[conspire] on Louis Rossmann & Grayjay

[Syeed Ali]

On Wed, 27 Dec 2023 22:55:41 -0800
Ron / BCLUG <admin at bclug.ca> wrote:

> There's a Reddit thread I'm reading, people love the app, love that 
> there are no ads (content creators are not going to be happy), and
> there are calls for SponsorBlock support.

In-video advertisement is just to pay YouTube's bills, creators haven't
been able to make a significant amount from ad rolls in a very long
time.

One person tipping a dollar makes up for more than a thousand people
watching multiple ads per video for multiple videos.

Creators complain about having their videos demonetized yet still
have ads for YouTube to profit from.


> I just don't see this ending well for those involved, and Louis might 
> make some powerful enemies, including YouTube creators.

I agree with your comments about angering platforms.  It's a direct TOS
violation to use those third-party tools that operate in that way.  The
problem is that silent "you use this website you agree" isn't legal in
the EU, and so YouTube won't be able to blanket ban the way they might
have otherwise done.

That is, because YouTube is freely usable, and doesn't halt a user,
have them read the TOS, then have them "sign" (click) to agree, that
hidden TOS doesn't apply.  So bypassing ads has become a gray area.

Sure it'll still attract some ire, but it's not Louis' project; he's
just an employee of the company behind it and that company is founded
by a billionaire.

I think tight now it's all smoke, because when I investigated the
company I was only seeing old videos with few views, and their various
alt-tech platforms have next to no subscribers.  I don't think it's
popular, and I don't think it's a threat.

Were I YouTube, I'd be more annoyed by youtube-dl.  :)