YouTube has confirmed that it's testing a three-strikes policy for blocking ads. It's also outlined how this policy will work.
okay Google, how about this. I already pay for premium, but Im too lazy to disable my adblocker for just your site, can we just call it a draw and move on?
Youtube, I know you aren't going to read this, but could you PLEASE make it clearer in your marketing that about half the premium sub goes to the creators?
I'm not giving you £12 a month, but giving you £6 a month and giving £6 a month to creators is something I can get behind. Like, you don't need to be so antagonistic here, you can just lean into the "support creators!" aspect much, much more.
I do just that. I give $15/mo total spread out across my top watched creators on patreon and use ublock origin and sponsorblock. I dont see any ads, creators get significantly more money, I pay roughly the same as premium. Google gets nothing. Win win win.
As well as what Mango said (I watch so many random videos, and I don't think there's a way to universally just give each one £1 or so), they are providing Youtube for free. Say what you want about Google, but Youtube does cost them a lot of money, and all things considered it's a pretty well put together platform.
Yes, I'd like there to be a crowdfunded alternative, and yes I wish they weren't so megacorpy and just let me download videos (it isn't costing you anything if I watch a local copy!). But really, they provide a service and £6 or so is what I would consider a fair price.
Huh ... Out of curiosity, if as an individual I made something that did it for you, how would you feel about it if I charged a cut, and what percentage would you feel good about? Let's assume it works through Patreon or something, and I never touch the money directly?
I'm trying to build apps and things that I think would make people's lives better, and I kind of hate money. I don't like spending it, I usually don't like getting it, and I really, really hate asking for it...but I'm quickly draining through my savings, and I think I'd feel better if people were happy to offer it to me because they want to support what I'm doing.
I looked into ads since that would spread a slight annoyance, and I'd keep them subtle and with no tracking, but they kind of suck...I was thinking of ads with a paid option with no ads and little extra features like turning Twitter links to nitter, and clean builds hosted on 3rd party app stores for free for people who care about privacy.
There's also the subscription option, and I was thinking that was asking a lot, but after reading your post maybe I didn't factor in the convenience
I'd like to hear your take on all of it
I think everyone donates sometimes, the whole system works because a chunk of the population is like you, and sees the content and immediately feels "I need to support this"
It's always wild to me when I see fans hounding creators to hurry up and set up a Patreon