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Comment by Brian_K_White | Hacker News Reader

Spoken like someone from the universe where paid services do not still show ads and engage in countless other user-hostile behavior.

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does anyone know of any services that do this?

Paid services that still show ads? Cable, Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, etc.

YouTube as well, from the end-user perspective. I understand that there is a distinction between sponsor segments and preroll/midroll ads, but at the end of the day it’s all ads and paying for YouTube doesn’t get rid of all the ads.

That’s due to ad blocking: it doesn’t make creators not want to make rent, it just means more ads in the content and things like sponsor products being woven into the content. Worse for everyone but people are going to chase money if their income declines.

i never got any ads on netflix, disney+, prime video or youtube premium.

Incorrect.

Surely you could provide at least some details? Have you personally seen ads on those services, for example?

I have seen ads on those services when paying for their cheapest paid tier.

Yes, if you pick the ad supported discount you see ads. Choosing to get a discount is not the same as the original claim that you’d still get ads even if you paid.

Yet one is still paying fiat and getting ads. And for Prime I always saw ads no matter how much I paid. Perhaps that's changing with their new tier.

I assume they mean ads for other shows on the same platform(at least Netflix and Prime Video do this), which in my experience not everyone sees as "ads" in that sense(I still do myself).

Then you're paying at a higher tier.

* Some of these platforms have cheaper tiers that are ad-supported.

* All of these platforms favor algorithmic recommendations (which are ads) over your personal content queue.

* A lot of content on Prime forces you to watch an ad of new Prime content before your show starts.

* Some of these platforms have auto-playing previews that distract you while you are navigating. Sometimes you can disable them, sometimes you can't. Sometimes the setting resets itself. These are ads.

Good points about algorithm and auto play.

I'd add that if one has (permanent) control of the recommendation and auto playing then they're less like ads and more tools. Especially if they are opt in.

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