Youtube begins to be harsh with users of ad blockers, will ban watching videos if they are still ‘stubborn’ to use

YouTube is looking to take a ‘tougher’ approach in preventing viewers from using ad blockers when watching videos on its platform. As noted by BleepingComputer, many users have posted screenshots on social networks like Reddit, which show a warning line from Youtube about their video player will be blocked after watching three more videos. again.

Specifically, this warning indicates that YouTube will block users’ ability to play videos, unless they turn off their ad blockers or add the website to a white list (whitelist – ie an exception list that allows displaying ads). .

“Displaying advertising allows YouTube to continue to be free to billions of users worldwide,” the announcement continued. content creation can still get paid”.

Many users commented that this could be an escalation of Youtube. Before it started issuing these warnings, YouTube only showed pop-ups to users using an ad blocker, reminding them that it was against the site’s policies.

At the same time, Youtube also just added a timer to the notifications to make sure viewers take the time to read them.

In response to BleepingComputer, a YouTube representative later confirmed that the new warnings are part of a test the platform is carrying out.

Accordingly, YouTube is “running a small test globally to urge viewers to turn off ad blockers, allow ads to show on YouTube, or try YouTube Premium.”

A YouTube representative also confirmed that the platform may temporarily turn off playback “in extreme cases, when viewers continue to use ad blockers.”

However, a YouTube representative also confirmed that turning off the playback feature only happens “if viewers ignore repeated requests to allow ads to show on YouTube”. Even so, it remains unclear whether YouTube will automatically block playback when users watch more than three videos, or will allow more opportunities for users to comply.

For now, the new approach affects only a small number of users, and YouTube doesn’t say how many people and regions are participating in the test.

With the majority of its revenue coming from advertising, YouTube has seen its revenue from operations plummet over the past three quarters. This means that stronger measures will continue to be introduced by YouTube in the near future on a broader scale, especially if these measures are effective.

Refer to Engadget