There have been multiple accounts created with the sole purpose of posting advertisement posts or replies containing unsolicited advertising.

Accounts which solely post advertisements, or persistently post them may be terminated.

SponsorBlock (and DeArrow) - SponsorBlock is a crowdsourced extension to skip sponsor segments in YouTube videos; DeArrow is a crowdsourced extension to replace titles and thumbnails on YouTube video

Link:

  1. lemmy.world/c/sponsorblock
  2. !sponsorblock

SponsorBlock is an open-source crowdsourced browser extension and open API for skipping sponsor segments in YouTube videos. Users submit when a sponsor happens from the extension, and the extension automatically skips sponsors it knows about using a privacy preserving query system. It also supports skipping other categories, such as intros, outros and reminders to subscribe, and skipping to the point with highlight.

The source code is fully open and the database can be downloaded by anyone. I want to keep this as open as possible! You can view the docs for the public API or host a mirror.

DarkThoughts ,

Not a fan of avoiding clickbait titles & thumbnails, because then you still click on such videos and support those practices. I rather just block all channels using those tactics.

jimmydoreisalefty OP ,
@jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world avatar

Interesting, that is a lot of blocking, and it seems like a really small pool of certain types of people and information!

You know what you only want to see; thanks for sharing your views on the matter.

DarkThoughts ,

Nowadays, yes. But that comes down to the fact that most people don't care, which continuously degrades YT content to what it is now, and further degrades it into even more of an absurdity. That's why I barely watch YT videos anymore, and I was a pretty active viewer in the past, being with the platform pretty much since its creation. Boycotts unfortunately only work if people collectively pull through, but at least I can say that I personally stay out of the nonsense. It's not like there aren't other things I could be doing.

rglullis ,
@rglullis@communick.news avatar

I use Sponsorblock, enjoy it, and promote it whenever appropriate… but do we really a whole community for that? What do you want to talk about it there?

jimmydoreisalefty OP ,
@jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world avatar

hahaha, interesting, thanks for the questions!

do we really a whole community for that?

Why not.

It is just another new community like many on lemmy.

What do you want to talk about it there?

People can talk about SponsorBlock and the like.

rglullis ,
@rglullis@communick.news avatar

I honestly do not get it. Look at the pinned post: “Creating a new community is easy, but to get people on board, you need to create some content.”

Please, let’s not get into this habit of creating communities without having any clear purpose. It only makes things look even deader than they already are.

jimmydoreisalefty OP ,
@jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world avatar

Please, let’s not get into this habit of creating communities without having any clear purpose. It only makes things look even deader than they already are.

TIL, people follow that rule.

I try to keep my communities active, not sure you can say that about the others though.

WhatAmLemmy ,

It’s because OP is a tankie — possibly a Russian operative — trying to build as many communities to moderate on lemmy as they can, so they can post propaganda in an echo chamber, ban users for wrongthink, and control the narrative.

MeatsOfRage ,

I can’t find OP in that thread. Is this just conspiracy speculation?

Blaze ,
@Blaze@feddit.org avatar

OP is the original poster, so lemmy.world/u/jimmydoreisalefty

I just had a look at their profiles, the number of communities is quite high indeed.

Blaze ,
@Blaze@feddit.org avatar

What do you want to talk about it there?

Intrigued as well

DarkThoughts ,

Yeah, I don't see much point in that either. Sponsorblock related posts could be just part of a general YT related community instead. Segregating into some fringe communities is just going to further lower the content easily available, making the fediverse appear even more empty. Other instances will likely never see those tiny fringe communities because they won't even federate until someone on that same instance subscribes to it.

dwindling7373 ,

Daily reminder that SponsorBlock, unlike adiacent solutions (Like AdBlocks for example) is not necessarily “good”.

Explicit sponsorship inside a video is considered to be one of a few good solution to the issue of content creators being naturally subjected to death by starvation.

lime ,

advertising is emotional manipulation that i do not wish to be subjected to when not actively seeking it out. doesn’t matter if it’s done out of necessity, give me as a viewer a way to support you directly if that’s the situation.

dwindling7373 ,

It does matter and most people obviously give you ways to directly support them.

lime ,

and i pay those people if i engage with their creations. i still get ads in their videos, so i use sponsorblock.

dwindling7373 ,

No you don’t.

lime ,

my patreon bill is about $100 a month, so yes i do

jimmydoreisalefty OP ,
@jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world avatar

IMO: Ads are ads, even if they come from the creator themselves.

People will support them if they can and if they want to.

Many ways to support them, direct funding, talking about them, making communities, and other stuff.

dwindling7373 ,

That’s not your opinion. Ads are, indeed, ads.

Not all ads are invasive soul seeking tracking nightmares and no, there are not “many ways” for content creators to do that full-time.

jimmydoreisalefty OP ,
@jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world avatar

That’s not your opinion.

Okay.

Not all ads are invasive soul seeking tracking nightmares

Ads are ads; it doesn’t matter if they are “good” or “bad,” unless you want to watch them like most people do because they don’t mind or they don’t know how to block them.

no, there are not “many ways” for content creators to do that full-time.

If they do not get the engagement or funds they need, they will either paywall or find other ways to support themselves; or they will just not make it on YouTube or streaming, like many people before them, unless they continue to fight on while learning and failling.

This reminds me of some small business talks; it is a harsh capitalistic world; you give up or keep trying.

I still say grassroots funding and support is the way to go if they are just doing it for the hobby or for what they believe.

dwindling7373 ,

newpipe.net/…/newpipe-and-online-advertising/

jimmydoreisalefty OP ,
@jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world avatar

TIL, cool for them.

I use other YT forks and systems that already implement similar techniques even if they are “good” or “bad” ads.

I am also for Sailing the High Seas.

We have a difference in opinion on this matter, but thanks for the small chat and the link!

This is the section you are talking about:

SponsorBlock

This year, a developer worked on implementing support for SponsorBlock in NewPipe. SponsorBlock is a crowd-sourced database listing sponsored sections in videos, which are automatically skipped by clients such as web browsers, using extensions.

While SponsorBlock’s implementation apparently takes care to preserve user privacy (you can, e.g., download the entire database for offline use, and its regular querying system is also well made), it targets an ethical advertising system. Its purpose is to help users, who probably don’t realise that sponsorship is one of the most ethical ways to fund their favorite content, automatically skip sponsored sections of videos.

Morally, it’s a very questionable system. Of course, some sponsoring may be of little relevance to the user, or maybe even intrusive or hidden. But SponsorBlock doesn’t differentiate between ethical and unethical advertisements. It just skips all kinds of sponsored sections.

Limfjorden ,
@Limfjorden@feddit.dk avatar

Explicit sponsorship inside a video is considered to be one of a few good solution to the issue of content creators being naturally subjected to death by starvation.

It’s better on the issue of tracking, but if one is just an opponent of ads in general, there is no difference.

I would rather pay someone than watch ads (which I do if I watch their content regularly). I subscribe to Nebula, where a lot of the creators I watch post their videos. I also support some through Patreon. I wish there was a way to pay for just a single video, since some creators only occasionally produce videos I want to watch.

Ads promote overconsumption, and I don’t think anyone should be forced to see them, unless they want to. Also, the sponsors are always the same 10 shitty companies (Betterhelp, Raid Shadow Legends, NordVPN…). I don’t care for these companies, so why should I be forced to watch ads for them?

dwindling7373 ,

I wish there was a way to pay for just a single video

There totally is, just send them a low amount of money or do the hwole Youtube Premium thing.

BaroqueInMind ,

No, no, no.

Fuck ads in any form, and fuck you for trying to normalize/justify them.

dwindling7373 ,

Well, fuck you as well :)

BaroqueInMind ,

We have so much in common!

rglullis ,
@rglullis@communick.news avatar

Oh, I guess I’ll bite…

If ads are not acceptable ever, please tell me how you think people should be supported.

  • Crowdfunding is not enough.
  • The culture is to reject any type of business, even when it’s a small mom-and-pop shop, or an indie dev.
  • Co-ops could work, but (usually) require some level of affinity between the members (e.g: people from the same geographical region or artists working on some specific style/school) or they require some rich benefactor to bootstrap the venture.

Unless you are expecting people to just provide you free content forever, what do you suggest?

BaroqueInMind ,

You don’t see open source platforms and software advertise everywhere, do you?

rglullis ,
@rglullis@communick.news avatar

How is that an answer to my question?

BaroqueInMind ,

The answer to your question is the implied answer you can gleam from my rhetorical reply by comparing how free open source platforms such as Wikipedia and Mozilla operate. If you had any reading comprehension or critical thinking skills you wouldn’t have needed to ask (hint: my non-sequitur implies I have a weak argument).

DarkThoughts ,

Advertisement made YT a whoring fest where content does not matter and is only used to bait people into clicking your video so that the creators get money. That's the primary purpose of YT nowadays, and it fucking sucks. I'm not gonna support that shit.

dwindling7373 ,

My brother in Christ, being watched is the goal of any content creator, that’s unrelated to advertisements. Now Youtube ads are paid (lets simplify a bit) blindly once you click the video, it’s a metric, you see those if you want access to the video.

If the content of the video has the guy saying “thanks xyz for sponsoring this raid shadow legends” that’s a contract between the guy doing the video and the sponsor, following metrics agreed between themselves, it has no ties with “the purpose of youtube” simply because… it’s not youtube.

Will there be people doing cheap content to get “easy” sponsor money? Sure but if the content suck you won’t watch it. It’s a loss just like if the motetization was following any other driver (as long as the driver is… watching the thing rather than not).

DarkThoughts ,

it has no ties with "the purpose of youtube" simply because... it's not youtube.

It's literally hosted and watched on YT my guy. Without YT the video would not exist, without YT the video would not be watched, without YT the video would not even get created, and without YT it would not give the creator any way to monetize it - be it through YT ads itself or through external third party sponsoring, which is ultimately completely irrelevant to your counter argument. In the end the videos get made with the purpose of making money off of them, not to provide a potentially interesting video to be shared with others - that's how YT started.

Sure but if the content suck you won't watch it.

I won't, thousands or even millions of others do though, because the average user is about as brain dead as the content nowadays on YT.

dwindling7373 ,

You have a problem with profits, mate, not with ads.

I’m not disagreeing with you there, but also, I like the things I like to exist without waiting for the revolution.

sabreW4K3 ,
@sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al avatar

You know I never knew what DeArrow was but something I’ve always found annoying about YouTube is that when a title is long, the only way to read it is to open the video

Ghoelian ,

You can also hover over the title to see the full thing. But this also got annoying since they start playing the video when you hover, so sometimes when you take too long it’ll mark the video as played. I honestly hate that hover play feature, who actually wants to watch a video from the start in that tiny ass window? The thing where they’d show some stills from several points in the video was much better imo.

sabreW4K3 ,
@sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al avatar

My Android is my primary device so I don’t get the alt text. Also I feel like I’m letting you down, because so many times I will watch a video from the preview as I just want to watch the video silently and the only way to do that on mobile without messing with the whole systems volumes controls is the previews. 🥹

jimmydoreisalefty OP ,
@jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world avatar

Jumping in:

My Android is my primary device so I don’t get the alt text.

Use a YT fork, you can customize it to some of your liking; Some come with SponsorBlock enabled right out of the box.

Yeah, I just click on video to check titles, unless you copy and paste yt url then go to a front-end website.

Or Louis Rossmann yt fork…

theskyisfalling ,

I’ll watch entire videos and then leave before the last 20 seconds of bs is over and it won’t mark it as played for me and you’re out here having videos marked as played for just the preview player xD

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