YouTube begins new wave of slowdowns for users with ad blockers enabled
YouTube has implemented a new tactic to discourage the use of ad blockers on its platform. Recently, users have been experiencing significant slowdowns when using ad blockers, with the only solutions being to disable the blocker or upgrade to YouTube Premium.
Ad blockers have been a popular tool for viewers to bypass the increasing number of ads on YouTube. However, YouTube considers this practice to be a violation of its terms of service. Advertisements, particularly pre-video ads, generate a substantial portion of the platform’s revenue. The only alternative to ad blockers is to pay for YouTube Premium.
In its efforts to dissuade users from employing ad blockers, YouTube has adopted two methods. Firstly, a pop-up message appears, stating that ad blockers violate the platform’s terms of service, and viewers are prompted to disable their ad blocker to continue watching videos.
The second approach, which is now being introduced to a larger user base, involves intentionally slowing down the entire site when an ad blocker is active. YouTube refers to this as suboptimal viewing. According to reports on Reddit, multiple users have noticed sudden lag and unresponsiveness on YouTube, only to discover that disabling their ad blocker resolves the issue.
Upon testing this claim, it became evident that YouTube indeed suffers from performance issues when an ad blocker is enabled. Videos buffer at a painstakingly slow pace, previews fail to load properly, and accessing theater mode or fullscreen becomes impossible without refreshing the website.
This suboptimal viewing experience is a result of an intentional artificial timeout implemented in YouTube’s code, simulating a sluggish internet connection. While YouTube has employed similar tactics in the past, more users are now being exposed to this strategy.
For users facing this predicament, two official options exist: disabling the ad blocker or upgrading to YouTube Premium. However, these choices may not be ideal for most viewers. YouTube’s tactics to discourage ad blockers have sparked controversy, as they essentially force users to decide between paying a monthly fee of $10 or enduring extensive unskippable video ads, which can sometimes run up to 10 minutes in length.
As YouTube users grapple with these choices, concerns arise regarding the platform’s methods and the impact on viewer experience. The balance between generating revenue and providing a seamless user experience remains a crucial concern for YouTube moving forward.
In summary, YouTube has initiated a new wave of slowdowns for users employing ad blockers. Disabling the blocker or upgrading to YouTube Premium are currently the only viable solutions, leaving users to ponder the trade-offs between cost and convenience. The approach taken by YouTube to discourage ad blockers has sparked debates on the platform’s policies and the overall user experience.
