• Mini rant - YT Ads

    From JAB@21:1/5 to All on Tue Aug 16 10:31:02 2022
    Not about gaming but anyway, how on earth does their ad algorithm work.
    I thought the idea would be to use my viewing habits to target me with
    relevant ad's. What I seem to get is being targetted with things I have
    zero interest in. Then repeating the same ad over and over again. If
    every time I can skip it I do, take the hint - I'm not interested.

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  • From Mike S.@21:1/5 to JAB on Tue Aug 16 07:45:34 2022
    On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:31:02 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

    Not about gaming but anyway, how on earth does their ad algorithm work.
    I thought the idea would be to use my viewing habits to target me with >relevant ad's. What I seem to get is being targetted with things I have
    zero interest in. Then repeating the same ad over and over again. If
    every time I can skip it I do, take the hint - I'm not interested.

    Download adblock. I have not seen a single ad since I did.

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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to Mike S. on Tue Aug 16 13:15:53 2022
    On 16/08/2022 12:45, Mike S. wrote:
    On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:31:02 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

    Not about gaming but anyway, how on earth does their ad algorithm work.
    I thought the idea would be to use my viewing habits to target me with
    relevant ad's. What I seem to get is being targetted with things I have
    zero interest in. Then repeating the same ad over and over again. If
    every time I can skip it I do, take the hint - I'm not interested.

    Download adblock. I have not seen a single ad since I did.

    Can that actually block the ad's that are embedded in the stream you're watching as I presumed that was just server side especially as YT offer
    and ad-free money option?

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  • From Spalls Hurgenson@21:1/5 to JAB on Tue Aug 16 16:14:46 2022
    On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 13:15:53 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
    On 16/08/2022 12:45, Mike S. wrote:

    Download adblock. I have not seen a single ad since I did.

    Can that actually block the ad's that are embedded in the stream you're >watching as I presumed that was just server side especially as YT offer
    and ad-free money option?

    Yes, it can.

    The only thing it can't block is if the content-creator embeds an
    advert into his own video.* But those little interstitial adverts
    (complete with "click to skip ad" buttons in the bottom corner? They
    never show up. There's not even a gap where the advert should have
    been.

    After alll, YouTube's adverts actually aren't embedded into the
    content-stream of the original video; they can't be, since the video
    that plays is (laughably) tailored for each viewer (that way Dad gets
    an advert for a lawnmower, Mom for gets one for shoes, and little
    Billy gets an advert for a toy).

    Instead, it's just a bit of javascript code that stops the current
    stream (and temporarily disables the users controls), starts a second
    video played over the top, then returns control to the viewer after
    the advert has stopped playing.

    AdBlockers just disable the code and prevent the second video from
    getting loaded. The original content just continues to play
    uninterrupted.


    --------------------------
    * "This video is sponsored by Nord VPN! Have you ever wanted to
    pirat^h^h^h^h watch porn^h^h^h^h^ surf the internet securely? Use Nord
    VPN! That way we're the only ones who know what you're doing... and
    we'd never tell anyone... except if we're hacked or legally obligated
    to do so." ;-)

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  • From Spalls Hurgenson@21:1/5 to JAB on Tue Aug 16 16:04:17 2022
    On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:31:02 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

    Not about gaming but anyway, how on earth does their ad algorithm work.
    I thought the idea would be to use my viewing habits to target me with >relevant ad's. What I seem to get is being targetted with things I have
    zero interest in. Then repeating the same ad over and over again. If
    every time I can skip it I do, take the hint - I'm not interested.

    There are adverts on YouTube? ;-)

    Oh, right... adblockers to the rescue (I personally like 'UBlock
    Origin' but I'm sure many here will have their own recommendations). I
    never see adverts on YouTube... well, except for the 'sponsored' bits
    added in by the creators. No annoying and spontanteous interruptions;
    just content. It's bliss.

    Well, almost never. Every now and then - maybe twice a year - YouTube
    tweaks their code and the advertising slips in. It takes the
    adblock-developers about three or four hours to adjust their own code
    and then I'm advert-free again.

    I can't imagine surfing the web without adblockers. (Well, I can,
    since every now and again I have to use somebody else's PC and the
    experience is dreadful). I think if I had to endure the Internet
    without an ad-blocker, I'd just give up on the Internet altogether.

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  • From Mike S.@21:1/5 to spallshurgenson@gmail.com on Tue Aug 16 18:22:48 2022
    On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 16:04:17 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

    Oh, right... adblockers to the rescue (I personally like 'UBlock
    Origin' but I'm sure many here will have their own recommendations). I
    never see adverts on YouTube... well, except for the 'sponsored' bits
    added in by the creators. No annoying and spontanteous interruptions;
    just content. It's bliss.

    Exactly. The only ads I see are the in-video sponsored crap the
    youtube creator does him or herself.

    JAB, just use an ad blocker. I do not think you will be disappointed.

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  • From Ant@21:1/5 to JAB on Wed Aug 17 02:05:58 2022
    I use uBlock Origin to block their ads in web browsers. :D


    JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
    Not about gaming but anyway, how on earth does their ad algorithm work.
    I thought the idea would be to use my viewing habits to target me with relevant ad's. What I seem to get is being targetted with things I have
    zero interest in. Then repeating the same ad over and over again. If
    every time I can skip it I do, take the hint - I'm not interested.


    --
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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to All on Wed Aug 17 08:29:25 2022
    Thanks all I just had assumed that ad-blockers wouldn't work with YT. A
    slight caveat this is for a Tv as I very use YT on other devices. Doing
    a bit of google foo it does seem there's a solution but it's not as
    simple as use this add-on.

    There are a couple of apps you can load but I'm not sure I'm that happy
    doing that as I know very little about them and they have to be side
    loaded. The option I'm probably going for is to block a small list of
    addresses on the router as that seems the easier option and I know
    exactly what it will do.

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  • From Spalls Hurgenson@21:1/5 to JAB on Wed Aug 17 11:40:57 2022
    On Wed, 17 Aug 2022 08:29:25 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

    Thanks all I just had assumed that ad-blockers wouldn't work with YT. A >slight caveat this is for a Tv as I very use YT on other devices. Doing
    a bit of google foo it does seem there's a solution but it's not as
    simple as use this add-on.

    There are a couple of apps you can load but I'm not sure I'm that happy
    doing that as I know very little about them and they have to be side
    loaded. The option I'm probably going for is to block a small list of >addresses on the router as that seems the easier option and I know
    exactly what it will do.

    Yeah, AdBlockers work best on PCs. On mobile devices, it's more
    hit-or-miss. They tend to more aggressively sandbox apps, so App A
    can't interfere with the running of App B. Watching video in a YouTube
    app means its almost impossible to interfere with the code that
    injects the advert.

    (It's not impossible, but it usually involves either inserting a shim
    into the OS itself - which almost always requires rooting the device -
    or having the stream pass through an outside service first before they
    then forward it to your device. Both methods have serious security and
    privacy issues).

    In fact, I mostly avoid watching videos on mobile devices because of
    these limitations. It's not /just/ the adverts - video uses a lot of
    bandwidth, battery, and time, and anyway who wants to watch a video on
    a tiny 25cm screen when you have a big-screen at home - but it is a
    major consideration.

    I /really/ hate advertising.

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  • From PW@21:1/5 to JAB on Wed Aug 17 12:22:53 2022
    On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:31:02 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

    Not about gaming but anyway, how on earth does their ad algorithm work.
    I thought the idea would be to use my viewing habits to target me with >relevant ad's. What I seem to get is being targetted with things I have
    zero interest in. Then repeating the same ad over and over again. If
    every time I can skip it I do, take the hint - I'm not interested.

    *--

    What is "YT"?

    -pw

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  • From Spalls Hurgenson@21:1/5 to iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.co on Wed Aug 17 16:03:44 2022
    On Wed, 17 Aug 2022 12:22:53 -0600, PW
    <iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
    On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:31:02 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

    Not about gaming but anyway, how on earth does their ad algorithm work.
    I thought the idea would be to use my viewing habits to target me with >>relevant ad's. What I seem to get is being targetted with things I have >>zero interest in. Then repeating the same ad over and over again. If
    every time I can skip it I do, take the hint - I'm not interested.

    What is "YT"?

    Yttrium. It's a rare-earth element frequently ingested by marketing
    drones, causing the sort of brain damage that makes them think that
    rudely interrupting people with unwanted messages is the best way to
    make them interested in your product. Marketing messages created by
    these madmen are often referred to as "YT-ads".

    Yorkshire Terriers. The breed has seen a decline in popularity
    recently and so the International Council of Dogs has agreed - after
    much butt-sniffing and whizzing on trees - to do something about this.
    This consisted of a worldwide advertising blitz promoting the breed's
    best features. However, many consider the advertising campaign too
    intrusive, and the breed's popularity continues to drop. Bad dog!

    Mayotte. (no, really, it's international abbreviation is YT). Its a
    small island near Madagascar. Although it's a French territory,
    consumer protection laws are lax there and advertisements are
    slathered everywhere: on billboards, TV, newspapers, radio, movies,
    walls, people, plants... even the lowly sloth has been co-opted to
    carry adverts. It's seen as the next step in capitalism's evolution,
    and it's starting to spread to other countries.

    Whitey. It's always whitey's fault. Brothas, we gotta rise up!

    Yukon Territory. And if Whitey is at fault, the Yukon Territory must
    be doubly so. After all, what's more white than northern Canadians,
    (ignore all the Inuit and native tribes, of course. Don't worry about
    it; everyone does).

    Youth Theatre. Nobody wants to go see a play put on by kids. So to get
    butts in seats, massive advertising campaigns have overrun the
    Internet, over-promising on the acting skills these kids possess.

    Yours Truly. It's true; I'm behind all the advertisements. I'm sorry,
    it seemed like a good idea at the time.

    Alternately...

    YouTube. Although that doesn't make in sense. So it's probably not
    that one ;-P

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  • From Ant@21:1/5 to iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.co on Wed Aug 17 19:59:06 2022
    PW <iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
    On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:31:02 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

    Not about gaming but anyway, how on earth does their ad algorithm work.
    I thought the idea would be to use my viewing habits to target me with >relevant ad's. What I seem to get is being targetted with things I have >zero interest in. Then repeating the same ad over and over again. If
    every time I can skip it I do, take the hint - I'm not interested.

    *--

    What is "YT"?

    YouTube.
    --
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  • From PW@21:1/5 to Ant on Wed Aug 17 16:20:22 2022
    On Wed, 17 Aug 2022 19:59:06 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

    PW <iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
    On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:31:02 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

    Not about gaming but anyway, how on earth does their ad algorithm work.
    I thought the idea would be to use my viewing habits to target me with
    relevant ad's. What I seem to get is being targetted with things I have
    zero interest in. Then repeating the same ad over and over again. If
    every time I can skip it I do, take the hint - I'm not interested.

    *--

    What is "YT"?

    YouTube.


    Okay - thanks Ant!!

    -pw

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  • From Ant@21:1/5 to iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.co on Wed Aug 17 22:31:16 2022
    PW <iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
    On Wed, 17 Aug 2022 19:59:06 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

    PW <iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
    On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:31:02 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

    Not about gaming but anyway, how on earth does their ad algorithm work. >> >I thought the idea would be to use my viewing habits to target me with
    relevant ad's. What I seem to get is being targetted with things I have >> >zero interest in. Then repeating the same ad over and over again. If
    every time I can skip it I do, take the hint - I'm not interested.

    *--

    What is "YT"?

    YouTube.

    Okay - thanks Ant!!

    You're welcome. Yeah, we're lazy to type the whole thing out. Heheh.
    --
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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to Spalls Hurgenson on Thu Aug 18 10:42:28 2022
    On 17/08/2022 16:40, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
    On Wed, 17 Aug 2022 08:29:25 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

    Thanks all I just had assumed that ad-blockers wouldn't work with YT. A
    slight caveat this is for a Tv as I very use YT on other devices. Doing
    a bit of google foo it does seem there's a solution but it's not as
    simple as use this add-on.

    There are a couple of apps you can load but I'm not sure I'm that happy
    doing that as I know very little about them and they have to be side
    loaded. The option I'm probably going for is to block a small list of
    addresses on the router as that seems the easier option and I know
    exactly what it will do.

    Yeah, AdBlockers work best on PCs. On mobile devices, it's more
    hit-or-miss. They tend to more aggressively sandbox apps, so App A
    can't interfere with the running of App B. Watching video in a YouTube
    app means its almost impossible to interfere with the code that
    injects the advert.

    (It's not impossible, but it usually involves either inserting a shim
    into the OS itself - which almost always requires rooting the device -
    or having the stream pass through an outside service first before they
    then forward it to your device. Both methods have serious security and privacy issues).

    In fact, I mostly avoid watching videos on mobile devices because of
    these limitations. It's not /just/ the adverts - video uses a lot of bandwidth, battery, and time, and anyway who wants to watch a video on
    a tiny 25cm screen when you have a big-screen at home - but it is a
    major consideration.

    I /really/ hate advertising.


    Basically yes, the time it will take me to look into whether these two
    apps have problems is going to be far more than just updating the router settings. Saying that I did do it once on the second TV which is a smart
    one but does have an Amazon Fire. The reason, it was a way of getting YT (YouTube for PW :-) ) when the two companies weren't getting along.

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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to All on Thu Aug 18 10:42:52 2022
    On 17/08/2022 19:22, PW wrote:
    On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:31:02 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

    Not about gaming but anyway, how on earth does their ad algorithm work.
    I thought the idea would be to use my viewing habits to target me with
    relevant ad's. What I seem to get is being targetted with things I have
    zero interest in. Then repeating the same ad over and over again. If
    every time I can skip it I do, take the hint - I'm not interested.

    *--

    What is "YT"?


    Get with the times grandad :-)

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  • From Ant@21:1/5 to JAB on Thu Aug 18 22:31:22 2022
    JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
    On 17/08/2022 19:22, PW wrote:
    On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:31:02 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

    Not about gaming but anyway, how on earth does their ad algorithm work.
    I thought the idea would be to use my viewing habits to target me with
    relevant ad's. What I seem to get is being targetted with things I have
    zero interest in. Then repeating the same ad over and over again. If
    every time I can skip it I do, take the hint - I'm not interested.

    *--

    What is "YT"?


    Get with the times grandad :-)

    Yeah, boomer. Or DOOMer? :)
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    Slammy Thursday? Dang bug/mosquito bites, itches, old bodies, water, etc.
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  • From PW@21:1/5 to JAB on Thu Aug 18 17:24:33 2022
    On Thu, 18 Aug 2022 10:42:52 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

    On 17/08/2022 19:22, PW wrote:
    On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:31:02 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

    Not about gaming but anyway, how on earth does their ad algorithm work.
    I thought the idea would be to use my viewing habits to target me with
    relevant ad's. What I seem to get is being targetted with things I have
    zero interest in. Then repeating the same ad over and over again. If
    every time I can skip it I do, take the hint - I'm not interested.

    *--

    What is "YT"?


    Get with the times grandad :-)

    *--

    Far out!!

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