There we are, my daughters and I in the kitchen, after our post-dinner clean-up. As any good father would do, I pulled up a Red Bull video of some insanely steep backcountry snowboard descent of an obscure Alaskan peak for us all to be inspired by. Because I’m 44 and interested in health and athletics, the ad that comes up is about a little blue chewy tablet that will solve all my… ahem… problems. “Dad, what’s ED?” Okay—it didn’t happen exactly like this, but you get the picture and can probably relate to the slight anxiety I have about the random ads that my family and I will be forced to endure.
Of the various downsides to using big-tech third-party streaming services—be that for music, podcasts, or video—at the top of the list for many of our clients is the aggressive and often inappropriate ad campaigns that they are forced to subject their audience to. As a creator, you have little to no control over what these ads display or support, unless it’s an ad read that you’ve inserted into your own content. As it is, your audience is force-fed some ED ad before they get to watch your “how to draw a bunny” video. It’s hardly family-friendly. I guess it’s the price you have to pay to use their services.
Granted, many platforms have tried to create ways to control ads, either through a paid subscription (which suspiciously still allows for ads) or by allowing users to block inappropriate ads or content. But, this puts the burden on your audience and they may choose it’s not worth it. Call me old-fashioned, but as a father, I’m principally opposed to people trying to peddle their wares on my kids, be it products or ideas. Given that families spend $90–$100 per month on subscription plans for digital entertainment services, I guess I’m not the only one willing to shell out to avoid ads.
So, what options do you have as a creator? Essentially, you either live with it or you offer something different. As it turns out, offering something different doesn’t have to cost you big, and you end up with complete control over what you stream, what you charge, the amount of revenue you keep, and the type of experience that you curate for your loyal fan base.
With Treefort, you own the platform, so your content is as trustworthy as you make it. No forced ads and no worries that the “How to draw a bunny” video will send one of your precious users down a rabbit hole.
