YouTube is getting serious about blocking ad blockers

The company YouTube has officially announced that it has "launched a global effort" to combat ad blockers.

YouTube is stepping up its efforts to suppress ad blockers. According to YouTube communications manager Christopher Lawton, the company has "launched a global effort" to persuade users to accept advertisements or test YouTube Premium. The Verge obtained a copy of this statement.

A notification stating that "video playback is blocked unless YouTube is allowlisted or the ad blocker is disabled" may appear if you encounter YouTube's block. A prompt to accept advertisements or test YouTube Premium is also included. Although you may still watch videos and receive prompts on YouTube's policy on ad blockers, one Verge staff member reports that YouTube now completely bans them almost all the time.

Although Lawton characterized it as merely a "small experiment globally" at the time, YouTube acknowledged in June that it was blocking videos for users who had ad blockers installed. YouTube has now extended this endeavor. More people who have ad blockers installed have reported being unable to watch YouTube videos during the last few weeks; this trend was highlighted in a post by Android Authority.

Lawton adds that "ads support a diverse ecosystem of creators globally and allow billions to access their favorite content on YouTube," arguing that the "use of ad blockers" is against the platform's terms of service.

This year, YouTube changed a few things about how adverts work on the site. In May, the business added 30-second, non-skippable advertisements to its TV app. Later, it started experimenting with lengthier, infrequent TV commercial breaks. Although YouTube may be anticipating that more people will sign up for its ad-free YouTube Premium membership as a result of its long ad breaks, the alternative may become less appealing due to a $2 price increase and the cancellation of its less expensive Premium Lite plan.