this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2024
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Enshittification

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What is enshittification?

The phenomenon of online platforms gradually degrading the quality of their services, often by promoting advertisements and sponsored content, in order to increase profits. (Cory Doctorow, 2022, extracted from Wikitionary) source

The lifecycle of Big Internet

We discuss how predatory big tech platforms live and die by luring people in and then decaying for profit.

Embrace, extend and extinguish

We also discuss how naturally open technologies like the Fediverse can be susceptible to corporate takeovers, rugpulls and subsequent enshittification.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 6 months ago

With a DVR? Yes.

When ads are a distinct bit of content recognized by the client, then the casual user with the stock client/no add-ons can't overcome the UI choice to block you from seeking unless youtube lets you. But this allows ad blockers to skip even downloading the ad, because it's clear what is content and what is ad.

If the ad is completely "just part of the stream" with zero indication where ads begin and end, then you can at least seek back and forth, with not even the official client able to block you from seeking, because it doesn't know where the ads are either. The client downloads the stream.

If the stream is accompanied by some metadata letting the client know when to block seeking, then ad blockers can use that to auto-seek.

I suspect the last one is going to be the case, because they both want to limit seeking during ad, and they also want to change things to an ad experience so that you 'click through' to what the ad is trying to get you to do.