Curmudgeonly Monday – A Rant About A Few Ways Youtube Annoys Me

Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 23062 – 1088

Here’s the haps:

Okay, so this is not an exhaustive or comprehensive list. There are a number of things that I have left off either purposely or because I have a short memory. But since my calendar said that today is Curmudgeonly Monday (I know today is Wednesday but I started this post on Monday.) I decided I would like to get these few things off my chest. Besides, it could be that, with the high-quality audience that I have that someone might be able to do something about any of it. I doubt it because it’s mostly about people making money and we know, generally speaking, that if someone’s making money on something, they aren’t going to stop out of the goodness of their heart just for me.

Now, these things are not things I get truly angry about or lose sleep over. I often use the saying, “You know, Herb, if that’s the biggest problem you have in life, or even if that’s the biggest problem you face today, you’ve got it good.” Oh, yes, I frequently talk to myself. I also often answer myself. My dad used to say, “If you want to talk to a smart man, talk to yourself.” The thing I’ve been worried about lately is that I often get distracted and have to ask myself to repeat myself.

Let me start off by saying that Youtube does have its useful side. I use it to add a little something entertaining to a blog post once in a while and the grandbabies like certain songs, but for me one of the biggest uses it has is instructional. If I am in a pinch to fix something, perhaps on the car or the washing machine or pretty much anything that might need fixing, an instructional video can be found to help me do it. A couple of days ago I found a nice little pressure washer at the Goodwill store for twelve bucks. It normally retails for about one hundred dollars. I needed a hose and a little instruction since, while I have thought about buying one before, I have no experience with the contraptions. The video I found was about ten minutes long and I frequently listen to them at double speed and find out what I need to know in half the time. Now some people have a good voice and instructional style and you can listen to them easily enough but there are some people out there who have a lot of useful knowledge but they would do better having someone else make the videos for them.

So, when the clip first starts there is a seven-minute infomercial that mercifully only plays for half a minute and then allows you to skip the ad. I clicked “Skip Ad”. Yay, me! Except this leads to another ad that is unskippable. At least it was short. Honestly, I don’t skip ads all the time. I understand that the ads pay for stuff, but if you’re going to post a skippable ad with an unskippable one then make the second one skippable. If there are two ads I will watch one all the way through. Except if they’re in the middle of my video.

I was fortunate in my choice of video this time because the guy on the video appeared to have some knowledge of speaking and getting to the point. He had a good steady voice and I wound up listening to him at regular speed and learned what I needed to know plus enough more to get me started.

Yes, yes, I understand that the ads pay for the stuff. Right. But I can tell you right now, Mr. Advertiser, that if your ad interrupts my video, I am probably just going to hate your product. Especially if I can’t skip it and doubly especially (I know, sorry.) if I have just gotten to the part about attaching the quick disconnect to…”BUY A BRAND-NEW CAR THAT COSTS FOUR TIMES AS MUCH AS YOUR FIRST HOUSE. IT GOES REALLY FAST AND TRAVELS UP THESE RUGGED OFF-ROAD PATHS WITH A LITTLE DISCLAIMER IN 4-POINT FONT THAT SAYS THESE ARE PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS AND YOU SHOULD NOT DO ANY OF THE THINGS SHOWN IN THIS COMMERCIAL!”… See? That’s just annoying. Or worse yet, it is an unskippable movie trailer advertising some ungodly horrible thing I would never have watched back in my days B.C. I’ve quit looking things up when my grandkids are around. I clicked on a version of This Little Light of Mine and the ad was for a “Christian” movie but the scene was intense and dramatic and totally inappropriate and I couldn’t click the “Close Tab” (x) button fast enough.

Anyway, back to the pressure washer clip, you think the clip is done but there’s another ad or two at the end.

I watch the video and think, “Boy, this guy’s really smart. I wonder what else he has?” I click the link to go to his channel and without warning, a video starts playing! Oftentimes the one I just got done watching! This happens on news websites a lot, too. I do not want to hear it and I have to mute it or pause it to make it go away. I just want to read the news article or see what else you have on your channel. Please, turn off the autoplay if you want me to like you. I can see the purpose of having a highlighted video on your YouTube channel. You want to show off your best stuff. I might like it if it didn’t start immediately before I have time to think about it. Many channels have a highlighted video but they don’t all start automatically. If I want to click play, I will.

But here again, in all this, I don’t think the robots are winning. Yet. When I go to a website or a YouTuber’s channel and a video starts playing automatically I can just close the tab and go elsewhere. For now. I am not quite afraid of Artificial Intelligence algorithms just yet. The algorithms ain’t that smart. Yet. I get ads at many of the websites I visit that are for the exact thing I purchased 2 weeks ago. And no, Mr. Smarty Pants Advertiser-Algorithm, now that I’ve gotten a few things off my chest, I don’t need a new bra.

31 Comments

  1. YouTube/Google has surrendered to hubristic greed. The upside of the flood of ads is that I watch fewer videos and involve myself in constructive or healthier pursuits.

  2. The ads I hate the worst are the ones for the things I just bought. I don’t go on line very often so when I do buy something I get all the ads for what I just got. Thanks but I don’t need those 🤣😎🙃

  3. I am not sure I have ever encountered the problem but I can see the logic of your concern. Ads are everywhere and are intrusive and irritating because a lot of them try their best to make viewers feel like idiots or fools. That is one reason I watch movies on TUBI. My ad protector actually works on TUBI for some strange reason — a reason that I adore.

  4. Ever noticed how your ads always relate to what you spoke about in front of Alexa or Siri the night before? Just been a section on TV news over here explaining that AI can be biased, can be discriminatory, can lie and can create photographic evidence to back up its lies. It sounds ever more like a politician and that, almost certainly, will not end well.

  5. I read a well-written article about how everyone’s been told the wrong information about what advertising works, so you’re suffering at the hands of overpaid executives telling underpaid grunts how to annoy people.

  6. This happens to me too. Ads and more ads, and then the guy in the video is a mouthy dude that likes to hear himself talk and never gets to the video he has advertised. Huh? You can go ad free for a monthly fee. Isn’t that special. I used to find the repair videos helpful, and still there are a few out there that are, but most are gobbly goop. I feel your frustration Herb.

    • Thank you, sir. Some people are told to make the videos stretch out to a certain length to get more revenue. Those are the worst.

  7. YT does have less commercials that TV does, so I am not yet incensed by it. I’ve watched the entire 7 seasons of Jack Frost (a Brit detective series) on it with nominal interruptions. But, I do see your point. So often, a good book (without commercials) is a better choice. I suppose that is coming soon–commercials in digital books.

  8. We will get right back to Herb’s site and all the comments (there is a really provocative one right after this one) in just one minute but first I would like you to think about purchasing a subscription to Geoff Stampers Suicide Squeeze Blog. It is free and only publishes once every two weeks so you hardly ever have to like it. Each post is easy to skim and all you have to say is “hilarious” and that comment is always appropriate. Best of all, he will come back and make comments on your site. Skip next ad?

  9. I mainly watch music videos on YouTube. Last weekend I went on another binge, lasted a few hours. Some I watch on a periodic basis. There are some that help restore my faith in humanity, that there really are good people out there, such as one where an orchestra plays as a pop up experience on the street. But any good music is an example of humanity at its best. When we create transcendent material, that’s us doing things of real value.

  10. YouTube is great in instructional videos. I totally agree with you. I’ve watched videos on computer issues, language issues (a lot of Spanish related videos), narcissism etc. Very instructive. And you can really do a refurbish business if you know how to fix things. I know a person who would collect laptop people throw away and fix them and resell them online. He does it every day. His wife told me that he pays more attention to his side business than their marriage.

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