SGU promoting Better Help?

[pipelineaudio]

Did my ears deceive me or did they really run and ad for these turds?

[arthwollipot]

Dunno. I'm a patron so I don't get the ads. I recommend it.

[Puppycow]

Originally Posted by pipelineaudio

Did my ears deceive me or did they really run and ad for these turds?

Forgive my ignorance, why are they turds?

I do seem to remember hearing an ad or two for them. Have never tried it myself.

I hear these ads on a lot of different podcasts.

[gabeygoat]

what's the issue with Better Help? honest question, I don't know much about it other than hitting skip 30 on iTunes

[arthwollipot]

Quote:

In October 2018, BetterHelp gained attention from media personalities after concerns were raised about alleged use of unfair pricing, bad experiences with the app, paid reviews from actors, and terms of service that allegedly did not correspond with ads promoted by professional YouTubers.[8] CEO Alon Matas issued a statement responding to the allegations.[9] YouTube content creators such as PewDiePie and Boogie2988 have spoken out on this issue.[8][10]

BetterHelp has received backlash for supposedly sharing its customers' personal data with Facebook. In its latest privacy policy update, BetterHelp stated: "We may share your information in connection with an asset sale, merger, bankruptcy, or other business transaction."[11] The company has responded to these complaints by saying that law requires BetterHelp to hold on to health data and that they are not subject to HIPAA guidelines.[12]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BetterHelp#Controversy

[Puppycow]

I saw that but I’d still appreciate it if pipelineaudio could explain in his own words.

After reading what’s in Wikipedia, it’s still not crystal clear to me that this is a company so toxic that people of good conscience should refuse to accept their ad money. How serious were the problems? Are they still problems?

[Puppycow]

On the most recent episode, they actually talked about Better Help and said that they will not be using them as a sponsor going forward, at least for the time being.

Episode #922 I think:

https://www.theskepticsguide.org/podcasts/episode-922

Here's a news story about what prompted the decision:

Counseling service BetterHelp to return $7.8M to customers in FTC settlement after it shared private health data with Facebook and Snapchat

[pipelineaudio]

Ahhh sorry, didn't see these responses

Lets see, unqualified "the rapists", no vetting that amounts to anything. Advertised as cheaper than traditional the rapists, but usually far more costly. Volumes of stories on youtube and reviews of complete lack of support from the parent company. Many reports of being given religious counseling when the customer specifically asked for secular

I'm glad to see SGU dumping them, but given they have both a neurologist and a psychologist (even if she was "Solar Freakin' Roadways" anti science gullible), and given the amount of virtue signaling they do to the point where they can't even get a sentence out without 50 "feelings" disclaimers, having Better Help as a sponsor felt beyond insane to me

[Puppycow]

At the very least it seems like a bit of an unnecessary middle-man app.

On their latest episode they also mentioned that they are having trouble finding sponsors. Part of the reason being that they won't take just any sponsor. (They won't endorse something that they don't feel comfortable about endorsing.)

[pipelineaudio]

EVERYONE is having trouble with sponsors right now. The chickens have come home to roost on just how overvalued all this marketing garbage was and what a terrible return on investment it usually is. There's a huge shakeup in all the ad supported content. YouTube's constant waves of demonetization is not only hurting the content creators, but the advertisers themselves are unable to get their ads in front of the target demographics because of YouTube censorship so end up paying outrageous fees to show adds to people who would never even consider buying their products

[TurkeysGhost]

Originally Posted by Puppycow

At the very least it seems like a bit of an unnecessary middle-man app.

On their latest episode they also mentioned that they are having trouble finding sponsors. Part of the reason being that they won't take just any sponsor. (They won't endorse something that they don't feel comfortable about endorsing.)

A lot of podcasts these day rely on an alternating "1 free, 1 paywalled" model that frees them from being beholden from sponsors. Seems to work ok, give the free riders a taste to get them interested and hopefully they subscribe to the premium feed to get the other half (or more) of the content behind the paywall.

I have no idea how big SGU is these days, haven't listened to them myself in years.

[arthwollipot]

Originally Posted by TurkeysGhost

A lot of podcasts these day rely on an alternating "1 free, 1 paywalled" model that frees them from being beholden from sponsors. Seems to work ok, give the free riders a taste to get them interested and hopefully they subscribe to the premium feed to get the other half (or more) of the content behind the paywall.

I have no idea how big SGU is these days, haven't listened to them myself in years.

They're big. One of the biggest in the science/skepticism field. They do live shows, videos, tours, all sorts of things. They're not a backyard operation any more.

[angrysoba]

They have no advertisers at all according to what they have said in the last few podcasts, so I guess Better Help has gone for one reason or another (I think they still advertise on Very Bad Wizards). However, as mentioned advertisers are pulling out of podcasts and video platforms all the time. Maybe because it was, as mentioned, a poor return on investment, but also maybe the landscape has expanded so much with so many podcasts available. SGU makes its money in a similar way to other podcasts now through paying subscribers (Patreon in their case).

Apparently You Tube might crack down on users who have Ad Block. It could be that You Tube themselves are hurting for cash or it might be that advertisers are beginning to demand that You Tube stop ad-blockers.

[arthwollipot]

I got the impression that if they lowered their standards, they'd have a lot more advertising. But they refuse to advertise bull ****.

[pipelineaudio]

They advertised better help for years