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YouTube embeds are heavy and it’s fixable
Which one makes more sense to use, big and slow or small and fast? Especially with the same appearance and functionality, the youtube-lite component is a no-brainer.
In fact, I heard from a little birdie who ran it up the pole that they have tested lighter embeds and found them to reduce engagement. I really wish I could find a good link for this, but there is a famous story from YouTube engineers way-back-when who made a much lighter video page and put it into testing. YouTube is so enormous we’re talking incredible amounts of wasted electricity and thus carbon output.
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