For context I'm in the US. The last time I used YouTube without an ad blocker, there were 2 ads back to back, and way too frequently. I tried watching on my PlayStation tonight, and not only are they more frequent, they've increased in quantity by 150%. It's also very common for the last ad to last 2 minutes to over an hour long. What the actual fuck, why would anyone watch YouTube without an ad blocker at this point? It's literally unwatchable
Edit: the amount of unsolicited advice in the comments is unreal. I don't get ads on my phone or on desktop, I'm very aware of how to block them. I simply won't watch YouTube on my PlayStation anymore. I'm not looking for suggestions, please stop with the recommendations.
That takes actual money away from the actual creators though (instead of just the exec's fat bank accounts), so use with some consideration. Don't drain money from youtubers you enjoy.
Actually that's not quite how it works from my understanding. Youtube is able to provide detailed metrics that can provide information like "how many people actually watched the sponsor segment?" and base the payouts on that.
The payout will either be based on estimated views in advance (meaning if it's lower than expected they'll pay less next time) or they'll pay after the video has been live for some period of time.
You...don't believe it works like that? Ultimately a sponsor isn't going to pay much if no one watches the spot.
Advertising has always involved getting as much data as possible on how your ads are doing.
I don't have any one definitive link that will tell you "this is how it works", but I've picked up a few things from the various discussions I've seen some youtubers have.
Also, if you watch a video you like, do yourself a favor and download it. Save it. Archive it. It's only a matter of time before they either take it down or derank it because they want to push you to some other more profitable video stream. Bonus points because it doesn't give them analytics information on it when you go back to watch it again, or watch a specific part again.
I've started doing this for all kinds of content - technical videos, music, funny clips, games, etc.
why would anyone watch YouTube without an ad blocker at this point
You answered your own question in the actual post I think? Or what is your question? Do you have a question? There's a question mark in your title. Do you want tips or to just rant?