video, and it shows basically a straight line, whilst the same graph for viewers shows a substantial decrease. I’m not sure if that was specifically for LTT or for all of their channels, but I’m assuming it was just for LTT. That has no relation to them then splitting their revenues to their different channels.

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    • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The same proportion will be given but the total revenue overall should shrink with less viewers, so less for each creator.

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• lone_faerie@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Maybe try not threatening to sue former employees when they come forward about sexual harassment

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• JTskulk@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  It’s insane he ever had a healthy viewership in the first place.

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  • NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    His videos have always seemed like long-form advertisements for various tech products

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    • JTskulk@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I learned about him right before his whole PopOs thing. I couldn’t believe that people would take computing advice from someone who also doesn’t read what’s on the screen in front of him. I expect this from my users I do tech support for, but not someone that bills himself as something as an expert.

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  • zipzoopaboop@lemmynsfw.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Scrapyard wars and secret shopper are fun

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• interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Are people pretending that Youtube doesn’t tweedle the knobs and intervenes massively in the al mighty algorithm like it’s not just a audience mind puppet but some kind of transcendental meritocracy ?

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• chilicheeselies@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  My theory is that we have a limited number of hours a day to view content. We also have a growing number of channels and content in general. Algorithms include new content we kight enjoy, and for every new channel we get hooked on, one of the older ones drops off.

  Tv shows rarely (ever?) Last forever. Why should channels?

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  • JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    We do, but in the last decade youtube has doubled its active user count to something like 2.5 billion. That’s a lot of more people-hours to spend as well.

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  • OctopusNemeses@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    Wiith how often either someone I know or some random user is like, here watch this. And it’s anywhere from 15-60 minute video. How many hours day do you think I have. Just sum up what you’re trying to show me in a few sentences.

    It’s like the 21st century version of useless work meetings.

    This didn’t need to be a meeting.
    This didn’t need to be a Youtube video.
    This didn’t need to be a podcast.
    It’s oversaturation.

    Same goes with podcasts. I’m sure we’re past peak podcasting too. Everyone and their dog has a podcast. 99% of them are private conversations that have no reason for existing as podcasts. People are recording a random conversation about nothing and calling it a podcast episode. Just stop.

    I don’t even watch so many hours of TV shows. I have maybe two or three shows I’ll be watching at any given time. That’s like a few hours a week. The algorithmic content pushing has lost the plot. They expect us to be robotic content consuming machines 24 hours a day, seven days week. I have to eat and shit and earn a living so I can continue to sustain my physical existence so I can consume content. I suppose this is the natural end goal of adtech companies like Google. A tireless soulless machine that devours humanity.

    Much of the content has become useless fluff. A good chunk of Youtube videos and podcasts are just friends bantering or cackling over inside jokes. Like why am I listening to this noise being blasted from my headphone to my ears. I’m over it.

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  • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    No this is a contraction of the commons

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• ConstantPain@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  Those stupid thumbnails pushed me away

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  • BradleyUffner@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    Damn straight. I’ve actively starting avoiding videos with “stupid” thumbnails or click-bait titles in the last few months.

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• JackbyDev@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  LTT had multiple pretty bad scandals, didn’t they? I recently needed to find some technical information and other places had better information. LTT seems to be more of a pop culture tech channel? I don’t even really know how to describe what I mean. It’s like the reviews are more like fluff pieces I guess? They aren’t super duper technical. But I also don’t watch them much so maybe I missed something.

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  • AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    Yes, it’s definitely a more mainstream entertainment channel than pure info

    aimed more at gamers than tech people I think

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  • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    Top Gear

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  • dev_null@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    Yeah, the videos are entertainment. When looking for actual technical information, they release it in text form: www.lttlabs.com

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  • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    They’re tech entertainers, and Linus is the clown jester.

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• Showroom7561@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  I stopped watching LTT videos when they just became long-form ads. Or when everyone five minutes was a sponsored segment.

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  • possumparty@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    sponsorblock

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    • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      LTT is probably the reason why I started using Sponsorblock 😂

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• wabafee@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  My guess they started accounting for bot visits. Since AI now is a thing. Perhaps a lot of videos before were web visited by bot.

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  • 123@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Or they could be subtracting viewers with ad blockers? It would make sense that more techie channels would be hit the hardest.

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    • CosmoNova@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The overwhelming majority of Youtuber visitors use the official app and even those who use a browser don’t have an adblock 88% of the time if my memory serves me right. So no, it’s not adblock.

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    • buddascrayon@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I think you’ve hit it on the nose right here. Especially since this declining viewership problem has been hitting channels across all of YouTube and it has only been since they started their crusade against ad blockers.

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  • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I agree, people forget how fake the internet is.

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• hornedfiend@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I was never a fan of LTT, or his videos, but I did watch one video, his Pop os one and that immediately confirmed why.

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  • SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Also that video where he tried Mac OSX for the first time. All his complains in that video were that it didn’t work like Windows.

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    • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      There is a difference between those willing to change something and those trying something out.

      I use Apple devices at work and the sometimes ass-backwards way of hotkeys or UI decisions is really aggravating annoyance in regards to logically understanding the task needed to do something comparison to another OS like Windows.

      E.g. deleting the app data of an app on iOS.
      Why can’t I just reset a damn app? Why do I need to uninstall and download it again from the store??

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  • aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    i don’t watch him. He’s just a rich white dude flaunting his wealth. Fuck Linus (not Torvalds)

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• _cryptagion@anarchist.nexus ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Couldn’t have happened to a nicer asshole.

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• 3dcadmin@lemmy.relayeasy.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Youtube has seen exactly the same slowdown as everything on the internet. Plenty of people have less time to spend watching videos and being more worried about money (lack of it) whilst also spending more time on other things.i cannot blame one single thing but I have noticed that the complaints about AI being literally everywhere are at the foreground when people moan to me!

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• TORFdot0@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I think it’s a loss of talent and shuttering of shows across his company’s channels that are leading it. I can only watch so many “reporting verbatim the benchmark results of new tech product” or “I made my family a sleeper desk” or “dark horse home theater for my kid” videos. I’d much rather watch the highly produced “Mac Address” videos with Jonathan or retro gaming systems and setups videos with Anthony but they aren’t a part of LMG anymore.

  Riley is doing well on tech linked but he’s talented enough to get a real job and after that, what’s the last interesting thing that LMG has? WAN show clips?

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• theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Don’t care

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• dumbass@leminal.space ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Linus looking at his failing channel.

  Image

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• flop_leash_973@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  Broadly maybe the viewers are just getting sick of all of the shilling for cheap shit that goes on with the ever increasing sponsor segments so many channels have these days. Arguments will be had about just how needed all of those marketing dollars are for the creator to keep doing their thing vs them getting used to a lot of money and wanting even more of it. But the end result is a worse viewing experience for the consumer. I know there are a lot of channels that make good content that I’ve stopped watching because they spend a quarter of the video shilling junk. Sure sponserblock would get rid of those sections, but it won’t send a message like unsubscribing and stopping watching them completely will.

  Also maybe this is a larger Youtube usage hit due to their aggressive anti-adblock nonsense and uptick in ads and shitty UI design.

  For Linus specifically, he has the above issues as well as having been very publicly outed as a slimy deuce. What his channels put out is not unique enough these days to justify dealing with the shilling and his companies bad behavior.

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  • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    though i get the other things you mean, LTT's sponsor sections have roughly stayed the same length over the years

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• floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  They’ve spent the last several years playing into “The Algorithm”, to the point where most videos felt unnatural. Tight posting schedules, topic choices, sudden endings, etc.

  Not that I care, but I’m curious to see if they will switch to making content they actually care about, or double down and start doing proper brainrot.

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  • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Sadly he mentioned (as far as I remember) on the live show that they might return to a higher frequency schedule once the workflow settled more in.

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• arararagi@ani.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  People are jumping the gun on Linus here, but it’s real the Second Wind crew do a great job and their recent videos, even the Fully Ramblomatic series are doing way worse.

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  • poke@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    It really does seem to be a platform change unrelated to content or audience sentiment, people on this platform just love an opportunity to hate on certain people. The amount of hatred on display here is gross, tbh.

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  • tb_@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    I stopped watching Second Wind after Frost’s video.

    Did they ever address it?

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    • arararagi@ani.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      No, and considering the timeline, it’s not because of it.

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• Randomgal@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  I can’t talk about the others but LTT went form a tech channel to a luxury products channel. I’d blame some of their loss on that and the controversies.

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  • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    that's not my impression. they definitely don't really get technical beyond the pop culture depth, but just last week they reviewed budget chromebook options and finished a switch-to-iphone challenge

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• neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I don’t really watch new tech videos anymore because I’m not I. The market for new tech. Mostly because it’s way too expensive now and my old stuff works well enough.

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  • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    yes p47 tariffs plus his recent shenanigins with postal deliveries.

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• Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  When he returns the cooler block he damaged and stole, I'll stop trying to turn people away from his content.

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  • dev_null@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    The one Billet Labs confirmed they were never supposed to return and the whole thing was a misunderstanding (again, according to Billet Labs), that one?

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• MangioneDontMiss@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  he’s a shill.

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• Surp@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  Maybe if he did videos that were interesting again…not like my wife hates our tech at home videos or whatever

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• Squizzy@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  This guy seems really fake, I have only watched a couple and it too much personality for what I want. I just want to hit the topics and move through quickly, MKBHD and the boss guy are solid.

  Other than thatnIbhave only ever heard of these guys when they have been acting like dicks internally and externally.

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• Krauerking@lemy.lol ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  I dont know if anyone has noticed but…
  Can we no longer watch youtube without being logged in? Every embedded video i see doesnt work. Every time i try to click on a video it tells me to sign in.
  If i have an ad block running it basically blocks the website.

  I really think its the auto plays and the untracked accounts.

  Youtube would rather be able to track every user and make more profit per person than go big tent all audiences.

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