By: Kelly Chia, Editor-in-Chief
YouTube is really pissing me off lately. When I’m trying to relax, I like watching my favourite creators on my TV, but I’ve recently been getting multiple, unskippable ad breaks that are 45-seconds long. I’m talking about three or four ad breaks in a video, sometimes even five minutes apart. The worst part? YouTube claims the breaks are longer because there will be fewer ad breaks in the video, but it’s not true! These are more ad breaks, and they’re unskippable, AND they’re LONG. YOU CAN’T COMMIT THREE CARDINAL SINS TO MY PEACE.
You think the drama stops at the television? You’re wrong, Scott. When I watch on my laptop, YouTube not only notes that it’s against its terms of service to use ad blockers, but advertises YouTube Premium to bypass this. Apparently some Reddit users are reporting getting ads for ad blockers, which feels like salt on the wound, YouTube! It’s upsetting to me to have an app that I relied on for free entertainment growing up become more difficult to use and enjoy. It’s nasty to put a price on something that used to be free. Of course I’d like to support creators, but I can’t even watch them through a 45-second ad break every five minutes!
