YouTube Issues Caution: Utilizing Ad Blockers Could Result in Inability to View Videos

There are ads on YouTube, and to avoid them you either need to use ad blockers or buy a YouTube Premium subscription. However, the company is now stepping up efforts to prevent the former. It has reportedly launched a “global effort” to crack down on ad blockers, either by blocking ad blockers outright or suggesting users try YouTube Premium, The Verge reported.

If you encounter YouTube’s new popup that appears when it detects an ad blocker on your system, you’ll primarily see two options: “allow YouTube ads” or “try YouTube Premium.” The page also states that “the video is blocked from playing unless YouTube is whitelisted or ad blocking is disabled.”

According to The Verge, one of its employees can’t watch videos at all if this pop-up appears, and YouTube “blocks” them entirely, reminding them that doing so violates YouTube’s terms of service. This may indicate that more users may face similar treatment soon, and you may not be able to watch YouTube videos if you use ad blockers.

Previously, ignoring the pop-up and closing it might have solved the problem, but it would have reappeared later. However, with reports claiming that YouTube is completely blocking video playback, we may have to say goodbye to ad blockers.

Since then, YouTube has also updated its support page, which you can read here. “If you use ad blockers, we ask that you allow ads on YouTube or sign up for YouTube Premium. If you continue to use ad blockers, we may block your video from playing. Avoid interruptions by allowing ads on YouTube or signing up for YouTube Premium,” YouTube notes. This puts things into perspective. YouTube warns users to stop using ad blockers, otherwise they may block videos from being viewed.

Additionally, another report from Android Authority claims that new ad blockers have appeared, claiming that they can bypass YouTube’s new ad blocker detection technology. However, the publication points out that this is not the case for most of them, as you will still end up with the YouTube ad blocker pop-up.

In this sense, YouTube’s primary source of revenue is ad revenue, and when users block them using ad blockers, it takes a significant hit to both content creators and YouTube itself. So it’s not surprising to see YouTube blamed for something that threatens its core monetization model.