YouTube escalates war on ad blockers
YouTube users who use ad blockers to avoid advertising on the platform will now see alerts or experience buffering issues.
YouTube has introduced two new measures in its crackdown on ad blockers. There will either be:
- Buffering issues.
- An error message saying “The following content is not available on this app.”
Why we care. YouTube is doing all it can to ensure ads are seen by as many of its free users as possible. YouTube’s war on ad blockers will likely lead to disgruntled users who will abandon YouTube altogether. It’s either that or break down and pay for YouTube Premium to avoid excessive advertising. If the latter happens, YouTube will gain revenue, but ultimately that means advertisers will lose reach and exposure.
Enforcement on third-party apps. YouTube is now taking active measures to deter third-party ad blockers directly.
- “We want to emphasize that our terms don’t allow third-party apps to turn off ads because that prevents the creator from being rewarded for viewership, and Ads on YouTube help support creators and let billions of people around the world use the streaming service,” according to TeamYouTube.
The story so far. This is the latest action YouTube has taken to curb the use of Ad blockers:
- Last year they introduced pop-ups communicating “Ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube”, while others saw messages warning users to either “Allow YouTube ads” or subscribe to YouTube Premium.
- They ran a trial where they disabled videos for people using ad blocker.
- Followed by an anti-adblocker popup that features a timer warning when the next ad will play.
Is YouTube breaking privacy laws? YouTube needs to be careful in how it cracks down on Ad Blockers, as this could be seen as breaking privacy laws. Last October, privacy expert Alexander Hanff filed a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC).
Ad-free experience. The only ad-free experience YouTube promotes is YouTube Premium. It costs $13.99 in the US and £12.99 in the UK.
