Tell HN: Dark Pattern from YouTube Movies and TV

4 points by NoZebra120vClip 2y ago ↗ HN

I don't carry a streaming video subscription anywhere, and so I mostly watch free YouTube, or I go to the theater and pay for a film. A while back, YouTube began promoting its films "Free with Ads" and I watched many of those, and they are unevenly awful or slightly tolerable. But lately I've also been renting singlet films from YouTube and it's been a smooth experience, with no ads of course.

Today I was logged into my church account on my phone, and notied a 5-year-old film that I would love, so I jumped at the chance to plunk down $3.99 for an HD rental. It was also offered for purchase, and AFAICT, there was no free option at that point.

So I went through the purchase process, and realized I was in the wrong account just at the end, because I don't store payment methods on that one. So I switched to my main and that's when things got weird.

As soon as I looked up the same exact film in my main account, I noticed it was touted "Free with Ads" and no rental/purchase option. So I was thrilled, but also appalled that they would've let me spend money on it without mentioning that option, you know?

So I started it on my phone and switched to my notebook, where my church account was still logged in (where I'd initially found it for-pay) and mirabile dictu, it's also "Free with Ads" here!

So here's my theory on what happened, based on salesmanship tactics and the sort of things other apps have done to me: I think they detected my willingness to watch, my backing out of payment, and so they immediately sweetened the deal so that I'd watch anyway.

Now some of you would rather pay $4 than watch a bunch of advertisements, and that's fair. But it seems that YouTube's playing A/B testing with our willingness to do such a thing. Par for the course, am I right?

2 comments

[ 5.1 ms ] story [ 99.5 ms ] thread

brucethemoose2 2y ago ↗

Opaque A/B testing is nothing new. Social media has been doing this forever, and Netflix does it too.

...And as a random side note, I would recommend doing your streaming a la carte. Use an aggregator like ReelGood or JuatWatch to find highly rated things, then pay for a month of subscription and immediately cancel when done.

NoZebra120vClip 2y ago ↗

Thanks but I use YouTube, which is an aggregator in its own right, FYI. Can subscribe to most services through this app.

I don't know what JuatWatch is, but kept autocorrecting me, and I don't play peek-a-boo with juvenile subscription games.

I prefer to cultivate healthy relationships with those who provide me goods and services, but I also prefer those who are extremely stable, dependable, USA-based, and if not dependable, then at least predictable.