YouTube is taking it’s efforts to counter ad-blockers to the next level, as it’s reportedly slowing down the video load time of some users.
9to5Google also reported the inability to go full-screen or theatre mode and some previews not loading properly. And when the page is refreshed with ad-blockers turned off, everything seems to work correctly. YouTube is yet to confirm on this.
Slow Loading Times on YouTube
Years after letting users bypass it’s ads with ad-blockers, YouTube is finally cracking on such tools in various means. We saw the video platform displaying a warning banner last year, asking users to turn off ad-blocker(allow ads) or try out the Premium subscription.
Later on, it went on with a more aggressive three-strikes policy, where the video player would be disabled after three warnings if the ad-blockers weren’t turned off. Furthermore, it setup a timer to intimidate users and push them towards the Premium subscription.
Well, as many users still found a way to get around this, YouTube is now testing slowing down the video playback – as reported by several users. While some initially mistook the incident for reduced internet speeds, the load times reportedly improved when the ad blocker was disabled.
Youtube started slowing video buffer with adblock enabled
byu/NightMean inyoutube
Trying this claim, 9to5Google said they did face slow buffering when the ad-blocker is turned on and cannot go full screen or theatre mode until a page refresh. Furthermore, some previews refused to load correctly, said the publication.
Well, I didn’t face any of these incidents, at least yet; hoping that it’s limited to some people or regions. YouTube did a similar thing in November last year, where a spokesperson confirmed that some users with ad-blocker could witness “suboptimal viewing“, referring to slow loading times.
Thus, we expect this campaign will only expand to all in the near future, forcing everyone to either ditch ad-blockers or subscribe to YouTube Premium.
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