Youtube continues in his crusade against ad blockers. After testing a function that prevents the playback of a video when it detects an AdBlock-type extension, the company has decided to implement a stricter measure. As reported by a user RedditYoutube will disable the video player if you don’t heed the warnings.
At first glance, the measure seems less aggressive than the previous test that prevented access to video. However, the objective is the same and requires users to disable ad blockerso add YouTube to the list of allowed domains. If not, the player will crash after playing three videos.
YouTube confirmed to Android Authority that it is a new experiment. The platform seeks to implement his philosophy of three strikes that applies to content creators when a video violates the rules. In this case, the use of an ad blocker is against the Terms of Serviceso the company will notify the user that they must disable it before taking action.
“We are running a small experiment globally encouraging viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium,” said Oluwa Falodun, a company spokesperson. “Ad blocker detection is not new, and other publishers regularly ask viewers to disable them,” he mentioned. this last It is common in some websites or services that prevent access to users when they detect that an extension blocks advertising.
When will the YouTube player be disabled if you use an ad blocker? As the company explains, this measure will be taken “in extreme cases, where viewers continue to use them.” The policy of three strikes implies that users will receive three warnings before applying the fix.
YouTube declares war on ad blockers
The idea of disabling the video player is one of YouTube’s most recent strategies in its war against ad blockers. Although the company makes adjustments from time to time, they have never been so aggressive as to prevent reproduction or access to the platform. YouTube is tired of losing money from advertising by the millions of users who use these tools.
“We take disabling playback very seriously and will only disable playback if repeat requests to allow ads are ignored by viewers on YouTube,” Falodun said. “In cases where users feel they have been falsely flagged for using an ad blocker, they can share their feedback by clicking the link in the message,” he said. The blocking of the player will be temporary and will only activate until confirming that the extension has been disabled or that YouTube is in the list of allowed domains.
One of the short-term solutions would be contract YouTube Premium, the service that removes ads on the platform after paying a monthly fee. The other is wait for extensions to update or that some developer launches an application to bypass the blocking. The truth is that this measure is undergoing tests and Its application to the public is not yet final..
Currently, it is possible to watch YouTube without ads through applications such as NewPipe or LibreTube for Android. If you have a television with Android TV, SmartTubeNext blocks advertising and allows you to play content in 4K at 60 frames per second. On computers, Brave and Firefox are good alternatives to bypass the mandatory ads.