Here’s why you can’t click the title to go back to YouTube on our videos.

For about a year, I’ve gotten notes from readers asking why our YouTube embeds are broken in one very specific way: you can no longer click the title to open the video on YouTube.com or in the YouTube app. This used to work just fine, but now you can’t.

This bothers us, too, and it’s doubly frustrating because everyone assumes that we’ve chosen to disable links, which makes a certain kind of sense — after all, why on earth wouldn’t YouTube want people to click over to its app?

The short answer is money. Somewhat straightforwardly, YouTube has chosen to degrade the user experience of the embedded player publishers like Vox Media use, and the only way to get that link back is by using a slightly different player that pays us less and YouTube more.

  • randombullet@programming.devEnglish
    78·
    8 days ago

    They want to force you into the YouTube website for analytics and watching habits. Maybe you’ll find a video that catches your fancy and spend longer on there.

    • theherk@lemmy.worldEnglish
      18·
      8 days ago

      That doesn’t make sense in this case. The opposite in fact, as pointed out in the text. They removed the link that leads to that scenario. So now they just use a slightly different player to get that behavior.

      • randombullet@programming.devEnglish
        43·
        8 days ago

        Different CDN that throttles videos that only allows 480p resolution max. You’ll have to go to the main website to watch anything higher.

        Or they’re prepping for locking higher resolution through a paywall or you have to be logged in to watch 720p or higher.

          • 𝕸𝖔𝖘𝖘@infosec.pubEnglish
            31·
            7 days ago

            You know what? Screw it. I’mma put this in gpt and see what comes out …

            Well, partner, let me tell ya ‘bout this here tale, “Hamlet.” So, there’s this young fella named Hamlet, right? He’s the son of the late King of Denmark. Now, his daddy got done in by none other than his own brother, Claudius. Now, ol’ Claudius, he ain’t one for sittin’ on his heels—he done married Hamlet’s mama, Gertrude, quicker than a rattlesnake striking.

            One night, ol’ Hamlet sees his daddy’s ghost, all pale and spooky-like, and that ghost tells him, “Son, yer uncle Claudius done me wrong! It’s up to you to set things right.” Well, that sends Hamlet into a tailspin. He gets himself tangled in doubt and fear, not sure if he should go after his uncle or not. He starts puttin’ on a fake madman act, hopin’ to throw folks off his scent while he figures out what to do.

            Meanwhile, things go all kinds of sideways—Hamlet kills an innocent feller, Polonius, who’s hidin’ behind a curtain, thinkin’ it’s Claudius. His gal Ophelia goes all loony and drowns herself. Her brother, Laertes, is riled up, wanting revenge.

            Long story short, it all comes to a head in a big ol’ swordfight, where Hamlet and Laertes trade blows, and folks drop like flies. Hamlet, he finally puts an end to his treacherous uncle, but he don’t walk away clean. He, too, gets his just desserts, and the whole kingdom’s left in ruin.

            That’s the gist of it, son—one big, tragic mess where revenge and betrayal run wild like a stampede.

            …

            Yup. I hate it.