• Humanius@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It really boils down to a few reasons:

        • I don’t like ads, and I prefer not to see them
        • Running a platform like YouTube is not cheap, and I understand that Google needs money to keep things running.
        • The revenue of Premium is split between YouTube and the creators, much like ad revenue is. So it also supports the channels that I follow.
          • Humanius@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            That hasn’t stopped me from using other Google services like Gmail, Docs, or Drive either.

            If I ever decide I want to opt out of Google’s ecosystem I’ll just serve them a GDPR data deletion request.
            That’s what I did when I deleted my Twitter account as well.

          • Jackthelad@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            If you don’t want to be tracked, you shouldn’t own a smartphone.

            Because let’s face it, you’re never going to be able to stop it unless you get rid of all your tech.

            • Anamana@feddit.de
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              1 year ago

              Imo it should be a choice whether we are tracked for monetary gains or not, and not a necessary evil. But with most basic services/devices you are not even presented with that choice. E.g. when buying a phone.

              And if you do have a choice, sometimes accessibility is restricted so much that you can’t participate in our networked society.

              I think we have to find ways to provide access to the most basic services with a minimum of tracking. Anything else should still be an option of course.

              How to achieve this? I don’t know. But EU regulations certainly wouldn’t hurt for now.

            • xts@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Tracking != taking all of your data and selling it for profit. That’s what Google does with YouTube, even if you pay for premium. So I see no reason to pay for it.

              Not to mention a premium sub costs more than most streaming services out there, including double the price of lots of Plex shares that have thousands of movies and shows to watch.

              • If_Its_Kitsch_I_Sits@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                1 year ago

                I see your point, but it assumes I want other streaming services or content. I have YouTube Premium to avoid ads. The content I watch is almost exclusively YouTube creators.

                That and paying for other services isn’t free of tracking either.

                I guess I’m resigned to being the product in some instances.

            • SmallAlmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              1 year ago

              You’re objectively wrong. You can have a fully free and open source android rom without any spyware (not even from google) and be free, and I also use Piped for watching youtube because I don’t have a google account. Check out privacy communities on lemmy.

              Edit: And about getting rid of all tech, of course you can’t be 100% independent and have 100% privacy, but you can mitigate most of it if you know what you’re doing.

              • xts@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                No, sorry but you’re wrong. Your phone will still ping towers it’s near, those pings are logged. You’re being tracked as long as you carry a smartphone.

        • Anamana@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          I didn’t know the channels get some of the revenue. Do you get to influence who the money goes to? Like a twitch prime sub?

          • WxFisch@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            It replaces the ad revenue the channel would otherwise have gotten from your view, at a higher rate than an ad impression.

          • Humanius@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I’m not entirely certain, but as far as I’m aware it is divided based on watch-time.

            • Anamana@feddit.de
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              1 year ago

              On your watch-time? I mean then it’s cool, cause you don’t even have to do anything. On the other hand I would probably have to log out to watch content I don’t want to support financially.

      • ipipip@iusearchlinux.fyi
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        1 year ago

        For me its solely because of a ad free experience on my TV, since its the primary device I’m using it on. And i got it relatively cheap from turkey so it’s not that big of a deal. I might reevaluate if the price increases though.

        • Anamana@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          Thanks for the info. I played around with my parents old TV and managed to get it adfree with blockada and another YouTube app. But it’s definitely a pain to set up and many people probably prefer the official app.

      • Iridium@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It’s not bad if you max out the family subscription (5 members) and use YouTube music.

        Still, I’m a hypocrite because I absolutely hate their habit of hiding features behind the paywall, and making ads more obnoxious to irritate users into paying for premium.

        • ToastyBanana@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Ya’ll should just VPN to Argentina and get the sub for cheap, it’s a few bucks per month compared to the obnoxious 13.99.

          I pay around 2€ for mine per month plus the VPN fees, it’s a no-brainer

        • Anamana@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          Ah ok, certainly makes sense for ur usecase. I didn’t meet anyone who was YouTube music yet. Does it have high quality audio or is it just YouTube quality?

          • Bonzo@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Does that work for the app itself? Or do I have to use safari? I use PiP all the time and don’t want to lose that either.

      • _finger_@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I use it so much for work that I just can’t rely on a typical ad blocker and I can’t justify not paying for it at this point.

        • Anamana@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          Haha fair, I mean it’s cool that people pay for it. I was just curious what the reasons were, because I never thought about it.

      • Blackout@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        I would dump Netflix before cancelling YT Premium. Everything on Netflix I can stream for free from pirate sites to my TV. YouTube actually has tons of informational and educational content and a premium subscription lets me support it without the ads. I probably watch YouTube twice as much as all my other vid subs combined.

      • Humanius@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’m technically still sharing a Netflix account with my parents, though I rarely use it at this point.
        Whenever I want to watch a movie, and I check Netflix, they don’t have it. (It’s worth pointing out that I’m not in the US)

        In contrast, YouTube Premium gives me pretty much exactly what I seek from it. Videos from channels that I follow, but now without ads.

    • Kekzkrieger@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      you hopefully mean you had a prem subscription, the more people quit because of price policy the better it will be for everyone

      • Chozo@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Oh yeah, because historically, whenever a large internet platform starts losing money, things definitely get better for everyone. Nevermind Reddit and Twitter and Meta and Netflix and Hulu having to nickle and dime users for basic functionality of their platforms, things are definitely better. I love all those raised prices and lowered quality of service.

        Right.

      • Humanius@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I don’t think the prices in Europe are increasing (yet). My plan is still 12 euros / month.

        And regardless… It’s been 12 euros since it was launched in Europe in 2018.
        If the price were to go up to 14 euros in 2023, that would pretty much be in line with inflation.

        • whaleross@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          I’ve got €6/m ad free but without premium features. YT tries to make me upgrade but this is enough for me. I wouldn’t pay €12/m but I’d rather go looking for adblockers and third party apps should it come to it.

          • Humanius@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            They introduced that tier a year ago, right?

            I remember looking into it at the time and deciding against downgrading. I’m not entirely sure why.
            I think it was because of the lack of background playback in the mobile app? 🤔

            (Bit expensive for such a tiny feature, but I digress…)