Ads make a large part of the Internet available for free, while still allowing creators to get support for those ads. And in the face of ad blockers, Google YouTube is now testing a blocking feature.
Earlier this week, a Redditor user first noticed that when trying to use YouTube.com, a pop-up window appeared, suggesting that ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube. Videos will be blocked from streaming unless the user then allows YouTube ads or signs up for YouTube Premium, a subscription service that allows users to watch YouTube content without ads.
YouTube hasn’t addressed the ad blocker issue for years, but now things appear to be changing. The source added that “ads allow YouTube to serve billions of users around the world for free.”
A YouTube employee has confirmed to the r/YouTube channel review team that this is just an “experiment” for now. Google YouTube is currently only testing the blocking of “ad blockers”.
The reason behind this is also clear: Ad blockers deprive YouTube videos of the revenue generated to pay for the content’s growing storage and bandwidth needs; but at the same time, user dissatisfaction is growing, and YouTube has been increasing its ad load significantly in recent years, while YouTube Premium subscriptions cost $10 per month (currently about RMB 69) The $10 per month (currently about RMB 69) price tag is also a burden for some users.
