YouTube is waging a battle on ad blockers. The video platform’s site performance has been purposefully reduced for users who use ad blockers. The approach of slowing down the platform, which began last year, is now apparently reaching more people. Many customers are experiencing slower loading times and must either disable their ad blockers or purchase the premium plan to avoid this.
YouTube’s anti-adblocking approach is in reaction to diminishing income. The site relies primarily on ad revenue, but when users block advertising, it has a big impact on their profits. YouTube considers ad blocking a violation of its terms of service. And for customers who wish to watch the video without ads, the site provides a paid premium option, which also earns considerable cash.
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How is YouTube preventing users from using ad blockers?
Despite the availability of a premium YouTube membership that removes intrusive adverts, many users are hesitant to convert and continue to use third-party ad blockers. In response, YouTube introduced two techniques to deter ad-blocking software:
The first approach is a pop-up notice stating, “Ad blockers violate YouTube’s Terms of Service.” Users are then encouraged to disable their ad blocker before watching any videos.
However, this warning has proven ineffectual for many viewers, requiring YouTube to deploy a secondary technique. When an ad blocker is found, this strategy purposely slows down the entire site’s operation, referring to the experience as “suboptimal viewing.”
Several Reddit users have also noted the unexpected slowness and unresponsiveness of YouTube, according to 9to5Google. They reported the platform as sluggish and unresponsive, apparently out of nowhere. However, it was rapidly determined that turning off any active ad blocker immediately restored the site’s usual functioning.
YouTube’s artificial timeouts or bandwidth constraints, which simulate a sluggish internet connection, appear to be the cause of the performance slowdown and frequent buffering. Videos stall while loading, previews fail to show, and fullscreen mode becomes useless till refreshed.
This makes YouTube difficult to use for viewers who use ad blockers, requiring them to choose between turning off the ad blocker and enduring advertisements or purchasing a Premium membership for an ad-free experience.
In India, YouTube offers its premium version, YouTube Premium, with a variety of subscription levels geared to varied customer requirements. The normal monthly package costs Rs 129 and includes an ad-free experience and background playback. For families, the Family Premium plan costs Rs 189 per month and allows up to five family members to use a joint account. Users may also choose the yearly plan for Rs 1159, which offers a cost-effective choice for a longer membership time. Students may use YouTube Premium for Rs 79 per month, but they must undertake yearly verification.Â
In addition, there is a 3-month package priced at Rs 399 for consumers who choose a shorter membership period. Overall, YouTube Premium strives to improve the user experience by providing an ad-free environment and customized features based on individual preferences and needs.
However, neither option provides a suitable answer for the majority of users, making YouTube’s anti-ad blocking measures problematic. This alternative of paying Rs 129 per month or enduring potentially long stretches of unskippable advertising, which may last up to 10 minutes, leaves viewers feeling confined and disappointed.
