Is it me, or is it Youtube - longer, less popular, videos almost unplayable

[ThePythonicCow]

In recent months, I've been noticing that longer (say half hour or hour), less popular, Youtube videos have become almost impossible to watch online. The first minute or two will play fine, but then I get perhaps a half second snippet playing, ever few minutes, with the video playback stalled the rest of the time. Often it is not even a long enough snippet to contain one entire spoken word. Totally unlistenable.

The one work around I've found is to download the video and play it locally. The downloads proceed quickly, faster even than watching live.

Are others seeing this?

My guess is that Youtube has learned that there is no money to be had in playing long and obscure history, health, economics, or science videos (and likely other kinds, but these are my typical views), and has learned that most viewers stop listening to such videos after a minute or two anyway. So they serve up the minute or two that most will expect, then leave the rest of the video in some far away corner of their disk farm, to be fed through at whatever is their lowest priority.

[Awakening2014]

I haven't had any problem watching the long videos. I watch many long videos on there:)

[Inmortal719]

I'd blame DNS response time issues... either your ISP or your DNS provider are not stable....

[ErtheVessel]

Paul, I have also found that videos on YouTube are now slow and cumbersome to watch. (I don't know how to download videos, so I don't have that option.) This has definitely discouraged me from watching a lot of things on YouTube in the past six months or so. Sometimes I let the video sit for a while for it to *load* (buffer?) before I begin to watch it, and then I can see a bigger chunk of it before it stalls out again, but that can take a long time, and sometimes that doesn't work anyway. (I am such a techno-luddite I figured it was just me.)

[norman]

Yes Paul, I've been having the same trouble, but not just longer videos.

I too download anything I think will be interesting enough to want to rip the audio from it to store as an mp3 file. Using Youtube as a vehicle for long radio shows has always seemed nuts to me but it's the popular way people do it.

As for the videos stopping, It happens with short music videos too. I was suspecting that my OS (WinXPSP2) is losing touch with the internet. If you are having that trouble too, and you are using a modern OS, I still have some hope I'll be around a while longer yet.

[DeDukshyn]

I thought it was just me but then did notice the correlation as well a few week back - I assumed, rather like you, that some optimization had outbound video resources/bandwidth throttled by an algorithm that looked at variables like popularity and length. This would ensure that in high traffic times, the videos generating the most revenue would be hardware preferred over those that do not. It sort of makes sense; and yeah, annoying.

[mosquito]

I find this to be an intermittent problem, long or short, it doesn't matter - they just freeze up and the only way to watch them is to download them (using downloadhelper in Firefox). I also often notice that videos download faster than they play. On the other hand, videos from Dailymotion download at playing speed. Weird.

Most of the time I have no problems.

[Johnny]

@Paul. Could you give us a few examples.

I'm running win 10 with HTML5, I also had an extension to Waterfox ' HTML5 Video everywhere', this is now disabled because I had some troubles. I can still have troubles but with a or a couple of double click on the video

It use to be OK. 'REWIND - Cancelled TV show pilot - Time Travel Sci-fi/Action (Promo)' ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi6u14oGmh0 do you have trouble with that ???

Johnny :)

[Carmody]

I think it maybe tied to adblocker usage.

I've been using adblockers since the advent of adblockers and found that all youtube videos have always stuttered for me.

My internet supplier chokes and stutters one's internet flow when the bill is overdue, or when monthly limits are exceeded. They've built a software package that comes into effect when those two conditions take place.

I suspect that youtoob or google is playing a hidden passive aggressive game like that. Such things are perfectly acceptable as there is no law against it.

It IS considered nasty and extremely uncool for them to do so....so they simply would not tell anyone what they are doing, and --- you can't prove it.

I have no problems with netflix when streaming HD films. So it is not my connection to the net, it is not my service supplier.

What does stream perfectly from youtoob, with very fast loading, is something that IS a pure advertisement, like a film trailer. HD (1080p) Official film trailers on yootoob, from official companies, load 4x times faster than they need to be streamed, on average.

It is youtoob/google dicking with me from behind the scenes, IMO.

[Johnny]

I think it maybe tied to adblocker usage.

.

I use Adblock Plus on YouTube No problem here !!

Johnny :)

[ThePythonicCow]

I'd blame DNS response time issues... either your ISP or your DNS provider are not stable....
This doesn't make much sense to me ... sorry.

DNS is needed to resolve the website name (such as "Youtube.com") to an IP address, before the site can be accessed.

But it is not needed in the middle of watching a video.

Besides ... my DNS setup (local dnsmasq fed from local unbound fed from OpenDNS+Google+Level3) is in fine shape ... thank-you :).

[ThePythonicCow]

As for the videos stopping, It happens with short music videos too. I was suspecting that my OS (WinXPSP2) is losing touch with the internet. If you are having that trouble too, and you are using a modern OS, I still have some hope I'll be around a while longer yet.
I'm running a "modern OS" ... yes ... Debian/Sid (one of the 1,001 flavors of Linux.) Windows XP is becoming increasingly risky, security wise, since Microsoft has quit supporting it, and since it's an easy target for hackers, and since there are still many people running it. Major OS upgrades are a serious pain in the backside, but I'd encourage you to find a way and find the time ... double triple check your backups first.

[ThePythonicCow]

I think it maybe tied to adblocker usage.
Interesting theory - it might well apply to my primary Firefox browser environment, which has so many blockers, filters, and what not (does not even have Flash at all), that I've lost count.

But then if I switch to a plain Jane, off the shelf, whatever Google ships to me, Chromium browser, the video still won't play right. Perhaps Youtube matches the IP addresses on my incoming requests from Firefox and Chromium. I keep the Chromium around for when I just want some random "media rich" website to work, but don't care much about privacy or security. I don't visit any important sites using that browser. I have a Firefox add-on that adds a "Launch this site in Chromium" to my right click menu, for quickly and conveniently firing up a site in Chromium if it won't work adequately in my Firefox straitjacket environment.

However ... as of yesterday, I have a way to test this. I just switched my primary Firefox browser to running off a ZenMate (https://zenmate.com/) proxy server. So I should see if flipping to my plain Jane Chromium fixes a sick video now, since my Firefox requests are now coming into Youtube with the IP of some ZenMate proxy server in Delaware, whereas my Chromium requests to Youtube will still have the IP address assigned by my Charter ISP in North Texas.

This could (perhaps) explain why the download still works ... a downloader isn't going to ask for the ads anyway, so perhaps Youtube just gives up and serves the data.

[grannyfranny100]

I thought it was the people uploading the movies backwards so the store signs read backwards, the dialogue is too soft to hear because of loud background music.etc.Well I am a jerk about this stuff but I guess there are some jerks who have very inflate egos about their skill level. Good luck getting your problem straightened out.

[Wide-Eyed]

Somethings up I use startpage to get a little more secure browsing and to get to PA but it kicks me off log in. I have had to log in just now with PA using startpage 8x so far everytime I hit thanks or move to new posts or threads it kicks me off log in and I have to re-Login? I use google or duck duck go no issues I'm a hunt peck luddite with computers but something seems off or... DK. Maybe it's my provider or computer. Corbett report .com seems to have some AI messing with it or various government trolls agents. Dunno it's a pain.

[kanishk]

Paul, I have also found that videos on YouTube are now slow and cumbersome to watch. (I don't know how to download videos, so I don't have that option.) This has definitely discouraged me from watching a lot of things on YouTube in the past six months or so. Sometimes I let the video sit for a while for it to *load* (buffer?) before I begin to watch it, and then I can see a bigger chunk of it before it stalls out again, but that can take a long time, and sometimes that doesn't work anyway. (I am such a techno-luddite I figured it was just me.)

I use Internet Download Manager to download any video from Youtube or any other kind of online video websites to download TV serials and movies for free.

1> You need to install IDM cracked using torrent (because if you download IDM from their website it will work for only a month after that they will ask for serial number that you have to buy)

2> Install IDM software and use Keygen or patch provided with the software that you have downloaded using torrent.

3> Now if firefox and other explorers will automatically install a add on in their add ons button. Then you will find that after opening youtube there is a button created by IDM software to download that video.

4> If this integration doesn't happen by its own you have to download IDM CC by searching on google. Make sure that it is compatible with your version of browser.

5> Go to addons option in your browser setting and install the IDM CC file that you have downloaded on your computer into your browser.

6> This way you can download all types of files from internet faster that they use to be.

Now if you are only interested in watching some of the first some minutes of the video you can do that by going to IDM's temporary file folder where it has creating that file you are downloading. You can run that file and watch it.

There is also a option in IDM to choose the number of connection to download a file. Higher the number faster the download (most of the time)

[WhiteFeather]

It happens occasionally with my Mac.

[sunpaw]

The one work around I've found is to download the video and play it locally. The downloads proceed quickly, faster even than watching live.

Are others seeing this?



I download the vids - even though they run fine (I guess). I am more relaxed - so I can stop/pause and watch again. Without worrying if I bookmarked stuff or loose the page if I put the laptop aside.

I have ghostery - which seems to help. However I also noticed that my 'protection stuff' (antivirus and such) sometimes seem to interfere (doing their job though, but slowing things down). Due to 'more reason to scan' maybe?
I have the option 'silent mode' - which makes a difference.
(And the scan tool to get rid of stuff seems to slow things down too - when I ignore it ;) )

I use Chrome.
The Mozilla for me is worse than 'dial up' - I only use it for a site which blocks ad-blocks.

Another thought: maybe have another account on your device (computer/laptop) and have it just to watch those (and even don't bookmark there).
Sometimes either the amount or content of bookmarks matter, I got slowed down and/or also blocked over both.

[Red Skywalker]

I also noticed some changes. I could only watch in 360 instead of 720 or 1080. Also after some minutes of play the video stopped and audio plays on. WTF, then I found my firefox-browser uses now by default it's primitive build in - html5 player in stead of the Adobe Flashplayer. The Adobe flashplayer causes too much trouble, they say. Never had problems with that, so I wanted my flashplayer back. How to do that?

1. type in at the navigationbar: (your "www.etcetera" line)

about:config (ignore the warnings, of course, and be carefull.)

2. look for the line:

media.webm.enabled; and set it from True to False

3. update flashplayer plugin.

Happy after all, tried a youtube video. At first a fault notice pops up, but then the flashplayer kicks in and I watch all in highest fullscreen resolution without any troubles.

That's how I solved it on my good old winxp, firefox machine.

[DeDukshyn]

I think it maybe tied to adblocker usage.
Interesting theory - it might well apply to my primary Firefox browser environment, which has so many blockers, filters, and what not (does not even have Flash at all), that I've lost count.

But then if I switch to a plain Jane, off the shelf, whatever Google ships to me, Chromium browser, the video still won't play right. Perhaps Youtube matches the IP addresses on my incoming requests from Firefox and Chromium. I keep the Chromium around for when I just want some random "media rich" website to work, but don't care much about privacy or security. I don't visit any important sites using that browser. I have a Firefox add-on that adds a "Launch this site in Chromium" to my right click menu, for quickly and conveniently firing up a site in Chromium if it won't work adequately in my Firefox straitjacket environment.

However ... as of yesterday, I have a way to test this. I just switched my primary Firefox browser to running off a ZenMate (https://zenmate.com/) proxy server. So I should see if flipping to my plain Jane Chromium fixes a sick video now, since my Firefox requests are now coming into Youtube with the IP of some ZenMate proxy server in Delaware, whereas my Chromium requests to Youtube will still have the IP address assigned by my Charter ISP in North Texas.

This could (perhaps) explain why the download still works ... a downloader isn't going to ask for the ads anyway, so perhaps Youtube just gives up and serves the data.

I only have one browser with ad-blocker, and I get the same results with or without ... but strangely firefox seems slightly better regards to this issue than IE (which I shouldn't be using, I know).

I was also questioning whether the internet itself seemed to be acting odd a few weeks ago until recently or even still ... some websites acting normal, others not loading or taking way too long. I wonder if I just noticed the youtube issue due to the bandwidth needed to play the videos as opposed to other websites ... no idea.

[DeDukshyn]

I also noticed some changes. I could only watch in 360 instead of 720 or 1080. ...

I was noticing that as well, I even had one one video that opened in 144p for me -- yes 144p! (my calculator has better resolution) The weird thing was that that was the only option I got, but the last Iplayed that video it was in HD. (it was a 3ds MAX tutorial video which are useless if not in HD)

Maybe Youtube is doing a systematic re-encode for all it's videos to support HTML5 or something ? and the performance issues are due to hardware being tied up with re-encodes, causing the system to throttle less popular videos, and cusing some momentary availability lapses in various resolutions?

[Snoweagle]

No it's isn't just you Paul, there is a concerted effort to diminish the potential alternative education available through the internet. Desirable revelations are squashed or misrepresented or even as you have experienced, an untenable experience, pushing the enquirer away.

Here is an example at Avalon. In this case, the once open access videos are now only "sign in to view". This way the security services have the details of everyone who have knowledge about any subject that they feel will threaten their hegemony.
http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?8797-A-New-Era-in-Physics-Anti-Gravity-Cold-Fusion-Explained-In-Detail--video-series-
NB am not interested in "ah yes but . . . " arguments.

Many classic documentaries are viewable on youtube but are now only available at 240p, 360p or if you are lucky 480p. Yet are available through the Corporate media as quality videos.

Google, Eric Schmidt, appears to have changed the youtube openess around about the time of the Atlantis discovery in mid Atlantic by the UK Geography teacher and before he bought his own ocean going "industrial" yacht. Go figure.

Have been experiencing problems as you have for a few years now and is part of the reason I periodically change operating systems. It really isn't worth the aggro to battle the problem, you are one, they are many.

Consider what happened to Anthony Patch and his revelations about high tech science, they shut him down. Thats how they want you to behave, STFU and watch television like an idiot.

What you refer to is the tip of the iceberg, it will worsen.

[DeDukshyn]

Is it me or has Youtube been mostly fixed? Response on the site lately - even for conspiracy and tutorial videos, seems to have suddenly become a lot better ... maybe just on my end?

[ThePythonicCow]

Is it me or has Youtube been mostly fixed? Response on the site lately - even for conspiracy and tutorial videos, seems to have suddenly become a lot better ... maybe just on my end?

Mixed bag - I don't have a large enough sample size to come to a clear conclusion, but it does seem that fewer long conspiracy videos are being blocked for me this last week or two.

I did have my first clear case, last night, of a video that was blocked (extremely slow playback, one second per minute, after the first minute playing fine) from my ad-blocked browser, but not from my wide open browser. The blockage occurred on my heavily ad-blocked Firefox, but coming in from a different IP address (thanks to ZenMate), my off-the-shelf, nothing blocked, Chromium played it all the way through, one hour, without hesitation.