YouTube is now going against ad blockers. On Reddit, user reports that while watching videos on YouTube, he got a notice that ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube and that the option was to pay for YouTube Premium to watch ad-free videos or allow videos on the platform. Otherwise, he would not be able to continue watching videos.
According to the notice, “ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube,” as “ads make YouTube free for billions of users around the world.”” And then two buttons are shown to access the notice: disable the blocker to allow ads, or try YouTube Premium.
The subreddit’s moderators received a message from YouTube confirming that the ad is part of an experimental test that the company is running with a very small test group. In a separate confirmation to Bleeping Computer, a YouTube spokesperson explains that the test is intended to get more users to try YouTube Premium.
We’re running a small experiment globally, encouraging viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium.
Ad-blocker detection is not new, and other publishers regularly ask viewers to disable ad-blockers.
So far, there is only a user report of blocking ad blockers on YouTube, but it could be a sign of new measures or changes to be implemented in the future.
It’s curious to note that hints of this test appear just over a year after YouTube Vanced shut down for “legal reasons” . With this fact, Google managed to eliminate the best YouTube Premium alternative, but it seems that it is not enough, and now it goes against all ad blocking software in general.
On the other hand, last November, YouTube Premium reported 80 million subscribers, a 60% growth in its user base in just one year. This means that despite the unprecedented growth, YouTube continues to seek the complete elimination of ad blockers and continues to grow the number of paid subscribers to its Premium version.
So, to see videos without ads on YouTube, you will have to pay, and if you do not want to go through the box, advertising must be allowed or you will not be able to watch videos. We are attentive to the progress of this test.
