YouTube's new ad strategy is bound to upset users - Hypertext
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Peak Points place adverts at the point where users are most engaged in a YouTube video.

This week YouTube hosted Brandcast 2025 in which it revealed how marketers could make better use of the platform to connect with customers.

A few new so-called innovations were announced at the event but one has caught the attention of the internet – Peak Points. This new product makes use of Gemini to detect “the most meaningful, or ‘peak’, moments within YouTube’s popular content to place your brand where audiences are the most engaged”.

Essentially, YouTube will use Gemini and probably the heatmap generated on YouTube videos by people skipping to popular points, to determine where to place advertising. Anybody who has grown up watching terrestrial television where adverts arrive as a way to build suspense will understand how annoying Peak Points could become.

    • el_bhm@lemm.eeEnglish
      17·
      2 days ago

      When I have to visit it sans adblocker it is like a dumpster fire.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        3·
        1 day ago

        Yeah, if Google ever effectively blocks/bypasses my ad blocker, I’ll stop watching. They charge too much for premium for how much I watch, and I’d rather go without than deal with all those ads.

        • douglasg14b@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          20 hours ago

          I do! I’m actually using an NVidia Shield. Which runs android TV

          I tried last year to install a recommended one but it required that I download a third-party APK. And I would have to jump through a meant hoops to be able to install it on this device when I was poking around then. If it’s not on the Play store, apparently it’s rather difficult to install?

          • JadenSmith@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            1·
            9 hours ago

            You’re right in that you’d have to install an APK, from outside of the Play Store, however if you’re aware of the right sources of the right apps your security should be fine (you can disable the ability to install apps from unknown sources after you’ve got the YouTube alternative app, without affecting it, if you’re worried about that).

            There are a few steps, which are usually straight forward, listed here: https://github.com/yuliskov/SmartTube

            If you follow that link it should have further links for an installation tutorial (they also link a YouTube tutorial to make things easier).

            If you do go down that route, it’s a much more pleasant experience imho. No ads, Sponsorblock for in-video ad segments, complete control over quality of video, audio, options to manually force specific codecs, etc.