• andyburke@fedia.io
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    20 days ago

    Can a company market a submarine but then define a submarine as a lamp in their ToS and you’d just be out of luck?

    I haven’t read the case, but you seem to be coming from a place of “the terms absolve them” when the suit may be more about false advertising?

    I am a premium subscriber and don’t get a lot of ads, but I have also noticed some UX changes recently that do indeed seem kinda dark pattern/marketing-ish.

    I will be mildly watching this hoping for that sweet $2.37 settlement check…

    • TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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      20 days ago

      Can a company market a submarine but then define a submarine as a lamp in their ToS and you’d just be out of luck?

      No, because a ToS can’t cure an obviously false advertisement, but when looking at what a reasonable consumer would take away from the advertisement, you can see the ToS is clarifying what a reasonable person would already assume – namely that MrBeast, before sending 42 junior high students to fight to the death in a chocolate factory, spending 45 seconds raving about how much he loves to put Hello Kitty-branded capsaicin under his foreskin isn’t something that YouTube Premium is going to get rid of.

      • andyburke@fedia.io
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        20 days ago

        You seem very emotional about this while.claiming to not care.

        I don’t feel you answered my question on if your criticisms apply - is this about the ToS or about their marketing?

        • BassTurd@lemmy.world
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          20 days ago

          Ianal, but I believe laws like this usually have a “reasonable expectation” component to them. Imo, ad free means Google isn’t injecting their own ads before or during videos, with the exception of ads during live events. I believe they have lived up to that and more with the built in functionality to detect and skip creator ads. I think the explicit writing in the ToS further defends their position, but by itself isn’t a definitive defense. So I think the prosecution has to somehow convince a judge that they were actually deceived by the whole package, the marketing and defend against the very clearly stated section in the ToS. That to me is a tall order and I think Google wins.

        • TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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          20 days ago

          while.claiming to not care.

          I claim not to care to keep up with this after this thread because it’s obviously doomed. I do, however, care enough to debunk it when it’s shared on Lemmy like it has any chance of success.

          I don’t understand how you got “emotional” from my last comment where all I did was make a matter-of-fact statement followed by a joke about MrBeast CBT.

          • andyburke@fedia.io
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            20 days ago

            Is the lawsuit regarding the marketing of the product or the functionality of the product?

            I think you might be emotional because you keep ignoring the thing I am asking to discuss stuff I am not.

            • TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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              20 days ago

              regarding the marketing of the product or the functionality of the product?

              The marketing, to which Google is going to obviously and correctly respond that:

              • A reasonable consumer would not expect that “ad-free” means that creator-submitted sponsored material is not present in the videos, descriptions, etc., which they create.
              • There’s a “Restrictions Apply” link taking you to the ToS, which itself in the “Advertising” section prominently – literally the first word – links directly to a FAQ stating that YouTube Premium has nothing at all to do with blocking sponsored content.
              • That is to say that the terms and FAQ clarify what a reasonable consumer would already assume.

              I’ll repeat what I think you already saw in another comment: I’d love to have it shoved in my face when a judge or jury actually buys this (I’d assume plaintiffs would request a jury and the defendants would not) and Flemming et al. see a dime.