(no subject)

[olivermoss]

* The cold front is going to stay longer than expected, which means that we might not have clear sidewalks until Wednesday. Not only is there the current ice, but we are expected to get more ice. Yay

* So, Audible does not warn you if you re-purchase something you previously bought and got refunded. WTF, Audible? I will give it another try because I feel dumb for refunding the same thing twice.

* Netflix is giving me pop ups to let me know I could pay less if I do the ad-supported tier. We get it, ad agencies are very sad that so many people wall themselves off from ads if they can. That's not my problem. Also, the no-ads tier of Hulu... has ads? I was considering getting it for a month but... the no-ads tier has ads? I will watch The Bear someday, but apparently not today.

Comments

[profiterole_reads]

Don't take the ads on Netflix unless you're sure you want them, because they've deleted the lowest no-ad tier in Canada and now in France and probably later in other countries, so then you've got to pay more than you used to in order to get rid of the ads. lolol Such sneaky bastards!

[evilinsanemonkey]

When they announced the ad tier I was like I should not have upgraded our tier and been legacied into the lower price, lol.

[olivermoss]

That sucks. I really think they are trying to pressure people into the ads-deal because while certain demographics swim in ads, an increasingly large group is well insulated from them.

[evilinsanemonkey]

My thing on ad tiers is: I shouldn't have to pay for them. If it's free with ads, I will not mind and will suffer through the ads, but if you make me pay money and then there's ads? I am going to side eye you to death.

(and yes I felt this way about Cable, too, lol)

[olivermoss]

Yeah, paying should mean no ads. Also, in my experience ads on Hulu are the worst and have the biggest SUDDENLY LOUD issue.

I was thinking of getting the cheap tier and dealing with it for a month until I saw that for ten extra dollars you can.... still get ads. I really want new shows to watch, but I'll just do other things

[evilinsanemonkey]

Oh god seriously the hulu ads are AWFUL. My other big problem with the streaming ads is often you'll just get the same ad over and over at every break and it's like ??? Some variety, at least?

I really want new shows to watch, but I'll just do other things

God I feel this. It's seriously getting to the point where I may have to uh. Relearn some long forgotten skills... <.< >.>

[olivermoss]

When I first got Hulu it only gave me medical ads talking about what happens to your [redacted] if you leave a medical condition untreated and I've never really gotten over that.

The industry is a mess right now, and a lot of shows were held back to cover the strikes so it feels like the content drought is hitting more now than then. But I really should read more anyway, and also I can watch LPs of games on youtube.

[delphi]

My two main objections to ads on streaming are:

1) There are times when I need ads not to happen, like when I want to watch in tandem with someone else or maintain a mood, and you (by which I mean studios/networks/etc) are no longer letting me buy shows on DVD for when I need to do that, so...no.

2) If you are going to get money for advertisers, then I want to get back in on that contract where someone is actually funding the specific things 'my demographic' wants to see in exchange for getting my eyes on those ads, not just sticking them wholesale into whatever the platform hasn't cancelled yet for not getting x number of binge-streams in the first week of release or because they promised to start paying the creators more in the third season. So...no.

I'm not wholly opposed to watching ads just because I'm paying for access, but I'm not getting enough out of this deal or being give enough other options to do anything but completely opt out.

[olivermoss]

I don't hate ads on principle. Having how much a piece of content is consumed be directly linked to how much money it makes is a good model for a lot of things. Granted, a podcast that attracts higher earners is going to get less per impression than one that doesn't but still, it's good to have income that isn't based on who can pay or whether the content is suitable for merchandising.

A lot of Netflix stuff was designed to not have ad break and having ads during Stranger Things, a show with a very deconstructed structure, would be weird. And sometimes ads ruin the vibe, there have been backlashes against horror or documentary trailers show before comedy or romance movies a few times and the studios pulled the trailers. If I can limit what I am exposed to via my viewing habits, I should be able to have limits on what advertisers are allowed to show me. The first time I had Hulu it would only show me long form ads for what happens to your [redacted] if you have untreated medical conditions, in detail. No, that is no okay to show me. Also as someone sensitive to flickering images, some things are not okay to show me.

Ads have been too boundaryless and invasive for a while. Like you said about wanting to watch content without having whatever shoved in your face repeatedly, and they want to get rid of that. The spaces that are the most resistant to ads are the most profitable places for them to be and that creates really shitty situations.