punish

Before, advertising was to monetize. Now it is to punish you and YouTube has taken it to the extreme

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About fifteen years ago, online advertising was the implicit deal: you saw a banner or a pre-roll fifteen seconds and you had free access to everything. It wasn’t ideal, but it was logical: someone paid for the content you consumed so you didn’t have to pay for it. It worked because the discomfort was proportionate. That exists less and less. What we have now is something else: the platforms have discovered that advertising serves less to monetize than to push. To degrade the free experience until paying premium stops being a whim and becomes the only tolerable way to use the product. And no one does it with more brazenness – or mastery – than YouTube. That’s how he hunted me. If you use it without paying, you know: increasingly longer and more frequent ads, several before starting the video, the same shady spot repeated three times in ten minutes. Ads that cut sentences in half, destroy the rhythm of a song, or appear just when you got to the part you were interested in. It is that way by design. YouTube doesn’t need to show you so many ads to monetize. You would probably earn more with less, better targeted advertising. But it’s not about that. It’s about making the free experience so unbearable that you end up paying to stay sane. I don’t pay YouTube Premium for what it offers me, but for what it takes from me. And more and more people pay not because they want extra features, but so they don’t end up crashing their phone on the ground. Other platforms do the same but disguise it better. Netflix with shared accounts, Disney+ with the video quality on the cheap plan, Spotify putting ads on you and forcing random mode. They are visible tricks, but at least you have less and what you have works. YouTube has gone further: it doesn’t take away your features, it poisons them. The catalog is still complete, but the experience is hostile. You pay with your patience and with your fragmented attention. The curious thing is that YouTube is pretty honest. It doesn’t talk about Premium as an “improved experience” or “exclusive content.” It basically tells you: if you want this to stop being hell, check out. They don’t deceive. They tell you what the deal is. Forks the Internet model in the 1920s. Platforms no longer build something so good that people want to pay for it. They make the free plan so bad that there is no other option. The logic is identical: friction is no longer a side effect. It’s the lever. This also says something about us: a decade ago, ads were annoying but bearable. Today they are intrusions that we cannot tolerate. We have normalized that the Internet should be fluid, without interruptions or waiting. The platforms know it. They know that we have lost the ability to endure any friction. So they make it, multiply it, and then charge you to remove it. YouTube has perfected something that other platforms may not want to admit: The ad no longer sells products. Sell ​​your own absence. And that is perhaps the only advertising that really works. In Xataka | I’ve been paying for YouTube Premium for years and I don’t regret it. The problem is that going back is impossible. Featured image | Xataka with Mockuuups Studio

WhatsApp will test a way to punish those who insist without a response

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WhatsApp has been part of our routine for years. It is one of the first applications that we install when changing mobile phones and the one that we use the most to keep in touch with family, friends or co-workers. What started as a simple channel for personal messages has become a much broader space, where groups, communities and companies coexist. Today, between notifications and pending conversations, it is common for us to receive messages that we did not even expect or from people we do not know. As WhatsApp has grown, so has the feeling of overflow. The conversations multiply and, among them, more and more messages that are not of our interest sneak in. From announcements to service reminders. For many users, distinguishing what is important has become a constant task. That scenario has led the company to explore new ways to limit abusive shipments and regain some of the lost control. New message limit. As confirmed by the companyis testing a feature that restricts how many messages can be sent to contacts who don’t reply. In practice, this means that both users and companies will have a maximum monthly number of attempts before they are unable to continue writing. The counter is only reset when the recipient responds. With this, WhatsApp seeks to stop spam without affecting normal personal conversations. Notice within the app. TechCrunch notes that When a user or company is close to reaching the monthly limit, WhatsApp will show a notification with the exact number of messages sent to contacts who have not responded. The notice appears in a pop-up box that acts as a reminder to avoid temporary blocks. The company has not yet specified what the exact limit is, as it is testing different values ​​before implementing it definitively. Test in several countries. WhatsApp has confirmed this test will be active in several countries in the coming weeks. The company insists that most users will not notice changes, since the cap is designed for those who send mass messages or do not receive a response. In principle, the measure seeks to affect only behaviors considered abusive, not the daily use of the application. The new limit is not an isolated movement. Over the last year, WhatsApp has launched various tests to stop abuses on its platform. In July 2024, it began experimenting with limits on the number of marketing messages a company can send per month. It has also extended caps on broadcast lists and bulk messages. Doubts to resolve. As we say, WhatsApp has not revealed the exact number of messages allowed or how long the test phase will last. Nor has it detailed whether the limit will be the same for individual users and business accounts. Meta is testing different values ​​and seeing how it affects user behavior before deciding on its final implementation. In the end, many of us know what it’s like to open the application and find several pending messages. Some matter, others we don’t even know where they come from. The test will tell if you really manage to put a stop to excess without complicating daily conversation. Images | freepik | Daniel Korpai In Xataka | MrBeast has been giving money to his followers in his videos for years: now he wants them to be the ones to give it to him

punish those who buy a Seat Arona

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There is a way to fill your streets with electric cars. And it does not have to go through aid to those who buy it. Or, at least, it doesn’t just have to go through aid to those who buy it… In Denmark they have another idea: punish those who opt for a combustion car. And that is a slab for cheap gasoline. 65%. So far this year, 15.8% of electric cars sold in Europe are electric. In our country, although we have been growing little by little, we remain in a bare 8%. For now, the European market survives on markets that buy a very high volume of electric cars like germany and countries with a very high penetration of this type of vehicles. Germany and France, which are the countries where, by volume, the most electric cars are purchased, are on the border of 18%, slightly improving the European data. But there are countries where these figures explode. In the Netherlands and Sweden they are close to 35%. Let’s not talk about Norway, with 95%. Let’s talk, instead, about Denmark. Do you help?. Although in most of Europe we have sought success in purchasing aid, perhaps we should start to change our approach. In Spain, the system created for MOVES III Plan is cumbersome and not very transparent for the consumer. Whoever approaches the dealership for an electric car has to take advantage of a 0% loan from the company (if it advances the aid) or wait for more than a year for the money to arrive. If it reaches you. Germany now has one of the Higher electric car purchase rates in Europe and by volume it is the first market. However, it has gone through its ups and downs. At the end of 2023 they withdrew aid for electric cars and immediately afterwards crashed in the market. Manufacturers published huge discounts hoping for a return of subsidies that have never arrived. Why have the tables turned? Taxes. For attacking the market in a way similar to that of Denmark. In both countries, those who buy an electric car are rewarded but, above all, those who buy a gasoline car are punished by pushing them to opt for the cleaner option. In Germany, as in Belgiumthe State is subsidizing the purchase of electric company cars, an economic incentive that is usually common in its companies. In Denmark, anyone who opts for a combustion car is harshly punished. The registration tax is calculated taking into account the volume of emissions of each car. And that increases the cost of having a gasoline car. How does it work? In Denmark, in addition to a 25% VAT, you have to pay a progressive registration tax that varies with respect to its cost. First tranche (cars up to 65,000 DKK, about 8,700 euros): 25% the value of the car Second tranche (cars between 65,000-202,200 DKK, from 8,700 euros to 27,000 euros): 85% the value of the car Third tranche (cars over 202,200 DKK, over 27,000 euros): 150% of the car’s value But this registration tax has some asterisks. If the car is for private use and is electric, 40% of the tax is paid. But, in addition, the State subsidizes up to DKK 165,000 of this tax. That is, you only start paying when the tax exceeds more than 20,000 euros and only 40% of it. And the gasoline ones? Here is the great incentive to go electric. The gasoline car not only pays the expected registration tax. In addition, an additional surcharge must be paid for vehicle emissions. The sections are the following: 0-109 grams of CO2: 280 DKK (37.49 euros) per gram of CO2 109-139 grams of CO2: 560 DKK (74.99 euros) per gram of CO2 more than 139 grams of CO2: 1,064 DKK (142.47 euros) per gram of CO2 In Motorpassion They give the case of a Seat Arona as an example. The car will have to pay 85% of its value but, in addition, it has an extra cost of 5,211 euros. Emitting 124 grams/km of CO2 with its 95 HP 1.0 TSI engine, you will pay 30,520 DKK for the first 109 grams/km of CO2 and another 15 grams/km of Co2 at a cost of 560 DKK, which adds up to 8,400 DKK. That is, the punishment is 38,920 DKK, about 5,211 euros. hateful comparisons. Taking all of the above into account, we can think of an electric car for 50,000 euros (373,475 DKK). In that case, we will have to count on two taxes. The first is the VAT which, as we have seen, is progressive and we would pay the following: First tranche: 25% of DKK 65,000, which is DKK 16,250 Second tranche: 85% from 65,000 DKK to 202,200 DKK, which is 116,620 DKK. Third tranche: 150% from 202,200 to 373,475, which is 256,912 DKK In total, 389,782 DKK (about 52,193 euros). From that money we must subtract 165,000 DKK that the State puts out of its own pocket, which leaves us with 234,782 DKK. But, in addition, electric ones have a 40% reduction. That is, another 93,891 DKK. The fee is therefore reduced to 140,837 DKK (18,850 euros tax) It is also free from the penalty of the emissions tax. A gasoline car with a base price of 25,000 euros, a bracket similar to that found in a Seat Arona, will have to pay the tax equivalent to 186,708 DKK. That is, the 16,250 DKK of the first tranche and 85% of 121,708 DKK of the second tranche. That is, 103,452 DKK. The total is therefore 119,702 DKK. Or, what is the same, just over 16,000 euros. In this case, however, the State does not cover any of the registration tax and the CO2 penalty must be added, which amounts to another 38,920 DKK. That is, 5,211 euros more to make a total of more than 21,000 euros for registering a Seat Arona, almost the same as the cost of the vehicle. … Read more

In the middle of the commercial war, China has found a way to punish US exports. And you don’t need tariffs

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In full electoral campaign, when there was still talk of A fierce duel With Kamala Harris at the polls, Donald Trump recognized during An interview In Chicago that the term you like most about Shakespeare’s language is Tariff (Tariff). “For me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary”, proclaimed. View The forcefulness With which China has responded to its commercial war, it could well think that “tariff” is also Xi Jinping’s favorite word, but the truth is that Beijing has its own way of hitting the US trade. A much more discreet than rates. Tax pulse. Trump did not exaggerate to proclaim his love for tariffs. And good proof is that in the almost three months it has been in the White House, it has launched more or less clear ads (and also the occasional Auto amendment) of rates aimed at steel and aluminum or The cars and its components. Also of course the bad calls “Reciprocal tariffs”embodied in the famous rate table that presented A few weeks ago in the Rosaleda of the White House, and those that already appear on the horizon for Chips and drugsamong others. With the passing of the days and after Trump Pausara much Of its tariffs for 90 days, the commercial war has basically enchanted between the US and China. Washington has decided to apply to Chinese imports rates that rise at 145%while Beijing has returned the blow to Trump raising his own 125%. That answer does not mean that the tariffs are the only tool to which the Chinese executive has resorted to face the US. After all … aren’t there other ways to stop imports? Who needs tariffs? The news He has advanced it The American magazine POLITICAL: Throughout the last four months, Beijing has activated a series of bureaucratic obstacles and agreements that have had a clear effect on the flow of US imports, reducing them from or even stopping them. The method is more stealthy than the tariff war (and perhaps does not inject the thousands of millions to the public coffers that Trump is looking for with the tariffs), but allows Beijing to hit the US at a sensitive point, its commercial exports. THE KEY: Non -tariff barriers. “A tariff pays and things are more expensive, this is a total restriction to the ability to send products to that country,” Ben Lilliston commentsof the Institute of Agricultural and Commercial Policy. It is not a minor note if the intense commercial flow between China and the US is taken into account, which in 2024 resulted in the export of goods to China by value of 143.5 billion and imports that amounted to almost 439,000 million. But … How do you do it? POLITICAL Quote some specific cases. For example, Beijing has decided Do not renew At the moment the export permits of hundreds of meat packaging plants and has claimed that some products derived from American chickens do not meet their standards. You don’t have to look much in the newspaper library news in that line. Does A few days The General Administration of Customs warned of the appearance of Furacilina, a substance prohibited in the country, in three lots of meat of US companies. Result: suspended its import. The Chinese organism took A similar measure With the sorghum products of an American company after detecting “excessive levels of zaralenone”, a type of mycotoxin. The decision was announced one day after Trump imposed a 34% tariff on Chinese goods, although Beijing insists in which the restrictions for technical reasons and objectives apply: “To prevent risks and guarantee the safety of livestock production and consumer health.” Are there more cases? Yes. ABC News recently He informed that some 300 US slaughterhouses have not yet renewed their export permits to move beef to China, which seems to have found a substitute in Australian livestock. Beijing’s reluctance to renew the licenses have in fact stopped a good part US rescor export. And that are major words. In 2024 the US exported to China worth 1.6 billion dollars. Another sector that has also been emphasized of turbulence is that of natural gas. At the beginning of the month, with the commercial war about to climb, Bloomberg revealed that China had no matter of US LNG 60 days. The scenario remembers the one who lived years ago, during Trump’s first mandate, when the Asian giant stopped receiving US shipments during Around 400 days. Citing Kpler data, POLITICAL assures that so far this year of China imported only a cargo of gas compared to 14 of the same period of 2024. Hitting where it hurts the most. Chinese restrictions not only affect US exports, with their corresponding impact on a flow that moves millions of dollars. By applying Beijing can point to concrete sectors, such as Lift POLITICALindustries rooted in states (Iowa or Nebraska, for example) that usually act as republican vote heshes and therefore can exert greater pressure on Trump. Something similar did A few weeks ago The Brussels when he planned his own response to the first USA tariffs. Bureaucratic obstacles and restrictions also force companies to move in slippery terrain, even more than that of tariffs. “We do not want health and security to become a political issue,” Darci Vetter argueswith experience in the US commercial representative office. “Convert carers carefully considered and based on science into a political issue.” Marc Busch, who has also exercised as an advisor to the US Department of Commerce, is even more categorical: “This is what China does: commercial actions disguised as legitimate public policies with a scientific basis.” Is it a new measure? No, not exactly. The Chinese government seems to have intensified restrictions that are not new and can even go back to Your entrance In the World Trade Organization (WTO), more than 20 years ago. The US is not the first country that is found with brakes to its exports that coincide with moments of tension with Beijing. It happened to him … Read more

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