YouTube addresses lower view counts which seem to be caused by ad blockers

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

What changed in view counts

  • Many creators report sharp drops in desktop view counts on a specific date, while ad revenue stayed flat and mobile views were unchanged.
  • A widely cited GitHub issue indicates EasyPrivacy added a YouTube metrics endpoint (/api/stats/...) to its tracking blocklist; that endpoint is used to attribute views, so adblocked plays now often don’t increment the public counter.
  • YouTube’s official note says ad blockers and “content blocking tools” can affect reported views, especially for channels whose audiences use them heavily.
  • Several commenters are surprised YouTube relies on client‑side calls for public view counts instead of purely backend logging, calling it fragile and easily broken.

Effects on creators and revenue

  • Creators say YouTube ad revenue hasn’t dropped in line with views, implying the missing views were from users who were never monetized anyway (adblock users).
  • However, lower public view counts hurt:
    • Negotiating power and pricing for in‑video sponsorships.
    • Channel growth and recommendations, if the algorithm heavily weights views.
  • Tech‑oriented channels (with high adblock usage) appear hardest‑hit; some worry this systematically disadvantages more technical or “FOSS‑y” audiences.
  • There’s concern Premium users with adblockers may undercount as well, potentially reducing payout from subscriptions.

Ad blockers, tracking, and ethics

  • One camp: blocking both ads and tracking (including view metrics) is exactly what privacy lists promise; if creators lose views, that’s a platform or business‑model problem, not the user’s.
  • Another camp: viewers who block everything but keep using the service are “leeching”; the “moral” options are to pay (e.g., Premium) or stop using YouTube.
  • Counter‑argument: the modern ad ecosystem is scam‑ and malware‑ridden; adblocking is basic self‑defense. Users are entitled to control what runs on their machines and what data is sent.

YouTube’s incentives and suspected strategy

  • Some suspect YouTube is happy to let this play out because:
    • It turns creators against adblock users without YouTube directly attacking them.
    • Undercounted views devalue off‑platform sponsorships (from which YouTube earns nothing) relative to YouTube’s own ad products.
  • Others think it’s more likely an uncoordinated mess: anti‑tracking lists shifted, internal teams didn’t realize, and YouTube’s creator comms are characteristically vague and late.

Recommendation quality and user behavior

  • Many report watching less YouTube due to:
    • Aggressive pre‑rolls and anti‑adblock popups.
    • Poor recommendations, AI‑generated “slop,” ragebait, and Shorts.
  • Others say recommendations are excellent if you rigorously avoid low‑quality content and use “don’t recommend” tools.
  • Some users report replacing many “how‑to” videos with LLM answers and using alternative clients (NewPipe, Freetube, SmartTube, patched apps) to escape ads and Shorts.

Technical debates about counting views

  • Server‑side counting via CDNs and segmented streams is seen as non‑trivial (buffering, skipping, bots, shared IPs), which partly explains client‑side view APIs.
  • Critics respond that if YouTube can track watch history and Premium usage, it could design a more robust, less blockable view metric—if it wanted to.