When Adblock takes over

[WilliamRayWalters]

But that´s basically what they´re doing and they don´t seem to have an answer for it.

Well, we really don't know how much of a problem it is for them at this point. The numbers vary wildly between 5% and up to 25% with regard to how many people are actually using ad blockers. My guess is that up until recently it wasn't worth putting a lot of resources toward trying to combat the problem, but ad blocking software use certainly seems to be on the rise, so they will have to address it somehow.

 

[Riddikore]

If companies like Google do nothing about it, well, things will get ugly.

I think it'll take quite a bit for Google to do something, like maybe a major hit to their wallet. They've mentioned in the past that they are not concerned with AdBlock because they feel it's up to the advertisers and web creators to create and display less obtrusive ads that people won't want to ignore.

 

[Uncivilized Elk]

Hulu, last time I checked, got around adblock. I think google is just lazy. They are going to wait until it's actually eating a chunk out of their revenue before doing anything.

 

[steveocubed]

Hulu, last time I checked, got around adblock. I think google is just lazy. They are going to wait until it's actually eating a chunk out of their revenue before doing anything.

Yeah I especially think it's important for YouTube specifically to up their game to "block" ad blockers since I get why people have ad block in terms of misleading the consumer but in a video format, the ad is pretty cut and dry and is a chunk of revenue we're all missing out on.

 

[Krow]

Google is also shooting themselves in the foot by creating these types of video ads that nobody wants to watch. If i spend 1 hour looking through videos, i have to watch dozens of video ads. That´s just insane.

 

[Xynudu]

Google could easily defeat Adblock if they chose to.

It would mean running something like an advert confirmation script/ping (suitably encrypted) before the video would commence/display.

No correct return validation ping from completed Advert download/run/ start = no video, or only low definition video displayed.

This may turn away viewers, however it should still include click through.

 

[WilliamRayWalters]

Google could easily defeat Adblock if they chose to.

I think they believe that being quiet about it up until now has been the best strategy. If they made a big deal about it and took extreme measures to shut it down it would bring attention to the fact that ad blockers exist and/or how easy they are to implement. As of right now, a relatively small percentage (depending on what numbers you believe) of the entire Youtube audience are using ad blocking software, so it has yet to become a big issue.

 

[Krow]

I think they believe that being quiet about it up until now has been the best strategy. If they made a big deal about it and took extreme measures to shut it down it would bring attention to the fact that ad blockers exist and/or how easy they are to implement. As of right now, a relatively small percentage (depending on what numbers you believe) of the entire Youtube audience are using ad blocking software, so it has yet to become a big issue.

I doubt at this point there are many people who don´t know adblockers exist. We´re talking about 150 M users. Even if you don´t use, you know someone who does.

But yeah, they can easily stop people who use adblocks from using their site. And i don´t think that would turn people away since there is no real alternative for youtube. Not even FB comes close to be an alternative.

YT, not only offers you billions of videos, but also the ability of subscribing to original and independent content from all types of people. FB doesn´t offer you that.

 

[WilliamRayWalters]

I doubt at this point there are many people who don´t know adblockers exist. We´re talking about 150 M users. Even if you don´t use, you know someone who does.

There are a lot more people, especially the older and younger demographics, that are not as savvy and are not aware that ad blockers even exist. A good portion of the rest might not trust ad blockers or get frustrated if they install it and it causes some kind of issue. The numbers people bandy around range from 10% to 20% of all internet users using adblocking software.

That's why it hasn't been a problem up until recently.

YT, not only offers you billions of videos, but also the ability of subscribing to original and independent content from all types of people. FB doesn´t offer you that.

FB doesn't offer you that yet. There, I fixed that for you.

I am one of the relative few here who wholeheartedly believe that Facebook will develop a video platform (like they are planning), invite more and more of the bigger content producers and YT channel creators to share revenue, and eventually be a strong enough force to endanger Youtube's stranglehold on the video market. There will be growing pains along the way, just as there were with Youtube as they worked out some of their issues earlier on (content ID, monetization, false flagging, invalid click detection algorithms, etc) but I'll say by 2020 Facebook will at the very least be a major player, and possibly even being the market leaders by then.

Ultimately, as far as ad blockers are concerned, it doesn't matter if people are driven to FB. FB will have to have their own way to deal with those same ad blockers, although I am quite sure that there is a much lower percent of FB users using ad blockers simply due to the age demographic.

 

[Xynudu]

I agree that the percentage of viewers using Adblock is probably not that great, seeing as the click through option is still there.

Adsense could still kill Adblock as part of the no advert subscription rollout - perfect opportunity for introduction.

Interestingly I read an article by a PC magazine which stated that Adblock could adversely effect an old/underpowered PC by using CPU/resources and actually slowing down browsing.

The article is right in one way, and wrong in another. What it missed was the positive effect Adblock has when using wifi, as it reduces the traffic/packet volume by not downloading/passing the advert content on.

This more than makes up for the additional CPU use.

I've tested this with a very old Compaq laptop, and there's a definite speed increase over wifi with it.

So I don't mind people using it in that situation, but all else are not supporting YT content creation to any degree.