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online advertising

concept · in 16 videos (2009–2013)

Mentions by year: 2009: 3 · 2010: 2 · 2011: 1 · 2012: 3 · 2013: 7

Threads

What the videos say

2009

  • 2009-04-12 · The Death of Youtube?? Redesign Coming — John says the site will emphasize TV shows, feature films and music videos not because people want to watch them but because advertisers want to advertise next to them. (00:00:58)
  • 2009-04-12 · The Death of Youtube?? Redesign Coming — John explains that huge audiences watch user-made clips like water-skiing squirrels for free, but advertisers such as Lucky Charms won't associate their brand with them, preferring shows like American Dad and Bones. (00:01:32)
  • 2009-04-12 · The Death of Youtube?? Redesign Coming — John finds it hard to be mad at YouTube for wanting to stop losing money, but is a little mad at advertisers for thinking user-generated content can't sell Lucky Charms. (00:01:55)
  • 2009-07-15 · Sell Outs! — John reports many Nerdfighters commented that almost all ads beside his Sunday video were for Scientology or mail-order brides. (00:00:00)
  • 2009-07-15 · Sell Outs! — John says YouTube can't survive without advertising, and as vlogging becomes more their job neither can they, since he assumes no one wants to pay for Vlogbrothers videos. (00:02:37)
  • 2009-07-15 · Sell Outs! — John says the brothers do make money from advertising and from selling t-shirts. (00:02:37)
  • 2009-07-18 · Selling Out, Chewbacca and Taking Leave — Hank says there are two ways the brothers make money, advertisements and selling stuff, and he likes both because they let them spend more time making better videos. (00:00:41)
  • 2009-07-18 · Selling Out, Chewbacca and Taking Leave — Hank says the brothers have no control over, and don't even know, which advertisements viewers see beside their videos. (00:01:03)
  • 2009-07-18 · Selling Out, Chewbacca and Taking Leave — Hank says the brothers far prefer selling stuff to advertisements, which he feels are a little dirty. (00:01:25)
  • 2009-07-18 · Selling Out, Chewbacca and Taking Leave — Hank asks viewers to pause and leave a comment saying which advertisements they see, so the brothers know what is going on. (00:01:25)

2010

  • 2010-04-05 · Google in your Brain — Hank says Google has talent, money and strong incentives: understanding speech would let it run contextual ads on videos, and contextual ads are how Google makes all its money. (00:01:27)
  • 2010-06-07 · Viacom PWNED on Piracy — John says everybody agrees YouTube should pay Viacom that ad money; the dispute is the amount, YouTube valuing ads at their worth and Viacom as if money grew on trees. (00:01:29)

2011

  • 2011-03-25 · Hank is an Adorable, Drunk Princess — Hank tells John he is ashamed to make money from advertising, which he believes is a little bit evil, often there to lie to us and make us do things we otherwise wouldn't. (00:01:59)
  • 2011-03-25 · Hank is an Adorable, Drunk Princess — Hank adds that not all advertising is bad: sometimes we should do things we don't want to, and sometimes ads just shift spending from one thing to another. (00:02:08)
  • 2011-03-25 · Hank is an Adorable, Drunk Princess — Hank apologizes to Nerdfighteria but won't turn off ads, since otherwise he couldn't make the videos, and believes their entertainment outweighs the advertisers' damage to viewers' brains. (00:02:21)

2012

  • 2012-01-07 · Kill your TV — Hank says a 15-second pre-roll on a four-minute YouTube video is seven times less advertising than on television. (00:02:39)
  • 2012-05-22 · You ARE The Product — John believes the internet maxim: if you are not paying for a service, you are the product being sold. (00:00:44)
  • 2012-05-22 · You ARE The Product — John explains that users' uploads draw other people in, who upload more and draw more, and that uploads tell Facebook what you are tempted to buy so it can encourage you. (00:01:11)
  • 2012-05-22 · You ARE The Product — John says people insist ads don't affect them and they get the better bargain, but that is what advertisers want them to think; corporations know well how ads change behavior. (00:01:29)
  • 2012-05-22 · You ARE The Product — John concludes that, almost by definition, advertisers buy you for less than you're worth, since many people work full time to make ads worth more than they cost. (00:02:00)
  • 2012-05-22 · You ARE The Product — John says corporations spent $498 billion on advertising last year: half a trillion dollars says advertising affects behavior. (00:02:05)
  • 2012-05-22 · You ARE The Product — John says everyone using Facebook, Twitter, Google or Angry Birds has agreed to be commodified: not necessarily a bad decision, but one to make thoughtfully and consciously. (00:02:15)
  • 2012-05-22 · You ARE The Product — John says the brothers have never been totally comfortable with ads, but ads have seemed the best way to make what they like with people they like. (00:02:27)
  • 2012-05-25 · The Subway Where I Used To Go (Somebody That I Used To Know / Gotye Parody) — Hank says he doesn't like advertisements: he has seen too many Geico commercials that say nothing to believe ads aren't wheedling around in his brain, making him do things unknowingly. (00:02:21)
  • 2012-05-25 · The Subway Where I Used To Go (Somebody That I Used To Know / Gotye Parody) — Hank argues the internet is built on the idea that content should be free, which leaves advertising as the only model: a free YouTube that keeps its staff means looking at ads. (00:02:33)
  • 2012-05-25 · The Subway Where I Used To Go (Somebody That I Used To Know / Gotye Parody) — Hank invites a conversation: if people want YouTube neither ad-supported nor free, or know a way to run an online company without auctioning users' psyches and habits, let's talk. (00:02:45)

2013

  • 2013-03-15 · Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes — Hank objects that a project like the Brain Scoop, with 50,000 dedicated community members, still cannot pay for itself, because advertising is not the right model; he doesn't even like advertising. (00:02:40)
  • 2013-03-20 · Ads Work...but for Whom? — John says advertisers care who the viewer is (age, income) but not whether you watch a kitten riding a Roomba or MinutePhysics; they want you leaning back and enjoying yourself when their ad plays. (00:00:47)
  • 2013-03-20 · Ads Work...but for Whom? — John says the problem with advertising is that it incentivises the most views, not the best: it values YouTube communities for their size, not their passions or achievements. (00:01:41)
  • 2013-03-20 · Ads Work...but for Whom? — John wants a way to thank creators such as Ze Frank, Wheezy Waiter and Hannah Hart for making him "lean forward", and does not think advertising alone can do that. (00:03:38)
  • 2013-03-23 · How Much is a Human Life Worth? — Hank says a 30-second TV ad costs about $24 per thousand viewers, i.e. $2.88 per hour of attention, about $2 million over a lifetime. (00:01:10)
  • 2013-03-23 · How Much is a Human Life Worth? — Hank says selling only waking hours to TV advertisers would give about $1.3 million, and online video ads can go for less than a tenth of that. (00:01:25)
  • 2013-03-23 · How Much is a Human Life Worth? — Hank says that besides being annoyed by pre-rolls, he and John avoid them because they undervalue this community's time; valuing it at a tenth of TV viewers' time is 'dumb'. (00:01:37)
  • 2013-05-28 · NERD FACTOR! (...And Why I Fear for Tumblr) — Responding to Hank's Tumblr and startups video, John thinks the underlying problem is that almost everything online depends on advertising, and advertisers are terrible at valuing the creator-viewer relationship. (00:00:16)
  • 2013-05-28 · NERD FACTOR! (...And Why I Fear for Tumblr) — John says advertisers value the number of views over their quality: Thoughts From Places videos are the channel's least viewed, yet Nerdfighters say they are among their favourites. (00:00:32)
  • 2013-07-26 · Introducing Subbable — Hank says the problem, as someone on Twitter put it, is that advertisers value views, not viewers: they only care that you are watching, not how much you care. (00:00:37)
  • 2013-07-26 · Introducing Subbable — Hank says he cannot solve this alone; the advertising system is too ingrained for a technological solution, but 'we' might find a cultural one. (00:00:47)
  • 2013-07-26 · Introducing Subbable — Hank says educational content cannot get the 'bajillion' views needed to pay for itself through advertising. (00:01:58)
  • …and 5 more statements in 2013 (most important shown)