• OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml
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    6 months ago

    Blows my mind that to this day, companies don’t realize it’s a service issue. Like it’s straight up regressed. Adobe and Microsoft used to encourage piracy to help their bottom line. Now you have stupid PMs who realize they can get a good performance review by talking about how much money they’ll make/save from doing stuff like this

  • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Its funny how we cant use VPNs but companies will go to the country with the lowest wages to get workers.

  • hark@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    I’d rather not use youtube than give them money for it or even sit through their intrusive ads. There are infinite ways to entertain myself.

  • lobotomo@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    I’ve never seen a company SO devoted to get me to not use their service. $2-$3 a month is worth not seeing ads in my mind. They’ve made their website SO user hostile and their prices are just too damned high to justify paying them - I can just go without.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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      6 months ago

      If I could get Youtube Premium for $2-3, I’d probably pay. I don’t use it enough to justify spending $10 or whatever it is these days, so I block ads. If that stops working, I’ll stop watching Youtube.

      • vxx@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I would even pay the 11,99€, in fact I did in the past. Youtube’s algorithms made me stop.

        Spotify for example caters to my preferences. It took a bit to train it, but the weekly selection is spot on with lots of a variety, and they don’t try to shove pop music or other mainstream stuff into my face.

        YouTube tries to suckme into a shit hole of craziness at every turn. It tries to make people dumber.

          • vxx@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            It was hard work, but a general rule is to like only songs that you could listen every day to, make playlists for everything else.

  • OfficerBribe@lemm.ee
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    6 months ago

    Makes sense and probably all companies that do regional pricing have a rule for this, Steam explicitly states to not do this as well

    You agree that you will not use IP proxying or other methods to disguise the place of your residence, whether to circumvent geographical restrictions on game content, to order or purchase at pricing not applicable to your geography, or for any other purpose. If you do this, Valve may terminate your access to your Account.

  • w3dd1e@lemm.ee
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    6 months ago

    I realize they charge what people are willing to pay, but can someone explain to me why YouTube costs just a couple USD a month in some countries and almost $20 a month in the US?

    Are operating costs cheaper in those countries? Are they taking a loss in those counties? Or are they just price gouging in the US?

    • Mnemnosyne@sh.itjust.works
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      6 months ago

      If they raise the prices in those countries they would make less money because volume of subscribers would go down enough for total income to decrease.

      If they lowered the price in the US, they would make less money because the subscribers they would gain would not be enough to offset the reduced income from each.

      That’s it, it has nothing to do with operating costs or fairness, it’s just a question of what price point they believe will make them the most money in a given market.

      • w3dd1e@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        Thanks. That’s something I hadn’t thought of.

        I’m sort of more moderate when it comes to paying Google to access YouTube. I’m happy to pay for products that I use. I want Google and creators to be rewarded for services rendered, but the prices are double what they should be.

        I’m one of the people who used the VPN to get Premium at an affordable rate even though I have Ublock and know about other options.

        My Premium account did get canceled. I was able to sign back up via another location, but if they push me out again, I would just revert to adblockers.

        I suspect other users who signed up with a VPN are like me. We are the few who know how to get around the ads but want to pay, if we can. Just a guess though.

      • kromem@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        In theory the service operating costs could be spread across region differences such that in other areas it was at a loss to build and preserve market share and in richer areas it was making up for that.

        But yes, in reality it’s just exploitative “what we think we can get away with” pricing to “maximize shareholder value” (which is largely BS as the vast holders of shares are very small clusters of the population but people with a handful of shares in their 401k think that statement is talking about them).

    • Crow@mander.xyz
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      6 months ago

      Well they are charging a premium for the service everywhere and more so in certain countries which can afford it but a big part is that in some countries people may only earn a few USD a day so they would not be able to afford it otherwise. I can’t speak on whether or not they are taking a loss in those countries, but i can’t imagine that they have a problem due to existing infrastructure from google all across the world.

  • The Pantser@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    So a person is not allowed to be part of their home country and get service and then move? What if their job stays the same and they don’t make any extra? Evil google.

    • BradleyUffner@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      They are perfectly free to do that. They just have to resubscribe from their new home country at the new rate. Just like with telephone service or cable tv. It’s not like they will get in trouble or would be prevented from moving.

  • SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    If you have an iPhone or iPad you don’t even need to use a VPN to get cheap Premium. Just make an new Apple ID with an Indian address, top it up by buying a digital Apple Card on Amazon.in and redeeming it to your Indian account in iTunes on a computer. Then on your iPad or iPhone go to your Apple ID in the settings, log out of Media and Purchases and login with the Indian account. Then you can buy Premium in the YouTube app with your Rupees, you don’t even need to change your YouTube account.

    • recapitated@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      I can do even better. I can hook you up with a free lifetime account, but I’m having a problem with my bank account this week. But I’ll send you $6000 dollars if you just send me $5000 back. Yeah I know it sounds weird but I’m really not hard up for cash I just can’t get my cash out of the bank at this moment so I need your help. Hit me up and we’ll figure something out, and I’ll get you that free lifetime subscription.

    • slimarev92@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Ads are bad (I agree).

      Paying for things is bad.

      Then what’s left? YouTube should somehow be ad free and free of cost for the user forever and ever? Who’s gonna pay for the enormous costs of operating the service?

      People are going to start yelling at me about capitalism and enshitiffication. Both of which cause problems, but what do you propose here? Magic?

    • AProfessional@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Youtube might be the literal most valuable site in my life, up there with Wikipedia and search engines.

      A large part of my payment also goes to the channels I view.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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        6 months ago

        Really? I watch very little Youtube, so I’d rather not use it than pay $10+ for it. I’m currently able to block ads, so I’ll watch as long as that’s an option.

          • Veneroso@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            Unpopular opinion, but I also use YouTube almost exclusively.

            It has my podcasts, my political livestreamers, late night shows, and multiple channels that I follow.

            I also enjoy YouTube music as well.

            I bought a full year, which lowers the price a little.

    • macrocephalic@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      If you watch ads instead of paying a modest fee to remove them then you’re a clown. Companies do need to make money for the services they provide, I just disagree with the amount.

      • derf82@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        “Modest?” $14 a month? $5 would be modest. I literally pay less for whole as streaming services.

            • macrocephalic@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago

              That was my comment about the amount that should be charged. I’ll happily pay $5/mo, but not $15. I’m happy to pay for services, just not the amount that many want to charge.