- YouTube has started blocking video playback if it detects an adblocker.
- It started doing this in June this year as a small experiment.
- YouTube is now suggesting watching videos with ads or subscribe to YouTube Premium.
Your days of using ad blockers to watch YouTube videos might come to an end soon. YouTube has started disabling videos if it detects ad blockers. It had started warning about using ad blockers earlier this year but it didn’t disable the video. Now it’s disabling the video completely with the only options left to either watch YouTube with ads, disable the ad blocker or pay for YouTube Premium.
YouTube starts disabling videos
- YouTube started disabling videos with ad blockers back in June but it has now expanded this to more users, according to a report by The Verge.
- It started out as a small experiment but the company has confirmed that this will now start disabling videos globally. So if you’re using an ad blocker to watch YouTube videos, it will most likely get disabled.
- It looks like YouTube is actually expanding efforts as more users have started experiencing this, according to a report by Android Authority. When YouTube disables a video, it displays a message saying that it has detected an ad blocker.
- It also says that video playback will be blocked until the adblocker has been disabled. YouTube then gives you two options to either allow YouTube ads or to use YouTube Premium.
With the move expanding globally, it shows that YouTube is getting quite strict with the usage of ad blockers by viewers. YouTube has been experimenting with ads in other ways too by introducing 30-seconds ads that are unskippable, and longer but less frequent ads. YouTube also started testing a smaller ‘Skip Ad’ button that has a transparent background, and placed in a way that might go unnoticed by users.
All these efforts show that YouTube really wants you to either watch videos with ads or pay for the subscription. YouTube Premium is available at Rs 129 monthly, Rs 399 quarterly and Rs 1,290 yearly. With YouTube Premium, you also get YouTube Music Premium subscription bundled.
