YouTube intensifies fight against ad-blockers
YouTube is making it increasingly difficult for users to watch videos without ads and at no cost. It’s been revealed that videos on the platform now skip to the end if the user’s device has an ad blocker installed. This suggests that the only way to watch videos without ads on the platform may soon lie in subscribing to the YouTube Premium service.
An ongoing battle with ad-blockers
Over the past few months, YouTube has steadily ramped up its policy against tools that block advertisements. Last year, the platform started displaying a message asking users to disable ad-blockers. If ignored, it prevents the videos playback. As a result, some users have indeed stopped using ad-blockers on YouTube, but others have found new ways around to view content ad-free.
Recent observations and speculations
This week, many users noticed that videos start skipping to the end a few seconds after playback begins. Oddly enough, once an ad-blocker is disabled, videos resume normal playback. The platform behaves similarly when trying to replay videos or jumping to a specific part of a video. In some cases, the video doesn’t skip to the end but appears to load indefinitely instead.
Official response awaited amidst user theories
Based on these observations, users speculate that YouTube is deliberately curbing the use of ad-blockers. While this could be true, the platform’s official representatives have yet to confirm tightening their policy against ad-blockers.
AdBlock bug recurrence possible
Yet, it could also be an issue with the ad-blocker itself. Earlier this year, a glitch in AdBlock caused slow video loading on YouTube and a significant increase in computer processing power. Many accused YouTube, but it turned out that AdBlock was at fault. According to a source, users of AdBlock are currently the ones most frequently experiencing problems with video playback on the platform.
