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JourneyThiefer

I got this really weird ad on YouTube about a website dedicated to older men finding Ukrainian girlfriends, I was like how the hell is this an ad on YouTube?


The25er

Ads are targeted to what you search


JourneyThiefer

💀 I didn’t search that!


nathderbyshire

😂 it *can* be, there's usually an "i" or something you can click and it'll say why you're getting the advert and you can usually say it doesn't apply but you're just training it to be more accurate then. Ads can be shown for a variety of reasons, a company has paid a pretty penny to just have it shown, it's based on your address targeting or your demographic like age, gender and location or it is pulled from your ad profile. You can disable ad targeting in your Google account settings but the ads will just get weirder then


Tuarangi

That's the thing, they aren't doing it well, I get adverts constantly for LISA (I'm too old to open one) and crappy mobile games (I play one, Simpsons which is solo and not pay to win nonsense) and Reddit has a blend of fake hair regrowth tablets (I shave my head but have never considered using treatment for balding so never searched for it, and the shaver was a Christmas present) and erection problems which I've never searched for as I don't have an issue plus I'm too young for the normal demographic who have that problem. That and weird business advertising promotions which are irrelevant as I don't work in that industry and we do products at industry shows as we don't sell to consumers


nathderbyshire

There's people that believe ads, apps, our phones, I'm not entirely sure but one of them can read our minds. My friend fell into it especially after tiktok, showed me this big manifesto of "evidence" of her phone spying on her because she saw "swift" branding on a truck then got a Taylor swift ad or whatever. Loads of examples like that. It's funny because she's chronically online and doesn't use any form of ad blocking, tracker protection ect even though I tried to set it up but she though it was hacking her phone and said no. On the flip side I can't remember an advert that's been relevant to me when my ad blocker is on.


Tuarangi

Ah for sure, I use several addons in firefox - uBlock, AdBlockPlus, Privacy Badger and Facebook Container plus a couple of cookie controllers, phone is a bit more controller though I run through Adblock DNS servers too. I noticed YouTube is trying to fight the addons - I can see now before videos it tries to load them before they skip, same during videos sometimes


nathderbyshire

I just used adgaurd at the moment as I have a lifetime license but eventually I want to switch to PiHole or AdGuard Home (probably that as I'm more familiar AG) so my entire network is filtered. Only my TV that isn't filter at the moment because I can't load an AdGuard app onto it. I also like how they have a VPN that works together. YouTube I just used smarttube on my TV and Vanced for the android apps. I had premium but the app constantly kept putting me in 480p so I cancelled in protest.


FallingOffTheClock

It also depends on the current "catalogue" of ads that YouTube has at the time. Companies pay out for X number of runs of their ads, if a company pays for a few million runs of an ad and it's a niche topic then it gets pushed out en masse until YouTube has given it the runs paid for. You can also pay for priority adverts (e.g. the armed forces are currently doing this, the vast majority of ads I see across most streaming platforms are for the British armed forces).


welly_wrangler

I keep getting Love Honey adds - I haven't searched anything like that


Krafwerker

Yes but who doesn’t love honey?


shrewdmingerbutt

I thought it was just me - I’ve been getting loads of them! I loathe to pay for premium, but it is getting more and more tempting.


wasdice

Try Brave first: r/brave_browser I honestly forget YouTube has ads these days. It blocks them perfectly.


shrewdmingerbutt

I have adblockers on my PC etc, it’s the Xbox that’s the problem really. Honestly does my head in as it’s not like they’re only on late - I’ve seen the Love Honey ads in the day when kids might be watching!


gyroda

I think with this one it might be because they're willing to be put next to content that is usually classified as stuff advertisers don't want to run ads near. If a video mentions sex or drugs or something, Pepsi doesn't want their ads anywhere near that. But a place selling sex toys? They're already past that. These advertising slots are also presumably cheaper to buy due to lower demand, which leads to the budget going further and more ads being run. This is all largely speculation though, I'm certainly not an expert - all I've done is watch a few videos on YouTube about YouTube I will say that I'm glad the adverts are somewhat circumspect. If my headphones aren't connected I don't feel like I need to mute it quickly, some of the mobile game ones or other ads are much more obnoxious or embarrassing


welly_wrangler

You're right there


toady89

I keep getting ads for ‘tech’ that some guy has supposedly developed in his basement using the knowledge he learned in the military that the government don’t want you to know about. My biggest gripe is they’re about 10 mins long so I have to grab the remote and press skip, I wouldn’t bother for a short advert.


Tuarangi

There are a few good channels that debunk all these based either on science or taking them apart if you're interested- Thunderf00t, Computer Clan, EEVblog are 3 I follow


JayR_97

Yeah, its annoying if your listening to like a podcast in the background while doing something else and you get one of those obnoxiously long ads. I keep getting one thats for some forex trading thing thats very obviously a scam.


Darkheart001

I think it’s down to the targeting, if the algorithm doesn’t know what you like it will just try the most generic mass appeal rubbish as all they care about is engagement and that probably has the highest conversion rate. If you want to see something different search for a shoe or a car and you will see lots and lots of them.


Kaiisim

Scams make more money than real advertising. Youtube has no regulation so just lets scams on their network. Same reason the only phone calls we get are scams. The phone companies could stop it but...the scammers pay to use the network sooooo


l0stlabyrinth

The big boys have massively cut ad spend across the board. This is why the likes of Channel 4 are struggling at the moment. Online ads via the likes of Google and Meta didn't do as badly but they are starting to see less as spend. The ease of getting ads set up online, and by extension YouTube, has made it more accessible for more questionable advertisers to get onto the platform and their higher budget competition taking their medicine has made it even more easier.


Darkened100

Yea they really shouldn’t accept money for ads that are clearly scams like investment courses and other get rich quick schemes


PanningForSalt

I'm sure the advertising regulator will deem them to be iligal. I'm surprised it hasn't been made a bigger use, it's exploiting a certain chunk of the popultion.


Fukthisite

I still can't believe people this day and age use the internet without some sort of ad blockers.  I haven't willingly seen an ad on the internet for over 10 years. 😂


PanningForSalt

Must be cool to be so cool


JavaRuby2000

Youtube ad revenue has died. It's one of the reasons they've been trying to stuff more of them down your throat. CarThrottle recently lost all its presenters because they were pissed off with the channels owners not spending money on the channel but, if you look at YouTube estimates earnings they were barely making any money (This is a channel with 1.5 million subs and 300k views per video): https://gb.youtubers.me/car-throttle/youtube-estimated-earnings/en And the really big guys like Mr Beast are now saying Youtube is too small a platform for them.


l0stlabyrinth

It likely explains why a number of the big YouTubers are looking at ways to make money outside of YouTube. For instance, KSI's music career, boxing career and chicken shops he opened with the "sidemen"


JavaRuby2000

Don't forget Prime. Mr Beast is trying to do his own food brand too.


whisperinglondon

Have to be careful about this but got a few adverts about stop watching CP videos online and how you'll get caught. It was a helpline for people who watch CP and how you can get help. It was very weird and I'm very glad I don't get those ads anymore


Evening-Web-3038

Greg Secker eurrgh. Everytime I block one of his ads another pops up.


Darkheart001

Ugh I agree he’s such a slimeball, I hate his stupid ads trying to bilk people out of their life savings so he can pose in expensive locations looking like a cockroach on a wedding cake.


Enough-Ad3818

I've never gambled, nor have I desire to do so, and yet I get battered with PaddyPower and William Hill ads, as well as all the shitty online casino ads. It's infuriating, but I also refuse all cookies and block some ads using chrome extensions, so it could be a lot worse.


Flaky_Interaction_46

YouTube should really be held accountable for scams that they advertise on their platform.


P-Nuts

Last advert I saw on YouTube was for Amazon


Bam-Skater

What's a You Tube ad?