Forum Discussion

Berndta84's avatar
Berndta84
Newbie
3 years ago

Is YouTube (Google) increasing ads for Roku devices?

I understand that there's a trade-off for free streaming services with ads, but there's a difference between viewing ads in exchange for free movies or videos and somebody attempting to become a millionaire by shoving as many ads as possible into a video and this and most instances is what YouTube has been doing over the past 5 to 6 years.

I personally believe the reason they upped their ads is to get people to subscribe to their ad-free service. If they drive you crazy with ads eventually you'll snap and say screw it here's 30 bucks! And that's what they're counting on. It's kind of funny how YouTube has always been free but yet it did not need this many ads 10 years ago to function..

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  • Strega's avatar
    Strega
    Roku Guru
    3 years ago

    Or you could snap and say: “meh” and stop watching it.  Just another option.  I watched in 2020 to find out how to repair my dishwasher.  Then I loaded it up about a year ago to confirm someone else’s post that the channel makes a loud sound when starting up.  That’s pretty much it for me these days.  Watching two or three ads at the start just to watch the first minute of a video only to find that he’s not doing the kind of repair I thought, and then having to sit through to more to find out the next one doesn’t apply either, just got to be too much.

    • Michael_Gee's avatar
      Michael_Gee
      Binge Watcher
      3 years ago

      Well, I purchased Roku to watch the streaming content I like to watch; YouTube is one of them, so I would like to use it for that but if viewing YouTube on a Roku is going to come with increased ads, I will use another device BUT here is the issue with that. I have an app on my Sony TV that streams YouTube but eventually, the audio starts skipping for some reason. It's probably a bug in the app and since this has been happening for MANY months w/o any resolution, I suspect YouTube(Google) cares little about fixing it. You might have heard of their 80/20 rule so I suspect they took that attitude with this app.
      The other option is to Chromecast from my phone BUT this, too, is buggy and requires me to wake my phone every time I need to select a new show.
      There is one final option. In the future, I will not purchase Roku products but instead, purchase Google products which, I suspect, doesn't have is issue. Of course, that does mean at least one less user of their hardware and that's kinda the opposite of what a company wants.
      Maybe Roku made some sort of deal with Google and in exchange for extra ads, they get a cut of the revenue. It's possible they see this agreement as more profitable than the number of people abandoning their hardware due to this issue. Maybe some Roku insider can spill the beans. 😉

  • RokuMaresa's avatar
    RokuMaresa
    Community Moderator
    3 years ago

    Hi Berndta84

    A warm welcome to the Roku Community!

    We understand where you're coming from regarding the ads on your YouTube channel. However, many channels on Roku are developed and maintained by the channel providers themselves.

    For more information about that channel's features and functionality, including ads, you can contact the channel provider support directly to inquire further.

    Here is how to contact YouTube Support.

     

    Thanks,

    Mares

    • Michael_Gee's avatar
      Michael_Gee
      Binge Watcher
      3 years ago

      How is this my thread and Roku moderator's response to others in the thread? Now, to be honest, these moderator responses looked canned so I suspect these are just bots but it would be nice to get someone who actually works for Roku to at least respond to my legitimate question. I think I did the legwork to prove "shenanigans" and the fact that Roku should be concerned that Google is making your product less of a streaming device if one is considering using it to watch YouTube with ads.

  • Michael_Gee's avatar
    Michael_Gee
    Binge Watcher
    3 years ago

    My thread is not about YouTube requiring people to watch ads or how the number of ads has increased over the years. It's about an increased amount of ads JUST on my Roku. I've posted the times (See further down this thread) when ads are shown on Roku and when they are shown on other devices like when I use the YouTube app on my phone or watch videos in my PC's browser. Although each device plays ads at the same time, the Roku has additional times when it plays ads.

    Now, is this issue something Roku Corporation is aware of? That is something I would like to know. Since Google owns YouTube and also sells a streaming device, like Roku, targeting more ads at your competition when using their service would seem like an unfair business practice.