The Cobra Effect: Why Anti-Adblock Policies Could Hurt Revenue Instead

Youtube and others want their users to disable adblockers to increase their revenue from advertisements, but will forcing the users to so do be effective in the long-term?

What unexpected consequences could occur? Why do people use adblockers in the first place? Why aren't more users buying Youtube Premium as a solution? Do adblock users still contribute value to websites? Can websites effectively enforce such policies? Are there ways to naturally encourage more users to disable their adblockers instead?

Enjoy my informal and assorted ramblings as I learn basic video editing skills.

Be aware: The publisher of this series, Reason TV, hit the nail on the head with exploring this concept, but they do have a heavy libertarian bias, and I do not agree with everything that they publish. Be aware before you watch a series that could alter your recommendations.

Supplemental links and sources will (slowly) be updated here. I should have done so in the first place, but future videos won't have this issue.

Several cases where a website agreement was not enforceable (not the same as legal precedence):

More Links:

[GalaxyGamingGroup]

Hello everyone! I definitely did not expect one of my first videos ever to get this much attention. The stories you all shared, even the alternate opinions from those who use premium or don't use adblockers were great to read. My notifications can't even keep up with the comments anymore.

I'll address a few commonly brought up points (Last updated July 3rd):

1) I've heard all the feedback on audio levels and pacing. It's definitely being applied to future videos.

2) Looks like the "It would have stopped being free a long time ago" segment may have aged rather poorly, because Youtube is now testing out disabling video playback after 3 videos for some users. While some will debate the underlying meanings, if I severely underestimated the value of Youtube analytics data for Google as a whole, then I'm perfectly willing to own up to that mistake.

3) There's a bit more debate on "the customer is always right in matters of taste" than I thought. I thought it was derived from a Latin phrase meaning "regarding tastes, it shall not be disputed", but some attribute it to the hotel or fashion industry and say it's about taking customer complaints at face value (before the era of Karens)

4) I mistakenly said that "a judge" ruled on a supreme court case, when I should have said the jury. The annotation tool would have been helpful here, but apparently it was removed years ago.

5) Additional links and sources are (slowly) being added to the description. I should have done so from the beginning, but it won't be an issue in the future.

6) Nothing wrong with creators monetizing content as a whole. It's a tough career, and they have no control over what ads you see. Criticizing them is misguided energy in most circumstances (it's usually the guilt-tripping or blaming you for a bad sponsor when it becomes a problem).

7) My channel is now a part of the Youtube Partner Program. My ads are still disabled because I didn't create this channel with the intention of becoming a full time creator. It's purely a personal choice to try to make it "donation only", and not any form of moral statement. Youtube still has a "right to monetize" videos though, so if it reaches the point where you see ads every video anyways or receive unskippable ads, then let me know, because then at that point it's just a matter of "Do I want 55% or 0% of the revenue?"

8) A lot of you asked about that "alternative youtube site". Apparently there are certain issues with posting comments about it. But a recent C&D they filed may help you find it, since it failed to stop the group.

[so_fia]

I love how advertisers can put literal shit in their ads, but content creators have to be ad-friendly to be able to stay monetized for youtube to show the same literal shit from advertisers.

[gamilith]

my breaking point was when i would click on a video and decide i didn't want to watch it anymore simply because there was an ad.

[GarbsyWarbsy]

my breaking point was recently. Instead of simply skipping ads, you now HAVE to sit through one ad, and then press a Next button to see ANOTHER ad.

[AlastorFan]

here's the thing: i never read those messages as "disable adblockers", i read them as "get a better adblocker, or wait for the next update"

[LeTtRrZ]

It’s amazing to me how websites serve ads that are intrusive, obstructive, annoying, resource-intensive, and potentially dangerous, and then wonder why people block them.

[RandomHandle]

My breaking point was when YouTube started showing ads on videos they had "demonetized" for not being "advertiser friendly". This was extremely hipocritical, so my thought was "if the creator is not getting paid for the ad, neither are you".

[FurryEskimo]

Hiding dislikes was also something they tested out, they did it, and ignored everyone who said it was awful.

[joshmartling]

My breaking point was when I started getting literal scam ads. Fake Mr. Beast giveaways and blatant pyramid scheme gurus along with the constant spam of hyper sexualized/shocking mobile game ads using stolen footage from other games. The fact this stuff gets approved and pushed by YouTube is very worrisome to me

[roscob]

I think part of my breaking point was how ads have gotten so overstimulating. It felt like whenever I would try to relax by watching a video, there would be 5 different loud, screaming, in-your-face ads before I could even think about being calm.

[pantsdraws]

my breaking point was the minute that youtube introduced two 15 second unskippable ads in a row. i can understand a 30 second ad that i can skip in 5 seconds but having to sit for half a minute and have my intelligence insulted by ads that aren't for me was the last straw

[diamonddust]

Gotta love Youtube having no quality control on their ads and then blaming us for wanting to avoid them.

[Sadee.]

Every time I get that "Adblockers are not allowed on YouTube." message I switch to another browser with the same adblocker and continue on with my day. Works like a charm

[kasPWI]

One thing worth noting: The original YouTube app that came pre-installed on early iPhones had the feature to play videos while the screen was locked. Eventually the feature got removed and made a premium only "benefit".

[gangliaghost]

I started ad blocking for one of the examples in the video: targeted alcohol ads. Looked up an AA meeting list and every single ad became an alcohol ad. It was unbelievable how awful it was. It actively interfered with my recovery, because they make them as tempting as possible.

[addictedmako]

My breaking point was getting an ad in the middle of a meditation video. No better way to throw me into a state of irritation than ear-blasting me with product shilling when I'm just starting to relax

[islippedtheslime]

The best analogy for ads I can think of is this:

Banner ads are like billboards. Not too distracting, just an optional, out-of-the-way advertisement for a local business. Modern ads are like having random stops where a lengthy video is projected onto your windshield displaying someone’s attempt to disguise a robbery as “an investment opportunity”. And the gov gets mad when you bypass these stops.

[thelostredcoat]

my last straw was when YouTube started putting ads on non monetized creators, up until that point I reluctantly watched ads on peoples videos knowing that at the very least a portion of the revenue was going to the creator without me directly giving them money, but as soon as that changed it felt very money grabby, and since you can't tell the difference between a monetized YouTuber and a non monetized YouTuber I just turned ads of completely.

[Soheil-evls]

Rule #1 of advertising, is attracting customers. Not harassing them 💀

[jopeteus]

My biggest problem with youtube ads is that they are 2-4 times LOUDER than the video I am watching