Ad Nauseam: How YouTube Drives Me to Change the Channel
I watch YouTube a lot when I'm making dinner (we have a TV in the kitchen). Usually the programs I watch are related to history, aeronautics, movies, or technology, such as audio equipment, computers, or electronics.
I pay for Internet access as well as a variety of streaming services, including YouTube TV, but the YouTube app is ad supported. I usually ignore or skip through the ads, but lately commercials about Trump praising his "big beautiful bill" have been popping up in the middle of a program that interests me, and they are usually unskippable and longer than the usual brief commercials for often obscure or wonky products.
I suppose this is YouTube's way of trying to force me to pay a monthly fee for the privilege of watching without commercials, but paying for another streaming service just is not in the cards.
So my message to YouTube video publishers is simple: if I see a Trump video popping up in the middle of your video, I am switching channels.
PS: I'm not opposed to advertising if it's relevant to me. I regularly respond to the YouTube surveys that precede the videos I want to watch, figuring this might somehow increase the relevance of the ads I see. So far it hasn’t.
Copyright 2025 by Dennis D. McDonald.
