YouTube being Throttled....

[Hippo-Drones]

So a few folk have said my videos were looking blocky, I've also seen this from other channels. My work horse PC has good internet, but still shows YouTube videos at really low resolution, and if I select anything above 1080 it buffers for ages.

YouTube throttling streaming quality globally as coronavirus forces people indoors

Streaming platforms, including Netflix and YouTube, have been forced to throttle video quality in Europe amid unprecedented demand.

abcnews.go.com

Anyone else seen the same?

 

[Theodor]

Most of my devices have so small screens that I rarely watch anything over 720p. I have not noticed it going down from there though.

 

[WaltInPA]

I do most of my watching on my computer and my settings are set to "Auto" for Playback.
I don't know if it is purely coincidental but I'm noticing more cycling that usual as of late. Quality will bounce between 1080 HD to 420 a couple of times throughout a video.

 

[Hippo-Drones]

It is really annoying. When I watch on my editing PC it doesn't seem to do it so badly, but still think it is a bit naughty when YouTube must be milking the money with all the extra ad revenue since they started putting mid roll ads every 2 minutes on some vids!

 

[Moto Mengy]

I haven't noticed this myself when watching videos, HOWEVER I've gotten a few comments from viewers asking why my recent video quality was worse than normal, but I haven't changed anything with how I'm recording nor encoding.

 

[LandyVlad]

I wonder if they are screwing small channels to provide more bandwidth for the top 5% ?

Either that or they are using the 'because COVID" excuse. Precedentg last year

YouTube throttling streaming quality globally as coronavirus forces people indoors - ABC News (go.com)
YouTube to throttle video quality globally for about a month - CNET

This thread is an interesting read
Google throttling YouTube streaming based on Google account and UA string.? - Science, Engineering, & Tech / Security - Level1Techs Forums

 

[Drakhen99]

Wow, I've noticed a little bit of res-switching... but thought it was my computer. Interesting info, thanks!

-John