The Verge reports that YouTube is rolling out advertisements that show up when you pause videos, continuing experiments that the company started a year ago. A YouTube representative confirmed that the practice will now become commonplace “as we’ve seen both strong advertiser and strong viewer response.”
The representative said that advertising on paused videos is designed to create a “less interruptive” experience. But as The Verge notes, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to see a drop in the increasing load of obnoxious and often unskippable advertising on YouTube. And since I’m seeing more and more creators pack their videos with sponsorships, I somehow doubt that the people making YouTube’s content are going to get a bigger slice of the advertising pie.
“We estimate we can sell up to 80 percent of an individual’s visual field before inducing seizures,” said the fictional CEO (of a company that bears more than a passing resemblance to Google) in Ready Player One.
Apropos of nothing, it’s possible to block every single ad on YouTube — even the sponsorships that are baked into the videos themselves — on both desktop and mobile.
On my Galaxy S24+, I have this option:
Creepy. I wonder if Samsung can do this if this option is on…
Yes, the tech exists already on phones. Not sure how they’d enforce it on pc.
“Sorry, YouTube is not available to systems without a functioning camera.”? Perhaps with a link to premium :p
Actually, a fixed camera (on a laptop, for example). Because any webcam connected by cable can be moved, which means the algorithm cannot detect whether you are actually looking at the screen.
If they cannot see a verified human gaze they won’t let you even load the site!
It’s the new anti-bot measure!
…ohhhh fuck they’re gonna do that, aren’t they.
The second Apple rolled out face ID, I knew this tech was ready and waiting for forced ads