YouTube is cracking down on people who use advert blockers on its site in an attempt to drive users to sign up for its 'YouTube Premium' service. Speaking to The Verge, the video giant said it will be testing a new system that detects who is using the ad blockers and will give them two options to continue watching.
A Reddit user first reported encountering the test on June 28, telling others that YouTube is prompting users who are running ad-blockers to either turn them off and watch the ads or to subscribe to YouTube Premium. A spokesperson told The Verge it is currently running "a small experiment globally that urges viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium."
Google spokesperson, Oluwa Falodun, added: "Ad blocker detection is not new, and other publishers regularly ask viewers to disable ad blockers. We take disabling playback very seriously, and will only disable playback if viewers ignore repeated requests to allow ads on YouTube."
YouTube assures viewers they will have plenty of opportunities to disable ad-blockers before their viewing experience is interrupted. However, the patience of users has been tested due to YouTube experimenting with more ads in recent years.
Last September, the company served up to 10 un-skippable clips within a single ad break in another of its controversial experiments. The tests encourage people to sign up to YouTube Premium which is £11.99 per month - or £143 per year.
By paying for YouTube Premium, subscribers can:
- Watch millions of videos on YouTube without ads
- Download videos and playlists on your mobile device to watch offline
- Continue playing videos on your mobile device while using other apps or when your screen is off
- Get a subscription to YouTube Music Premium at no extra-cost
- Listen to music and podcasts on your Google Home or Chromecast Audio
According to reports last year, around 80 million people pay for YouTube Premium globally, whereas their rival Netflix has an estimated 700million paying customers. YouTube boasts around two billion monthly active users and has some of the world's biggest brands amongst its advertisers.
The 2005-founded video platform earnt global advertising revenue of around $29billion in 2022. But aims to get millions more premium members in the coming years.
