Freeing the Internet: Why Splitting Up YouTube and Google Benefits Everyone
- Think YouTube is just about videos? Uncover the monopoly tactics at play behind the scenes.
- Is YouTube turning against us? Discover how relentless ads are changing our favorite platform.
- Creators and viewers are getting the short end of the stick—learn why a YouTube-Google breakup could be the solution.
Imagine a frog placed in a pot of cold water.
Slowly, the temperature rises until it becomes unbearably hot, leaving the frog no chance to escape.
This metaphor aptly describes our current relationship with YouTube.
Over the past five to ten years, YouTube has transformed from a vibrant, user-driven community into a platform overwhelmed by a growing stream of ads and intrusive interruptions. The only way out is to pay Google $13.99 per month for YouTube Premium, a price which only continues to go up, with the last price hike seen around the world in recent weeks. As changes crept in incrementally, we adapted without fully realizing how detrimental they had become.
Photo via NBC News // This is what YouTube.com looked like in 2006.
From Ad-Free to Ad-Filled
In its early days, YouTube was revolutionary—a space where anyone could share homegrown content with minimal advertisements. It was the internet’s video playground, fostering creativity and community. Google’s acquisition of YouTube in 2006 supercharged the platform, enabling it to dominate the online video landscape and outpace competitors like Vimeo and Dailymotion. By the time Twitch, Instagram Video, and Facebook Watch attempted to gain traction, YouTube had already cemented its reign, leveraging Google’s vast resources to attract creators, advertisers, and viewers alike.
Back in the early 2010s, when YouTube was first starting to make a significant impact, companies knew not to try and compete with Google and its deep pockets. Video streaming was widely recognized by experts as a risky and expensive undertaking, and with billions of dollars to spend, Google was seen as a formidable competitor.
Without Google's acquisition of YouTube back in 2006, the online video market would likely be much more vibrant and colorful today.— A quote from a well-known YouTube creator Apple Scoop spoke to.
The Slow Boil
YouTube’s transformation didn’t happen overnight. It was a gradual shift, much like the boiling frog metaphor. Initially, skippable ads were a minor inconvenience. Then came five-second unskippable ads—still manageable and barely noticeable. However, over time, ads have become longer, more frequent, and far more intrusive. Today, we endure double ads and mid-roll interruptions that shatter our viewing experience. Recent tactics, such as hiding the skip button on mobile devices, exemplify Google’s manipulative strategies to maximize ad exposure without offering real choice.
"Five or ten years ago, watching a YouTube video with minimal interruptions was normal. Today, it’s the exception," laments our insider source. Due to Google's control over a large chunk of his monthly income, he repeatedly asked to be kept anonymous for this article. "We’ve become so accustomed to the relentless ad barrage that we’ve forgotten the platform’s original appeal."
Photo via PrioriData // The incredible growth of YouTube—a modern-day money-printing machine.
Monopoly Mayhem: Google’s Unchecked Power
Google’s ownership of YouTube highlights the inherent dangers of monopoly power. With minimal competition, Google can gradually degrade YouTube’s service, confident that users have no viable alternatives. This monopolistic control fosters complacency and stifles innovation, allowing YouTube to prioritize ad revenue over user satisfaction.
Photo via Reason Magazine // Last month, a significant legal blow was delivered to Google as a U.S. judge determined that the tech behemoth was illegally maintaining a monopoly in internet search.
While Google claims that users "prefer Google Search and YouTube because our services are simply better," this assertion is not necessarily accurate. Observing Google's pattern of "innovation," it becomes clear that Google invests in services that outperform existing market offerings, effectively eliminating competition. Once competitors are subdued, Google then shifts its focus toward consumers. A recent revelation disclosed that Google conducted an internal study showing they could significantly reduce the quality of Google Search without facing substantial repercussions. This behavior exemplifies monopoly power.
In 2020, "Google conducted a quality degradation study, which showed that it would not lose search revenue if [it] were to significantly reduce the quality of its search product,” he wrote. A company that knows it can make its product worse “without concern of losing consumers,” he added, is “proof of monopoly power.”— Scientific American
You can read more about these groundbreaking revelations on Scientific American.
Google is already under antitrust scrutiny for its dominance in the search engine market, and YouTube’s similar monopolistic tendencies deserve equal attention. When a single entity controls both the platform and the advertising ecosystem, it wields disproportionate power over both content creators and consumers.
Creators and Consumers: Trapped in a Stranglehold
This monopolistic environment isn’t just detrimental to viewers—it’s also devastating for content creators. With YouTube controlling such a large portion of online video traffic, creators have no other choice but to comply with Google’s stringent policies and revenue-sharing models. The platform’s dominance over the advertising ecosystem creates a precarious environment where creators must constantly adapt to algorithm changes and policy updates without fair compensation.
Google’s dominance over YouTube’s advertising ecosystem has created a stranglehold, leaving both creators and consumers with limited options.
The introduction of YouTube Premium—a paywall promising an ad-free experience—further exacerbates the issue by forcing the entire internet to either pay up or suffer through an ever increasing number of ads and interruptions. 
Photo via Axios // The U.S. Justice Department is considering breaking up Alphabet (Google's parent company) into several smaller companies, with YouTube likely to be one of those smaller companies. However, the Justice Department says that all options are on the table—and industry insiders say it is much more likely that less punitive penalties will apply if the United States wins its various cases against Google.
Here's Why Google and YouTube Should Be Split Up
Under Google's ownership, YouTube has evolved into an overwhelmingly dominant force in the online video landscape. This monopoly over video content, combined with Google's extensive control of the advertising market, has significantly reduced choices for both viewers and creators. Splitting YouTube from Google would dismantle this imbalance, fostering a competitive environment that prioritizes consumer interests and innovation.
Envisioning a Competitive Future
Imagine a landscape where YouTube no longer holds an unchallenged monopoly. Multiple platforms would vie for our attention, each striving to offer unique value propositions. Without the safety net of monopoly power, YouTube would need to continually innovate, enhancing features and user experience to retain its audience. Advertisers would benefit from a more diverse marketplace, and creators would enjoy greater freedom and fairer compensation.
Potential Benefits of Breaking Up Google and YouTube:
Enabling Competition in the Market: Splitting YouTube from Google would remove a dominant player with vast financial resources, making it feasible for new competitors to enter the video-sharing and online advertising industries. Google's immense capital and established infrastructure currently create high barriers for other companies, stifling innovation and limiting consumer choices. By making YouTube an independent entity, smaller and emerging firms would have a better chance to compete, fostering a more dynamic and diverse market landscape.
Resurgence of Free Content: Increased competition could lead to a resurgence of free, high-quality content with fewer intrusive ads. Independent platforms would strive to attract both creators and viewers by offering better user experiences and more appealing revenue models, resulting in a richer variety of content available to the public.
Innovation and Improvement: With the pressure to stay competitive, platforms would be driven to innovate, offering enhanced features and continuously improving user experiences. This could lead to advancements in video quality, personalized recommendations, and interactive tools that benefit both creators and viewers.
Greater Choice for Consumers: Consumers would enjoy more options, allowing them to choose platforms that prioritize their viewing pleasure and creative freedom over aggressive monetization strategies. This variety ensures that users can select services that best align with their preferences and values, leading to a more satisfying and personalized online experience.
The Cost of Complacency: Paying the Price
In hindsight, we should have anticipated this outcome when YouTube systematically pushed out its competitors. Today, we’re paying the price—literally, through YouTube Premium, and metaphorically, with our patience as ads infiltrate every corner of our viewing experience. The free experience that once defined YouTube continues to deteriorate, replaced by a platform that prioritizes profit over people.
Breaking up YouTube and Google would restore balance to the online video market, offering us and creators a richer, more diverse landscape. It would reintroduce choice, allowing us to select platforms that prioritize our viewing pleasure and creative freedom over relentless monetization.
Photo via YouTube.com // Today, YouTube can do things like this without facing any real repercussions. Consumers have nowhere else to go.
Escaping the Boiling Pot
With no competition left, Google continues to degrade its YouTube service, confident that we have nowhere else to turn. It’s time to break free from the boiling pot.
Separating YouTube from Google isn’t just a regulatory necessity—and the U.S. Justice Department have made it clear that this is an option on the table—it’s a crucial step toward reclaiming the vibrant, diverse online video landscape that we once cherished. Breaking up YouTube and Google would ignite competition, drive innovation, and restore a balance that benefits both creators and consumers. Until then, we remain trapped in that slowly heating pot, witnessing the erosion of a platform that was once the heart of online video.
This opinion piece reflects the author's perspective based on the current state of YouTube and its relationship with Google.
Recommended by the editors:
Thank you for visiting Apple Scoop! As a dedicated independent news organization, we strive to deliver the latest updates and in-depth journalism on everything Apple. Have insights or thoughts to share? Drop a comment below—our team actively engages with and responds to our community. Return to the home page.Published to Apple Scoop on 8th October, 2024.
No password required
A confirmation request will be delivered to the email address you provide. Once confirmed, your comment will be published. It's as simple as two clicks.
Your email address will not be published publicly. Additionally, we will not send you marketing emails unless you opt-in.