A lot of talk today on how the platform YouTube is actively blocking users from viewing video on its platform if they have some kind of ad blocker installed. The planform doesn’t make a lot of money last I heard so it’s not surprising that they would try and crackdown on the things people do to avoid revenue generating campaigns. However, apparently people are finding that they are getting blocked by simply having anti tracking settings on their browsers.
This is often to prevent cross site cookie tracking where marketers can get valuable information about a person and their habits. I would imagine for an ads system you need this kind of information to know the type of ads to serve people and whether or not they actually took action through the ad. I always find this aspect of a business interesting as people often don’t mind say commercials on traditional TV where one can literally get up and do something else while waiting. But in an online environment we tend to want everything uninterrupted.
So do you choose this route of forcing people to say watch the ads or does that mean online requires a different method of advertisement? For example, I know a lot of companies are actually integrating ads into their shows and productions just like what you would see on traditional shows versus relying on the platform to “interrupt” the show. Or, there will be brand placement deals such as having a branded drink on a person’s desk as they talk.
Those seem to be more favorable online as people tend to then view it more as a financial necessity where the company is doing it to help fund the show that they enjoy watching. With that I wonder if YouTube will insist with the forcing people route as I am sure people will find workarounds.