First spotted by Redditor Sazk100, the user shared a screenshot showing a YouTube popup stating that it is detecting and blocking the use of an ad blocker. The line on the popop is pretty strong too, reading “Ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube”. Naturally it continues with the justification that ads allow the platform to continue to be free for other users, as well as pushing the Premium subscription for those who can’t stand the ad barrage. The streaming of videos are presumably blocked for as long as the platform detects an ad blocker.
A member of the mod team for the subreddit later pinned a comment that confirms that this is an experiment by YouTube. That being said, the incentive to apply this experiment to the broader platform is pretty clear, so it is more likely a question of when, rather than if, this will hit every user. At the moment, it seems to be hitting users at random. The Reddit thread in question sees users sharing their experiments using a variety of browsers and ad blockers, with mixed results for the same combinations. On one hand, there is no question that the advertising economy of the internet is what keeps it going, including YouTube. But as platforms like it push for more and longer ads, they become more and more intrusive which promotes the use of ad blockers in the first place. It’s a vicious cycle with no real solutions. Even services which rose to fame for not having ads have started introducing ad tiers. (Source: Reddit)
