Ads on You Tube.

[melmerby]

Hi all

for the first time today I started getting ads on You Tube video streams (e.g. Virtual Railcam).

You can't skip them until about 10seconds has already played.

But You Tube do not seem to be very clever. They have managed to annoy me with totally inappropriate ads.

e.g. Realtor in California, Mobile Phones from Missouri.

OK. A way to raise more millions for their bulging coffers but my IP would show I'm based in the UK, so what's the point? Ads not based on geographical location is just pathetic computer programming.

 

EDIT this appears to be Firefox removing my Adblocker without warning (see Firefox add-ons topic)

Edited May 5, 2019 by melmerby

[Guius]

I'm not an expert but have you tried cleaning your gutters out and give your U bends a good rodding? 

Works every time for me!

 

Guy

[melmerby]

5 hours ago, Guius said:

 give your U bends a good rodding? 

 

Guy

I find it too painful!

[Colin_McLeod]

I don't even know what is being advertised.  I just watch the count down display until it reaches zero then "skip add" 

 

I wish the TV had a similar facility

[Spitfire2865]

You do realize ads on youtube are a necessary evil as they continuously run at a significant loss year after year?  

Yes its poor programming to have them in no way geographically tied (unless in your efforts to hide all ads you have turned off geo-locating in browser OR are using a VPN).

[faulcon1]

I have add blocker plus and it blocks all adds on YouTube and the web too.

[Nick C]

The ads on Youtube seem to be getting longer - when I get the 30 second or so ones I tend to let them play in the hope that some of the revenue will go to the content creator, but the other day one came up that was over 7 minutes! Given that was longer than the video I was watching, I hit skip as soon as it appeared!

 

I hate it when they pop up in the middle of the video too - before I can cope with, and after is good (I can let them play and ignore them while I read the comments), but the ones in the middle tend to interrupt in inappropriate places (e.g. in the middle of a sentence) as the videos aren't carefully edited to allow for an ad-break like TV programmes are.

[melmerby]

56 minutes ago, faulcon1 said:

I have add blocker plus and it blocks all adds on YouTube and the web too.

I have Adblock plus and it does remove adds but Firefox did an update and removed Adblock plus because it "wasn't compatible". Then they re-instated it!

I assume whatever the problem was it was quickly sorted.

[AY Mod]

1 hour ago, faulcon1 said:

I have add blocker plus and it blocks all adds on YouTube and the web too.

 

Do you remove the numberplate when you park the car and not pay? Do you put a binliner over the TV when the ads are on? Do you stick your fingers in your ears when ads are on the radio?

[brack]

Geographical based ads are rubbish too - go onto any less reputable website and get the "People in [insert obscure village 30 miles away] are going crazy for this DIY colonic irrigation machine" ads all over the bottom, with some stock photo of a random American woman.

 

Thing is I've been using the internet for over 2 decades and I have never purchased anything I saw advertised online (or on TV or billboards for that matter).

Maybe I'm just weird (I don't buy things on a whim, everything is price checked in several places and researched before parting with cash) or maybe there really are legions of weak willed people out there desperate to have that DIY colonic irrigation machine in Barnard Castle) but I cant see how most online advertising could be worthwhile or profitable (other than for the advertising company of course).

Retailer/manufacturer adverts in specialist magazines make sense (very targeted market) likewise our company has advertised in appropriate places (both looking for clients and employees) but shoving unwanted popups in people's faces in South Georgia or vladivostok cannot be useful to the company paying for the advert and serves only to enrich the online ad agency who can claim higher viewing figures. I had this discussion with a friend who is a digital marketing consultant and he kind of agreed with me.

Obviously you could claim increased brand awareness as a benefit, but frankly being subjected to advertising from a brand makes me annoyed and less likely to buy from them, particularly if the advert is intrusive or distasteful.

 

 

[Nick C]

14 hours ago, brack said:

Geographical based ads are rubbish too - go onto any less reputable website and get the "People in [insert obscure village 30 miles away] are going crazy for this DIY colonic irrigation machine" ads all over the bottom, with some stock photo of a random American woman.

 

Local newspaper websites seem to be the worst for that...

[John M Upton]

Local newspaper websites are basically unreadable now and that is before you reach the dire copy and paste from social media method of modern news journalism.

 

An adblocker should be standard on all devices.

[Nick C]

I don't mind ads as long as they're plain, static text or a single static image - it's the ones full of scripts, trackers, cookies etc that I object to, as they're a major security risk.

[wombatofludham]

I was watching a YouTube model railway channel called "Pendeford Sidings", a model layout set in the Wolverhampton area and the videos kept being interrupted by ad-breaks for brands I'd never heard of, like "Bilston European Airways", "Cassocks from Hassocks", "Cock Inn Cider" and the "Merryman's Backside" pub and cabaret lounge.  I think YouTube's geo-caching is a bit off beam there...

[faulcon1]

On 19/07/2019 at 03:24, AY Mod said:

 

Do you remove the numberplate when you park the car and not pay? Do you put a binliner over the TV when the ads are on? Do you stick your fingers in your ears when ads are on the radio?

Don't have to remove the number plates (front and rear) for we have free car parks and paid parking in plaza shopping centres starts after three hours of you being parked. I don't watch TV but I listen to the radio at night, well post 12am when it's ad free but then only in the work car. But I do object to ads on YouTube and so I block them all. What was the point of your post as it escapes me. What has ads got to do with the number plates on the car and not paying at car parks?

Edited July 27, 2019 by faulcon1

[faulcon1]

On 19/07/2019 at 02:53, melmerby said:

I have Adblock plus and it does remove adds but Firefox did an update and removed Adblock plus because it "wasn't compatible". Then they re-instated it!

I assume whatever the problem was it was quickly sorted.

Yes I have Firefox too and they removed Ad blocker plus saying it wasn't compatible and the next day it was back again thank heavens. I know websites say that they need ad revenue and YouTube creators cite the same thing but the YouTube creators only get a tiny portion of the revenue generated on YouTube. Google get's the majority of the ad revenue from monetised videos. But one slip up and your videos are demonetised by Google so why monetise them in the first place.  

[AY Mod]

1 hour ago, faulcon1 said:

What was the point of your post as it escapes me.

 

Are you using an ad blocker when using RMweb? 

[Ian J.]

For TV and radio, for quite some time now I record the programmes and skip the adverts when I watch them. I rarely watch anything live, and in general what I do watch live is on non-commercial channels.

 

I allow RMweb through Adblock Plus on Firefox, it's one of very few sites I do allow. However, as I also use NoScript most ads don't get through anyway as their javascript is on third party domains that aren't whitelisted.

 

As for web based videos (on YouTube or elsewhere) I always skip adverts if I can. If an advert can't be skipped, I make a judgement as to how important the video is to me, and if not I stop watching (which is more often than not).

 

It should be noted that I follow NFL (American Football) on NFL Game Pass, and if watching a game live there is no way to skip adverts so I will put up with them if the programming is of sufficient interest to me (and the US adverts on NFL Game Pass come from the US TV channels, so are completely irrelevant to me here in the UK).

Edited July 27, 2019 by Ian J.

[Sir TophamHatt]

If you have an Android device, you can download YouTube Vanced to be rid of ads.

You cannot download this from the Play Store.

I can provide better instructions if interested... message me.

Edited July 27, 2019 by Sir TophamHatt

[Hilux5972]

In the subject of ads on RMWeb, does paying for RMWeb gold remove the ads?

[davefromacrossthepond]

It is my understanding that if you are seeing/hearing an ad, the platform (TV station/YouTube etc) has already been paid to run the ad.

 

[faulcon1]

18 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

Are you using an ad blocker when using RMweb? 

Yes. Ad blocker is not selective like some lawn weed killers. Ad Blocker is like Monsanto's "Roundup" it blocks all ads on all websites. Now I think that websites have every right to display ads if they want to. But it's my right with freedom of choice to whether I want to view those ads or not and as I've decided not to view them I block them. You may not like it but that's the way I feel and the way I will continue to feel. I think you'll find there are many users of this site who have an ad blocker add on activated. If you choose to delete my account on my admission of using an ad blocker on RMweb then do so. If it is a rule that an active ad blocker on RMweb is against one of your rules then I have no intentions of obeying that rule. It's called freedom of choice.      

[AY Mod]

10 hours ago, faulcon1 said:

Yes. Ad blocker is not selective like some lawn weed killers. Ad Blocker is like Monsanto's "Roundup" it blocks all ads on all websites. Now I think that websites have every right to display ads if they want to. But it's my right with freedom of choice to whether I want to view those ads or not and as I've decided not to view them I block them. You may not like it but that's the way I feel and the way I will continue to feel. I think you'll find there are many users of this site who have an ad blocker add on activated. If you choose to delete my account on my admission of using an ad blocker on RMweb then do so. If it is a rule that an active ad blocker on RMweb is against one of your rules then I have no intentions of obeying that rule. It's called freedom of choice.      

 

Duly filed for future reference for the next occasion you cause any work for consideration in any action to be taken. Don't expect any support if you ever have any technical issue with the site.

[Mike Bellamy]

Nothing on the Internet is free. I heard a report on the radio * recently about the millions of miles of undersea cables that actually make the internet work - and so who pays for those. The companies that invest in improving technology have their equipment and staff to pay for and so they charge for the use of the cables and further down the line, we as consumers have to make our contribution to the costs.

 

Those of us with long memories will recall that Andy started this site on his own at his own expense and as costs increased some of the users answered a plea for help to keep the site going. Over the years many improvements were made to software and server space etc paid for by the users - if I recall correctly the last appeal raised about £6000 and if it wasn't for that RMweb would not exist. Admittedly this is now a commercial site, and if adverts keep it going, I know what I would choose . . . . . . . . . . 

 

EDIT

 

*  Found the programme - Making History Radio 4 last Thursday evening

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00027n4

.

Edited July 28, 2019 by Mike Bellamy
Added link to radio programme

[chris p bacon]

11 minutes ago, Mike Bellamy said:

 

Those of us with long memories will recall that Andy started this site on his own at his own expense and as costs increased some of the users answered a plea for help to keep the site going. Over the years many improvements were made to software and server space etc paid for by the users - if I recall correctly the last appeal raised about £6000 and if it wasn't for that RMweb would not exist. Admittedly this is now a commercial site, and if adverts keep it going, I know what I would choose . . . . . . . . . . 

 

.

 

Mike, My memory of the last fundraiser was £18,000 which went in less than 9 months on the upgrade and hosting.

 

I don't have a problem with the ads here as they are targeted, they've actually triggered the memory a few times about something I should have ordered.