- A report indicates that YouTube is working on a method to restrict access for users who have adblockers.
- One Reddit user shared a pop-up from YouTube, telling them to either disable the adblocker or buy a YouTube Premium subscription.
- YouTube apparently confirmed that the feature is currently in an experimental phase.
One of the main reasons most people download and install adblocker software or browser extensions is to watch YouTube ad-free without having to shell out R71.99 a month for Premium.
While Premium offers a few additional services, like access to YouTube Music, if you only want to watch YouTube videos, a quick and easy ad-blocker is the cheapest solution – it’s free. However, it is the most selfish way to use YouTube, as your favourite creators and channels cannot make any money from your views.
This workaround may not be feasible for too much longer, according to a report from AndroidPolice. It seems YouTube is working on blocking ad-blockers, inserting a pop-up as users open YouTube and telling them to either disable their ad-blockers or buy a Premium subscription.
The pop-up, as seen above, was first spotted by a Reddit user on /r YouTube, and it tells users that “Ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube” and instead, “You can go ad-free with YouTube Premium, and creators can still get paid from your subscription.”
Ad-block blockers are a staple of many online businesses that make most of their money off advertising, like news publications for example. Usually, these blockers will ask you to whitelist their sites. Some will go as far as to disallow you access unless you whitelist.
It looks like YouTube is keen to take the latter approach, but the good news is that this block is still only experimental. The AndroidPolice report details that moderators from the YouTube subreddit contacted the YouTube team and were told that this is indeed a real thing, but it is still a work in progress.
“Yes, this has been confirmed as an experiment by YouTube, confirmed by a YouTube employee that reached out to me,” said one of the moderators.
After a slow rollout, YouTube Premium has seen its subscriber base surge in recent years. In November last year, the Alphabet-owned company saw 80 million users on its paid platform. This is a growth of 30 million in about a year’s time.
It offers an ad-free experience for your video-watching, as well as background play on mobile devices. With Premium, you can download and save videos on the app, and as previously stated, you get premium access to YouTube Music.
We expect this blocker to begin a wider rollout as the platform continues to push users towards Premium, but no official announcement has yet to be made.
[Image – Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash]
