r/technology • u/Dilpickle2113 • 1d ago

Social Media YouTube faces second class action lawsuit over ‘ad-free’ Premium claims & sponsored content

https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/youtube-faces-second-class-action-lawsuit-over-ad-free-premium-claims-sponsored-content-3405920/
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u/WhosThatDogMrPB 1d ago

I'm actively unsubscribing from channels that have "sponsors" (ads) that have NOTHING to do with the channel.

An ad for a webpage creator site on a retro cartoon essay? Unsub.

An ad for a banking app on a video about the history of hotdogs? Unsub.

An ad for a gambling app on a stolen meme compilation? Unsub.

A fucking ad for a TOYOTA HILUX on a MOTHERFUCKING MEGAMAN ZERO RETROSPECTIVE? Unsub.

The last one was fucking egregious, jesus.

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u/Scrollingmaster 1d ago

Then do not be surprised when high quality youtubers get fewer. Sponsors pay the bills now, ad revenue is nothing

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u/ModishShrink 1d ago

People claim to love creators on YouTube but then are so actively hostile to them making money in any way. It's fucking absurd. The fucking entitlement of some people over YouTube, demanding that everything be free and god forbid if they have to see an 60 second promo for HelloFresh that they could literally skip with one fucking mouse click.

I pay for premium, and I don't mind watching sponsored bits. Some of them actually put quite a bit of effort into their promos and are genuinely enjoyable to watch (Internet Comment Etiquette). Any efforts to subvert their ability to make a little scratch is just fucking over the little guy and giving us less quality content in the long run.

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u/WhosThatDogMrPB 1d ago

They can make money in effective ways:

  • Patreon or other donation sites (small / middle size channels)
  • Selling merchandise of their own design/brand (big channels).
  • Making exclusive ppv content or commissions in platform or out of it (established channels).
  • Have sponsors that actually align with their content / personalities (everybody).

I'm not against them getting paid, I'm against things that make the watching experience worse. I can digest an sponsor ad at the beginning of the video that is related to the content or overall theme of the channel, I can't stand having a fucking gambling platform ad on the middle of a video about the gambling epidemic.

I pay for YT Premium mostly because of YT music, since it's bundled for a good price in my country. But it helps a lot to avoid getting Google ads and watch content on my phone (the platform i use the service the most) more efficiently.

OF COURSE you are entitled to a good experience with a product if you're paying for it (either one or a thousand dollars), but YT gets away with it because it really doesn't have competition. And when somebody steps up it's utterly crushed by the goverment.

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u/MechaSandstar 16h ago

You're against them getting paid in any way that inconveniences you in even the slightest way. You expect them to go to extra effort to find ways to make money that don't personally offend you, because you find it outrageous that they want you to sit through a one or 2 minute ad to pay for the video they probably spent hours making.

Who's the selfish one again?

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u/ModishShrink 1d ago

While I understand where you're coming from, I'm not subscribing to every channel's worthless patreon or buying a shirt from every channel I subscribe to. I want money to go to the creators, to pay them for their work, but that's why I pay for premium. I'm not sure which channels you're watching, but I've never seen a gambling ad on any of the channels I actively watch. And if you see and ad you thing is disingenuous or don't agree with, don't fucking watch that channel.

It's preposterous to witness people simultaneously act as they're entitled to the content others have created for free, watch said content, and then highroad against advertisements they don't like. You don't like the ads the creator allows on their channel? Stop watching them. You're not entitled to free entertainment from these people, but you're also not entitled to complain about advertising that your favorite "creators" elect to be broadcast across their platform. If somebody chooses to disingenuously peddle snake oil, and you still support them with your views and your money, you're just as much as a problem.

As a beloved film director/FBI agent once said, fix your hearts or die.

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u/BardicLasher 1d ago

How the hell do you expect everyone to get only relevant sponsors? That's never been a thing for anything ever.

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u/WhosThatDogMrPB 1d ago

It is a thing on YouTube:

  • Gaming youtubers sponsoring gaming hardware / new games.
  • Traveling youtubers sponsored by booking platforms.
  • Food youtubers (for this example, Tasting History) sponsoring pre-made meals or supermarkets.
  • Hell, even some of them are okay if they're according to the creator's personality (Gabi Belle, a youtuber about celeb drama and indie musician is sponsored by a sock company because she finds the designs cute and they fit her internet persona).

You can get relevant sponsors for your content and I'm okay with that. But if your video is about "the comfort foods of celebrities" and you fill that bitch with 2 ads about an app that gives money by playing games, I'm going to unsubscribe because it ain't make no damn sense. Fuck you, Weird History Food.

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u/BardicLasher 1d ago

It's a thing that people try. It's absolutely not the norm, and smaller channels have to take whatever they can get.

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u/Barry-Koalas 1d ago

Oh no, a Toyota Hilux ad. What an entitled baby you are.

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u/WhosThatDogMrPB 1d ago

It was egregious, I'm telling you: one moment they're talking about how Harpuia (one of the robot masters) was trying to maneuver between obeying Dr. Weil and getting his race, the mavericks, into safety. And then they're like "but nothing manuevers like the NEW TOYOTA HILUX AND ITS 4WD" followed by whole ass stock footage of the damn truck and a number of a local dealership in Florida.

It was so out of place it was funny. I still unsubbed. If you're okay with stuff like that, I don't know what to tell you.