Nearly 50% people in developed countries use some form of ad-blocking tool (eg. 49% in Germany, 47% in U.S.). Ads are interruptive and can be annoying, esp. in context of the new state we are in – spread too thin across different content platform. There is always more to know and explore, and our attention span for online content has been falling.
Even the most used social platform, YouTube, does not seem feeling safe with its advertising business model. For past several months we have been bombed with repetitive ads to upgrade to YouTube Premium for $11.99 a month (YouTube tried to take on Netflix with YouTube Red back in 2015). The benefits: Watch ad-free videos, Download videos to watch offline, Background play, YouTube Music Premium, YouTube Originals. But don’t we already have better services for both types of content, eg. Spotify for music and Netflix for video content.
If we are already paying subscriptions to certain service providers for high quality music and video content, and a new service provider wants us to switch service (read Alphabet), they should provide better content. Bottom line is this is not an issue of features (product).
Alphabet is essentially is a tech company. They know how to roll out and optimise features, but content is really not their cup of tea. In contract, Netflix is a very different types of company. They take tech seriously but creativity is ingrained in their DNA. Netflix, the company, is divided into four verticals – Product, Corporate functions, Content, and Marketing and Publicity. They take content so seriously that they have a whole vertical dedicated to it. This begs the questions – has time come for Alphabet to evolve from a purely platform company to a company which also makes or actively shapes the content for its platform?
P.S.: If you use Chrome on desktop, you may use the extension “uBlock Origin” to block pop-ups and ads.