Uncovering the Hidden Data Costs of Mobile YouTube Video Ads

Emaan Atique, Saad Sher Alam, Harris Ahmad, Ihsan Ayyub Qazi, Zafar Ayyub Qazi

Keywords: Mobile Video Streaming, Affordability, Inclusion, Advertisements

Abstract: Popular video streaming platforms attract a large number of global marketers who use the platform to advertise their services. While benefiting platforms and advertisers, users are burdened with the costs of advertisements. First, users indirectly pay for these ads, not just in terms of the time they invest but also through the sharing of personal information. Such exchanges might be justifiable if they resulted in a free and seamless Internet experience. However, the reality is that these ads also consume a substantial amount of data, translating into direct financial costs for the users. This issue becomes even more pronounced in developing countries, where the cost of mobile broadband in these countries is disproportionately high relative to average income levels. In this paper, we perform the first independent and empirical analysis of the data costs of mobile video ads on YouTube, the most popular video platform, from the users' perspective. To do so, we collect and analyze a data set of over 46,000 YouTube video ads. We find that streaming video ads have multiple latent and avoidable sources of data wastage, which can lead to excessive data consumption by users. We also conduct an affordability analysis to quantify the cumulative impact of data wastages and unveil country-specific data costs associated with these losses. Our findings highlight the need for video platform providers like YouTube to reduce data wastage associated with ads to make their services more affordable and inclusive.

Track: Responsible Web

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Submission Number: 1125