Watching Videos on YouTube Gets Harder for "Ad Blocker" Users
YouTube Ad block--
Several YouTube users have reported difficulties watching videos on the platform, specifically that the videos skip directly to the end.
This issue appears to be affecting those who use ad blockers or ad-blocking software on their devices.
A Reddit user with the handle @SDHD4K highlighted this problem in a post, demonstrating that videos always skip to the end when using an ad blocker.
Ad blockers are typically installed in browsers or on phones using third-party services to avoid ad displays.
In the Reddit post, it was shown that videos would automatically skip to the end if an ad blocker was in use. Manually skipping to a specific timestamp also results in the video jumping to the end, preventing the user from watching it.
Users found they could only watch the videos after disabling the ad blocker and reloading the YouTube page.
Other Reddit users reported different issues. Some experienced their video audio being muted when an ad blocker was active. Attempting to increase the volume led to YouTube muting the audio again.
Like the skipping issue, the audio could be restored by disabling the ad blocker.
A small number of Reddit users mentioned they encountered similar problems even without using an ad blocker.
Thus, using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to regions without YouTube ads doesn't seem to prevent these playback issues.
YouTube's approach to combating ad blockers
These issues are seen as YouTube's latest tactic to combat ad blockers. YouTube has acknowledged this strategy.
"Ad blockers violate YouTube’s Terms of Service, and we have been encouraging users to support their favorite content creators by allowing ads on YouTube or trying YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience," YouTube told the tech news site 9to5google.
"Unrelated efforts to improve YouTube’s performance and reliability can result in a less optimal viewing experience for ad blocker users," YouTube added, as reported by KompasTekno from PhoneArena on Wednesday, May 29, 2024.
A pop-up window appears when a user is detected using an ad blocker while watching YouTube videos.
This isn’t the first time YouTube has taken measures against ad blockers. In October 2023, YouTube even blocked videos if it detected an ad blocker on the user's device.
