YouTube is cracking down on users who want to avoid its ads and has given some of them an ultimatum: turn off the ad blocker or subscribe to YouTube Premium. Ad blocker users who do not choose either option will not be able to watch videos on YouTube at all. The move is part of a limited global test the company is conducting to ensure advertisers continue to get the most views for their money. Alphabet, YouTube’s parent company, made the announcement at the end of April financial report, which said the video app’s ad revenue fell in its most recent quarter. It was the third such report in a row, signaling the woes of the digital ad market and broader economic uncertainty.
YouTube ad blocking test by Reddit users was pierced earlier this week who encountered a pop-up saying “Ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube” when trying to watch a video. “It appears that you are probably using an ad blocker,” the pop-up read, according to a screenshot shared on the forum. “Ads keep YouTube free for billions of users around the world. With YouTube Premium, you can go ad-free and creators will still get paid from your subscription.” Users then have the option to turn off the ad blocker or subscribe to YouTube Premium, which costs $12 per month.
A YouTube spokesperson confirmed that it was all part of a test. “We’re running a trial around the world to encourage viewers with ad blockers turned on to enable ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium,” the spokesperson said. “The detection of ad blockers is nothing new, and other publishers regularly ask viewers to turn off ad blockers”.
Google has been at war with ad blockers for a long time. In 2016, they banned ad-blocking apps from the Play Store and made changes to Chrome that could be fatal for ad-blocking extensions in the near future. Just about a year ago, Google managed to kill YouTube Vance, a popular third-party YouTube app that blocked embedded ads without a YouTube Premium subscription.
However, ad blockers are largely ineffective against YouTube’s embedded ads, so this test is less about blocking ad blockers and more about promoting YouTube Premium. Even if this experiment is never rolled out more widely, it seems like the company is committed to its ad-supported revenue model and wants to ensure that we don’t see ads unless we pay for a Premium membership.
Source: SG.hu Hírmagazin by sg.hu.
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