YouTube at 20: The Video-Sharing Site That Conquered the Internet

[Julio Franco]

YouTube is now 20, from scrappy startup to $450 billion media giant. Once an afterthought in digital TV debates, it now rivals Netflix, fuels billion-dollar creators, and reshapes entertainment.

Read the full article here.

YouTube at 20: The Video-Sharing Site That Conquered the Internet

 

[calvinblanes]

What a great product, I use it a lot and love it, I pay premium I think it's an affordable option but honestly I don't like the direction YouTube has taken these last years. Multi-ads for regular users is way too much, should be something like an ad for 5 min and skippable at 5 secs, or 2 ads per 10 min.

But I think the real reason why YouTube is great is cuz it really works well, just like Steam, well not that awesome, but it tries haha

 

[Neatfeatguy]

Google has really come down hard on adblockers with youtube. Before you could watch a few videos without it automatically disabling adblockers, now it does it constantly. I have to refresh a video 3 or 4 times before it doesn't try to throw some bullshit ad in my face. After that, I just re-enable the adblocker so no other disruptions may come up during use of that video. However, this is only happens at my work because I'm forced to use Chrome and it keeps updated.

At home I haven't allowed Chrome to update for over a year because all the stuff they add or say they "fix" just makes it worse and worse and all adblockers that worked back then still work like a charm. Also, I've mostly moved to Firefox for most of my at home web browsing and I have no issues with adblockers there.

I'm not on youtube much, but I certainly wouldn't pay to use it and the forced adblocker disabling aspect of it just turns me away from it more and more. Alphabet already makes billions and billions of dollars a year, the milking to squeeze every last cent out of every single aspect of everything they touch is disgusting.

 

[Anton Longshot]

Super interesting article!.
I don't often use YT myself and in fact most of my use is the fireplace mentioned.
The popular creators aren't my thing and the 'influencer' concept to-tal-ly creeps me out.
I'm kind of surprised how much of "the Internet" still runs on advertising. I've been blocking ads for years and less than 1 ad makes it all the way to my screen every year. The ad business would die almost immediately if everyone blocked that stuff but many don't know how, aren't interested or to my total amazement consider it immoral to block ads.
Years ago my adblocker failed for half an hour and what I saw then made me decide that I'd quit the Net if adblocking ever becomes impossible.
But as always...to each his own.

 

[mgwerner]

YT is so much more than the thumbnail for the story of the cringe-inducing parasite. TS could have found a better representation to thumbnail the story. Do better.

 

[human7]

Google has really come down hard on adblockers with youtube. Before you could watch a few videos without it automatically disabling adblockers, now it does it constantly. I have to refresh a video 3 or 4 times before it doesn't try to throw some bullshit ad in my face. After that, I just re-enable the adblocker so no other disruptions may come up during use of that video. However, this is only happens at my work because I'm forced to use Chrome and it keeps updated.

At home I haven't allowed Chrome to update for over a year because all the stuff they add or say they "fix" just makes it worse and worse and all adblockers that worked back then still work like a charm. Also, I've mostly moved to Firefox for most of my at home web browsing and I have no issues with adblockers there.

I'm not on youtube much, but I certainly wouldn't pay to use it and the forced adblocker disabling aspect of it just turns me away from it more and more. Alphabet already makes billions and billions of dollars a year, the milking to squeeze every last cent out of every single aspect of everything they touch is disgusting.

I use Firefox and don't have this problem. At work you don't have a choice, but at home you do, you could try Chromium or Edge since they are more similar to Chrome than Firefox is.

The death of Manifest v2 was definitely intended by Google to curtail ad blockers. Hopefully the DOJ forces Google to divest itself of Chrome.

 

[gingerbill]

Good article.

I watch a lot of YouTube , mainly documentaries and podcasts , I would be lost without it .

 

[Macar]

This platform is a technological feat. But too many ads, and increasingly long ones, can backfire: I now use Firefox and an ad blocker...

 

[cassurai]

Charge advertisers for ads, then charge users to remove ads.

Genius.

 

[Megalomaniac]

The good old days of content creators being able to create content for Youtube are coming to an End.

Youtube has chosen corporate money instead - and they'd rather get their money from political donors (to run ads) - then actually make moves favoring the small content creators who have dreams of being bigger content creators in the future.

Youtube has sold out.

Youtube demonetizes and deplatforms anyone who runs astray of their "advertiser friendly policies" and has killed the creativity of many of its best creators.

At this point, Youtube's not even a good place to go to for breaking news - that place has become X - since X isn't censoring videos and banning users for posting violent or pornographic imagery - no matter how significant.

I REFUSE to pay for Youtube. They send that same ask for me to subscribe and I refuse. At this point, I continue to collect royalties for the 3177 videos I have uploaded and file 1099 to collect business tax deductions. Most of the money I've made I rolled into the stock market to build 2 impressive portfolios. Other than that, Youtube is dying. Eventually it'll just be another pay-for-on-demand video service.

It started out great, but steadily allowed corporate money to ruin it.

 

[Beerfloat]

I recognize that guy because he has a Netflix show now.

The Youtube algorithm has done a great job of never recommending this MrBeast to me. So it's not all bad.

 

[Win7user]

Then, this would be a good time, to permanently turn it, OFF!

 

[psycros]

Its all been downhill since Google came along.

 

[gingerbill]

I am a big fan of Youtube , it's all I watch and has been for years. Their practises annoy me now and then.

Haven't had a TV since I had a PS4 and that's all I used it for , the streaming services don't interest me.

If the quality of films and Tv shows was much better I probably would start watching them again.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

I'm kind of surprised how much of "the Internet" still runs on advertising. I've been blocking ads for years and less than 1 ad makes it all the way to my screen every year. The ad business would die almost immediately if everyone blocked that stuff but many don't know how, aren't interested or to my total amazement consider it immoral to block ads.

Not only would the (online) ad business die, but so would most of the internet.

Things cost money. Servers, software, and people to make the content you enjoy.

Without ads those things either go away or move behind a paywall. The trend towards more paywalls online is because ad revenue has been going down for years.

Ads have gotten ridiculous largely because Google has used its monopoly position to take most of the ad revenue for itself, forcing websites to push ever more ads to stay in business.

I hate ads too so I pay to remove them on YT and on this site. You may be morally fine with stealing your online content or just too poor to pay for it, but understand that if everyone does it the current internet ends and everything will go to paywalls. And most of the internet can't get enough paywall subscribers so those sites will just end.

 

[MonicaPython2]

Wonderful product!

 

[mbk34]

I find the adverts on YT excessive. After about 12 seconds I tend to mute and just do something else. It wouldn't be so bad if, after a few seconds, you could click to say if you found an advert of interest. That way they could at least tune their system to show adverts that might be of mild interest to the viewer. I might be interested in tech or books or tennis or anything "new". Instead I'm treated endlessly to some mor@n that keeps throwing his suitcase (or phone) off a balcony.