YouTube is adding new measures in its crackdown on ad blockers on the platform as its parent company, Google seeks to boost the service’s premium subscription going forward.
This comes after ads on the platform have become more intrusive with users having to watch a chain of short and unskippable ads.
Google has confirmed that it is experimenting with a feature that would block users using ad blockers.
Three-strike policy
The feature, first pointed out by a user on Reddit back in May showed a dialog popup indicating that ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube. The dialog box asks users to either allow YouTube ads or purchase the ad-free Premium subscription. Continuous use of ad blockers would result in the user getting banned from the platform.
YouTube has now come up with an update to this warning as it is reportedly testing a new timer on the warning. The timer’s duration is yet to be confirmed but is expected to last between 30 and 60 seconds. The rest of the warning remains unchanged from the feature’s initial experiment with users having the option of allowing ads or trying YouTube Premium.
This is not the first experiment that YouTube is carrying out. Last year, users were served as many as five-6 seconds long unskippable ads which YouTube dubbed “bumper ads”. YouTube has since claimed the experiment has concluded.
As YouTube increases the length and number of ads shown, users have resulted to using ad blockers for a better experience. The recent crackdown on ad blockers will likely receive pushback from users but it is unlikely that Google will relent. In addition, the Premium subscription is not available in some countries including Kenya.
YouTube is also working on measures to curb the recent increase in spam across its short-form video platform, YouTube Shorts.
