Google is experimenting with a feature that blocks users who have ad blockers running on their devices from watching videos on its platform. Reports started popping up where users were served with a notice screen on YouTube informing them that ad blockers were no longer allowed on the site.
The notice claims that an ad blocker was detected and the user is given two options. They can either allow YouTube ads by whitelisting the site on their ad blocker app or subscribe to YouTube Premium.
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In a way, the notice guilts the user into a corner by stating that YouTube is free and ads allow it to remain free for billions of users around the world. It also mentions that YouTube Premium allows users to go ad-free and creators still get paid from the subscription service.
While Google has yet to officially announce the scheme, multiple users have reported being blocked on the service while browsing the site with an ad blocker installed. However, after the reports started popping up online, Google did provide a statement claiming that the block is just a “small experiment” the company is currently working on.
YouTube also provided a statement to the Reddit community saying the feature is just an “experiment”. But this doesn’t mean it is going away. Google is clearly working on methods to disable ad blockers on its video platform. This is likely just the start of things.
Even if Google decided to roll this feature out worldwide, the company will unlikely be able to keep up with ad blocker programs constantly being updated to find new ways to bypass the “experiment”. Websites are always finding ways to show ads through ad blockers and these apps then get updated to counter them.
If Google does announce anything official, we will be sure to share the news as soon as it happens.
Source: Reddit
