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Thank you for your interest, but this study is not currently accepting new participants or compensating for new downloads of the YouMercials web extension.
Thank you for your interest, but this study is not currently accepting new participants or compensating for new downloads of the YouMercials web extension.
Please email study coordinator Anna Kasunic, akasunic@andrew.cmu.edu if you are interested in learning more about YouMercials or trying it out outside of the study.
Please email study coordinator Anna Kasunic, akasunic@andrew.cmu.edu if you are interested in learning more about YouMercials or trying it out outside of the study.
We are seeking adults aged 18 and older to participate in a Carnegie Mellon University research study where you will download and use a Google Chrome extension, and participate in a pre- and post- survey. The study will take approximately 1.5 hours in total over the course of several days, and we will compensate you with a $20 Amazon gift card for your full participation.
We are seeking adults aged 18 and older to participate in a Carnegie Mellon University research study where you will download and use a Google Chrome extension, and participate in a pre- and post- survey. The study will take approximately 1.5 hours in total over the course of several days, and we will compensate you with a $20 Amazon gift card for your full participation.
The study will take place remotely. For this study, you will need to use Google Chrome on your desktop or laptop (not a mobile device), and you must watch YouTube regularly (using Google Chrome on a desktop/laptop). You will also need to check your email regularly during the study's duration.
The study will take place remotely. For this study, you will need to use Google Chrome on your desktop or laptop (not a mobile device), and you must watch YouTube regularly (using Google Chrome on a desktop/laptop). You will also need to check your email regularly during the study's duration.
YouTube Premium and Ad-Blocking Users: YouMercials requires you to play with YouTube ads, so if you already have ads blocked on YouTube, this extension will not work for you. Instead, please share this study site with your non-premium friends :)
Interested in participating? Read and watch below for more info.
Interested in participating? Read and watch below for more info.
Intro: What to Expect from the Study
Intro: What to Expect from the Study
Step 1:
- Download YouMercials from the Chrome Store (but please keep these instructions open so you know what to expect and how to get started). You must be using Google Chrome web browser for this study in order for everything to work properly, and you also must watch YouTube videos regularly (using Google Chrome).
- Please note that if you have Dark Mode enabled on YouTube, the YouMercials extension may interfere with formatting. YouMercials will therefore turn off Dark Mode.
Step 2:
- Click on the YouMercials icon that now appears in your browser bar, as circled in the image above. (Note that if you have a lot of extensions installed, it may appear towards the right end of the bar). You can also go to directly to this address, https://sites.google.com/view/youmercials/
- Note that the YouMercials icon will be your go-to throughout this this study! It will help you get back to the Create YouMercials page and this YouMercials home page.
Step 3:
- When you first download the extension, clicking on the icon will take you to the consent form.
- Important! As part of the consent form, you will enter your email address. Please be sure to use an email address that you check regularly (e.g., at least once a day). The final post-survey will be sent via email and must be completed within 72 hours of receipt. In order to receive the study compensation, you must complete all parts of the study, including the final post-survey.
Step 4:
- Once you have completed the consent form, you will automatically be redirected to the pre-survey, which will include introducing you to the design of YouMercials. If you start the survey and don't have time to complete it all in one sitting, no worries; just return to this website by clicking on the YouMercials icon in your Chrome browser bar, and you will be able to continue taking the survey where you left off.
Step 5:
- After you have completed the survey, your YouMercials Chrome extension will be fully functional! We ask that you use YouMercials for a minimum of 30 minutes (total) over three days.
- Remember that you won't be able to create YouMercials right away; first, the extension will need to collect some ads for you while you watch YouTube. So watch a little YouTube, and then check back in to create some YouMercials by clicking on the YouMercials icon in your browser bar.
- While you're watching videos on YouTube, the YouMercials extension will keep track of the video advertisements that are being displayed to you. You will then be able to create YouMercials that other extension users will see through this site and on YouTube, as well as view others' YouMercials (either through this site, or serendipitously on YouTube, when a YouMercial matches an advertisement you're being shown). Hopefully, you'll have some fun using YouMercials.
Step 6:
- After several days of using YouMercials, you will receive an email with a short post-survey, so please plan to check your email regularly during the approximately 1-week duration of this study. Please note that you must complete all study steps in order to receive the $20 Amazon gift card compensation.
Have questions or concerns? Please contact study coordinator Anna Kasunic, akasunic [a] andrew [dot] cmu [dot] edu.
How to Use YouMercials
How to Use YouMercials
Create your own YouMercials
Create your own YouMercials
A YouMercial is a video advertisement from YouTube that you modify, and that other YouMercial users can later see.
There are two types of YouMercials you can create:
1. "Imagine yourself as" YouMercials, where you create a character or persona for viewers to imagine themselves to be while watching the original advertisement.
2. Audio-dubbed YouMercials, where you record over the original advertisement using your built-in computer microphone.
You can go to the Make Your Own YouMercials page on this website to create YouMercials, where we've collected advertisements that have been shown to you on YouTube. Remember that the functionality will NOT work until you have downloaded the Google Chrome extension and completed the initial survey.
Watch the videos on the left to learn more about how to make YouMercials.
Watch and rate others' YouMercials
Watch and rate others' YouMercials
You can also view the YouMercials others have created, and rate and comment on those YouMercials.
Go to View Others' YouMercials. There, you will find links to an audio-dubbed YouMercial playlist and an "Imagine yourself as" YouMercial playlist that will feature YouMercials made by other users. See the videos above for more more information.
While watching others' YouMercials, you can also rate any YouMercials you view (from 1-5 stars), and provide a comment or thought that came to you while viewing it. These ratings and comments will not be directly shown to the YouMercial creators, but we may later report averages and aggregates. See the videos to the left for more information.
You can also view YouMericials serendiptiously during your regular YouTube use. Whenever you see an advertisement that another user has created a YouMercial for, you will see a "Rate" button on the screen that specifies whether you are watching an audio-dubbed YouMerical or an "imagine yourself as" YouMercial. However, because there are many advertisements on YouTube, and many slight variations on these advertisements, you might rarely or never see a YouMercial serendipitously. For this reason, we encourage you to check out what other people have created by visiting the View Others' YouMercials page.
Interested in participating in our study? Download YouMercials now!
Interested in participating in our study? Download YouMercials now!
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