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A Cheat Code: YouTube's Ad Business Model

This meme makes a humorous observation about YouTube's dual revenue stream: companies pay YouTube to show advertisements to users, while users pay YouTube (via a YouTube Premium subscription) to not show advertisements, meaning YouTube profits from both sides regardless. The image uses a still of actor Will Ferrell with a thoughtful, confused expression to emphasize how obvious but eyebrow-raising this business model is.
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So basically, companies pay YouTube to show ads, and we pay YouTube not to show ads

Overview

This meme makes a humorous observation about YouTube's dual revenue stream: companies pay YouTube to show advertisements to users, while users pay YouTube (via a YouTube Premium subscription) to not show advertisements, meaning YouTube profits from both sides regardless. The image uses a still of actor Will Ferrell with a thoughtful, confused expression to emphasize how obvious but eyebrow-raising this business model is.

Origin notes

This meme originated as a Reddit meme, with the original title given as 'A cheat code'. It uses an existing still image of actor Will Ferrell from the TV series The Shrink Next Door as a reaction image to the text observation about YouTube's business model, and has spread as a viral joke about big tech platform monetization.

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