November 1, 2023, 4:56 p.m. |
Reading time: 4 minutes
Things are now getting tougher for YouTube users – at least for a certain group of users. The video platform sorts out certain users and blocks access to videos. This decision is being hotly debated in various forums.
You can find a video for almost anything on YouTube. You often end up in an endless loop if the next suggested videos are also interesting – but this is now interrupted. A warning message has recently appeared that primarily affects a group of YouTuber users: those who use an ad blocker to avoid advertising on the platform.
Anyone who uses an ad blocker on YouTube will be blocked
An ad blocker can help if you don’t want to see advertisements on websites and YouTube. However, advertisements are the main source of income for many of these websites, including YouTube. This is how the Google subsidiary finances itself without asking users to pay. However, the advertisements often disrupt the flow of the video if long advertisements are displayed before the start or ads constantly appear in the middle of the video.
YouTube therefore offers premium access, which is not exactly cheap at 11.99 euros (Android) or 15.99 euros (iOS) per month. Many users therefore rely on ad blockers to avoid advertising. But recently these users received a warning that they should please turn off the ad blocker. Otherwise, video playback would be blocked. While initially it was just a notice, it later became a “countdown” that the video player would be blocked after three videos.
If you have an ad blocker, you can only watch three videos before playback is blocked. Photo: TECHBOOK.de
Also interesting: What is behind the new YouTube Primetime Channels?
Many users are disappointed
In many social channels, users are annoyed by YouTube’s measures. Among other things find There were a lot of angry users on Reddit. If you scroll through the “r/YouTube” subreddit, there are hardly any users who can understand this decision to exclude users with ad blockers. For example, one user writes: “I just watched an 8-minute video and received three ads. One for Coral Bingo (gambling), one for PaddyPower (gambling) and one for Camden Brewery (alcohol). […] I understand that YouTube wants to make money, but forcing gambling and alcohol on me is going too far for me.” In addition, the disproportion between advertising and video length was usually discussed. One user wrote: “There’s no way I’m going to watch 20 seconds of ads for a 60-second video.”
Several aspects of the advertisements are criticized. On the one hand, users find offensive, dubious or critical advertisements wrong, but the length of the ads is also a thorn in the side of many users.
However, anyone who continued to use an ad blocker despite YouTube’s warning will now be completely blocked after playing three videos. You will then get the following splash screen:
Anyone who uses an ad blocker is no longer allowed to view videos – unless they allow advertising or get YouTube Premium. Photo: TECHBOOK.de
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YouTube confirms “global initiative” against ad blockers
For several months now, YouTube has been trying to lure users with an AdBlocker to a premium subscription. The company is now taking consistent action against users with blockers. Opposite the US tech magazine “The Verge” confirmed YouTube communications manager Christopher Lawton said the video platform has “launched a global initiative” to encourage users to allow advertising or try YouTube Premium.
This is probably one of the reasons why Google search queries in the context of an ad blocker have skyrocketed recently. If you look at the search queries for “adblocker”, “adblocker” and “youtube adblocker” in Germany over the past twelve months on Google Trends, it becomes clear that the queries increased significantly from October onwards.
The searches for AdBlocker in the last 12 months. Photo: TECHBOOK.de via Google Trends
TECHBOOK means
“I don’t think the measures against ad blockers are good or effective. Many users are literally locked out and forced to allow advertising or take out a premium subscription. Of course, I can understand that a company wants to minimize costs and generate profits, but whether locking out users is the only solution is certainly questionable. It remains to be seen whether YouTube will lose users or whether they will surrender to the measures.” – Isa Kabakci, editor