# YouTube: Should I watch the ads? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2013, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587 "2013-04-13T10:49:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/1 "2013-04-13T10:49:18Z")
I’m posting this in IMHO because I’m not sure there’s a factual answer. I’ve gotten into the habit of watching the video ads that appear before videos on YouTube, if they’re reasonably short and not offensive. When there’s an overlay ad box over the video itself, though, I close it as soon as possible. I’m assuming that YouTube/Google keeps track of which ads are watched in their entirety, which are skipped, etc. My reasoning is that, by watching the least-bad ads, I’m helping keep YouTube profitable and indirectly sending advertisers a message as to which ads are acceptable. On the other hand, I’m sure some would argue that I’m encouraging YouTube to run more ads. And yes, I’m aware that my behaviour doesn’t have much weight with YouTube. So, what say you? Am I doing my civic duty or ruining my community? ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/2 "2013-04-13T11:18:46Z")
How are they going to know if you watch them or not? When an ad comes on youtube I just mute it and go to another page for 30 seconds. Are you skipping them or blocking them? ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/3 "2013-04-13T11:49:53Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > How are they going to know if you watch them or not? When an ad comes on youtube I just mute it and go to another page for 30 seconds. Are you skipping them or blocking them? Sorry, I wasn’t clear. Of course the servers at the other end cannot know if I’m actively watching or if I’ve muted my computer’s audio and switched to another page, but they can know if I’ve clicked the “Skip ad” link on the ad. Even if the whole ad has been downloaded to my PC by then, if they get a request for the video proper, only 8 seconds after starting a 30-second ad, then obviously I’ve clicked “Skip ad”. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/4 "2013-04-13T11:50:05Z")
I hate/hate these ads. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/5 "2013-04-13T12:11:28Z")
Oh I guess I wasn’t familiar with being able to skip the ads. I don’t see them often in youtube and I guess I probably do skip them given the option. I say, if there is a product that within the first 8 seconds of seeing you are genuinely interested in it, then why not? People rail against marketing and advertising as pure evil, and maybe some of it is dedicated to getting people to buy things they don’t really want or need, but also sometimes aren’t you grateful you happened upon an ad that alerted you to a new product that you really did want or need? So I say, watch the ads for the products you genuinely want to learn more about, skip the ones you don’t. But don’t keep watching the same ad over and over again with the hopes that it promotes it somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/6 "2013-04-13T13:16:21Z")
Adblocker must block them or something. I have never, and I mean never, seen an ad on Youtube. Am I alone in this? Edit: Please link me to a video that has ads so I can check, please. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/7 "2013-04-13T13:20:04Z")
The only time I see them is on my phone. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/8 "2013-04-13T13:28:07Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > (…) Please link me to a video that has ads so I can check, please. 🙂 All right, here’s a silly video of a sports car : [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpPrhYeQaSs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpPrhYeQaSs) On my system, I get a 15-second ad for Robax back-pain relief medicine before the video plays. Of course the ad is tailored to my location and tastes, but I guess it should show some sort of ad on your system. ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/9 "2013-04-13T13:52:21Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > All right, here’s a silly video of a sports car : > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpPrhYeQaSs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpPrhYeQaSs) > > On my system, I get a 15-second ad for Robax back-pain relief medicine before the video plays. Of course the ad is tailored to my location and tastes, but I guess it should show some sort of ad on your system. I got a trailer for the movie Rush, a film of which I was previously unaware and it looks completely awesome. I preferred watching the add to the video that followed. ---
**Author:** ![thicksantorum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@thicksantorum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thicksantorum)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/10 "2013-04-13T14:57:06Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Adblocker must block them or something. I have never, and I mean never, seen an ad on Youtube. > > Am I alone in this? No, not alone. You’re doing it right. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/11 "2013-04-13T15:10:29Z")
Oh I have ABP for chrome, maybe that’s why I never see them or rarely see them (now that someone mentioned it I do remember seeing them on my phone). ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/12 "2013-04-13T16:53:00Z")
I’ve also heard that if an ad is popular, YouTube is more likely to show it. So you’re also helping the advertiser. But isn’t this unfair to unpopular ads? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/13 "2013-04-13T16:57:41Z")
Youtube has ads? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/14 "2013-04-13T17:20:43Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > All right, here’s a silly video of a sports car : > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpPrhYeQaSs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpPrhYeQaSs) > On my system, I get a 15-second ad for Robax back-pain relief medicine before the video plays. Of course the ad is tailored to my location and tastes, but I guess it should show some sort of ad on your system. No, it just played the video. On Internet Explorer even(which I had to search to find on my computer), it has no ad either. I reloaded it a few times. > [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Youtube has ads? I actually had heard this before, but I’m like you. I have never once seen an ad. It seems like it would ruin Youtube. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/15 "2013-04-13T18:54:13Z")
No ad here. I’m on my iPad. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/16 "2013-04-13T18:58:37Z")
It goes well beyond YouTube; those ads directly support the video creators themselves. As one who makes videos on YouTube for a living, I greatly appreciate it when people watch the ads on our videos, since that’s how I make my money. If you like the content being provided, it’s best tor reward those efforts by watching the ads. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/17 "2013-04-13T19:03:54Z")
I watch YT ads only when they involve dogs, cats, hot babes, or some combination of the above. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/18 "2013-04-13T19:10:49Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Adblocker must block them or something. I have never, and I mean never, seen an ad on Youtube. > > Am I alone in this? > > Edit: Please link me to a video that has ads so I can check, please. 🙂 > [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Youtube has ads? I’m with you guys on this. Never seen one. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/19 "2013-04-13T20:21:38Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > It goes well beyond YouTube; those ads directly support the video creators themselves. > > As one who makes videos on YouTube for a living, I greatly appreciate it when people watch the ads on our videos, since that’s how I make my money. If you like the content being provided, it’s best tor reward those efforts by watching the ads. I had absolutely no clue that video makers got money, let alone from ads. How does the system work? ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587/20 "2013-04-13T20:26:17Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > I had absolutely no clue that video makers got money, let alone from ads. > > How does the system work? Well, it used to be that you had to become an official YouTube “Partner” by having a channel of a certain size and quality. This would provide a bunch of additional features, including the ability to monetize your videos by having YouTube run ads on them. Those profits are then split between YouTube and the video’s creator. Only difference now is I think anyone can choose to monetize their videos. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-should-i-watch-the-ads/655587.md?page=2)