YouTube wants to make sure that all users who do not have a premium account see the ads that they are entitled to. The platform is testing a function that prevents users who use ad blockers from playing videos, as some Reddit users have been able to verify.
A company spokesperson has also confirmed these tests to BleepingComputer: “Ad blocker detection is not new, and other publishers regularly ask viewers to disable ad blockers.” And it encourages users to follow the rules established by the platform.
If YouTube detects that a user is using an ad blocker, the platform will launch a notification in the form of a pop-up window warning them that they are using such a program.
To continue enjoying the content, it will give the user two options: create a YouTube Premium account that does not include advertising; or disable ad blockers and continue enjoying free YouTube, but with ads.
The platform denounces that the use of these programs is harmful. YouTube recalls in this notification the importance of advertising for the platform, since the ads allow it to continue to be available for free to “billions of users around the world.”
Ad blockers are a program or extension that is installed in the web browser to filter content and interrupt ads while browsing the Internet. In the case of YouTube, they are used so that ads that are shown before a video is played or in the middle of a video are blocked and do not interrupt the ad-supported content.