There is bad news for all users who use Adblock YouTube to block advertisements from the platform. According to what has been leaked in these hours, the social team is testing the blocking of all those who have an adblocker active on their browser. Let's see everything in detail.
Adblock not allowed on YouTube: the news
Earlier this week, a Redditor user noticed that when they tried to use YouTube.com, a pop-up appeared stating that ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube.
Video streaming was blocked unless the user either disallowed YouTube ads or signed up for YouTube Premium, the subscription service that allows users to watch YouTube content without ads.
This is a surprising message, given that YouTube hasn't dealt with ad blockers for years and years. The message adds that “ads allow YouTube to remain free for billions of users around the world”.
For the moment it is only an experiment, but it is likely that the Google social network decides to use this feature, extending it permanently for everyone.
Why YouTube no longer wants adblockers
It's easy to see why YouTube might adopt this rule. Adblockers eliminate the revenue generated by video, which is used to pay for the growing storage and bandwidth needs of that content.
But, at the same time, user frustration is quite evident. YouTube has massively increased its advertising load in recent years, and YouTube Premium isn't particularly affordable for casual viewers at $10 a month.
So we'll see what happens in the near future. One thing is for sure: YouTube will do anything to get rid of adblockers from its site. Much to the disappointment of the users who use them.
