YouTube has announced a new service today, YoutTubeRed. A monthly subscription service that will apply to all content on YouTube.
The service will cost users $9.99 a month and offers just 3 selling points for the cost.
The first is most likely the reason this service exists in the first place, Ad-Free videos across all of YouTube. This is clearly something users have wanted for a quite a while, considering the use of Ad-Block cost advertisers an estimated $22 Billion over the last year.
Secondly, the subscription plan allows users to download videos for offline viewing. Something many confident internet users have been able to do almost since YouTube has been around.
The most frustrating selling point of the service in my opinion is that they are locking the ability to use the mobile app in the background on your phone or tablet. Meaning if you use Ad-Block and know how to download videos already, you're looking at a service that costs ten bucks a month just to listen to YouTube videos while also being able to text someone... Which is a function that just about any other application can do at no cost to the consumer and has been a very popular topic on the YouTube forums for years.
The Service launches on the 28th of this month just in time for Halloween, and sure as hell scared the shit out of me. I've expressed my animosity a few times on social media for Ad-Block and its users, as it could lead to sites like YouTube charging monthly subscriptions. Well my worst fears have come true. Sure its optional now, but down the road don't be shocked if this will become the only way to access videos on YouTube.
But don't worry, you can actually do something about that. Do not get this service, remove Ad-Block, and watch a 10-15 second advertisement before your video. And if that sounds like too much work let me compare your possible future option of a $10 a month cost to what I've suggested.
If you watch 20-30 YouTube videos a day like me and we'll go on the long end here and say they are all 15 seconds (even if quite a few are only 5) That means you probably spend about 8 minutes a day watching advertisements, or just under 4 hours a month. Meaning for spending an hour a week watching ads, you save $2.50 a week. Or $120 a year, the cost of 2 AAA games. Now was watching those ads for an hour a week worth two more games a year? The answer, is fuck yes.
Yeah, so I won’t be opting in for this service. I don’t care if I have to pause a video to text someone on my phone. And I don’t care if I have to watch a quick add before or even during a video. It’s just not that consequential.
Mostly I hope Youtube doesn’t decide to turn the free service into absolute crap to nudge people in to buying their premium service.
I’ll take the 10 second delay on cat video compilations.
oh dear. i’ve been thinking about this over the past day or so, and all i can say is…
…the creators are not going to make out like bandits at all.
for those not aware, the split works like this:
youtube takes some percentage [no one knows how much at this point and google aren’t willing to say. so, let’s be charitable and say 50%]
then – and only after that – EVERY CREATOR gets some amount of the remaining 50%.
bad for creators.
[this is my understanding of how it works, anyway.]
a: google takes a 45% cut, same as with ads
b: and why is it bad for creators? ad money has been shit for a while now. CPMs of $2-3 are nothing special anymore. Thats $2-3 per 1000 views. How many people watch 2000 videos per month?
[i’m rounding the numbers so they’re less silly to work with. these are not actual values.]
a subscription is 9.99.
let’s make it $10 so it’s easier to follow:
let’s say google takes 50%.
That’s a flat number. So google
gets $5 of every subscription.
let’s say one creator opts in to the program and one person
subscribes.
everyone wins:
youtube gets $5, the creator gets $5.
now, let’s say 1 person becomes a subscriber and they join 2 opted-in channels.
google still gets $5.
creator a gets $2.50
creator b gets $2.50.
this effect will amplify the more creators join in.
so what? a single viewer is worth shit on youtube anyway. Again: unless said sub watches a ton of videos with ads, creators probably make more.
and about the “have to accept” thing, yeah, nothing new. Want to make money on youtube? gotta comply with their rules.
I get it, you don’t like change. Well, got some bad news for you: the internet will change all the time.
edit: if you want to support a single creator, ask them to open up a patreon. That also allows you to watch their videos.
its actually good for creators, as explained here:
https://soundcloud.com/totalbiscuit/youtube-red
mainly because it pays you based on your cpm * how long a red member watched your video, so the longer the video the better for the creator.
but its definately bad for consumers.
also, whoops:
http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/21/an-offer-creators-cant-refuse/
sorry…this is all partially my fault.