When it comes to ad blockers, YouTube is putting its money where its mouth is. The video platform’s crackdown on browser extensions that bypass pre-roll ads has had huge ramifications, with some ad blockers seeing as many as 50,000 uninstalls in a single day.
YouTube’s ad blocker crackdown has been in the works for months. In May, some users started seeing a message that reads “ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube.” The message blocks access to videos until the offending users whitelist YouTube in their ad blocker preferences or subscribe to YouTube Premium, which removes pre-roll ads but costs $12.99 per month.
A month later, YouTube confirmed that it was running a “small experiment” to crack down on ad blockers. That experiment has since evolved into a site-wide initiative. YouTube communications manager Christopher Lawton told The Verge that the platform has “launched a global effort” to combat the “use of ad blockers.”
The companies behind popular ad blockers are feeling the effects of YouTube’s policy. One such firm, AdGuard, told Wired that its daily uninstalls rose to approximately 52,000 on October 18. Previously, AdGuard’s average daily uninstalls hovered around 6,000.
YouTube has long turned a blind eye toward ad blockers. Extensions like Adblock Plus were widespread on the platform even though they violated its terms of service. But Netflix recently showed that streaming giants can increase subscriptions by cracking down on money-saving tactics (password sharing, in Netflix’s case).
By suggesting that aggrieved Adblock users subscribe to Premium instead, YouTube is directly viewers to one of its most lucrative services. YouTube Premium experienced a price hike in the U.S. over the summer, and as YouTube has ramped up its ad blocker crackdown, those price hikes have arrived in countries Argentina, Australia, Austria, Chile, Germany, Poland, and Turkey.
YouTube has become public enemy #1 among ad-blocking extensions, but in an ironic twist, those companies are getting support from YouTube’s parent company. Google recently sponsored an ad blocking conference alongside AdGuard and Adblock Plus parent Eyeo.
“For someone who wants to find extensions because they want more privacy, it may be hard,” Chrome Web Store developer lead Chary Chen said at the conference. “Now we’re introducing this new privacy and security category and it’s easy for a user to just go there and find the extension they want.”
So, to recap: Google is happy to help its users download ad blockers — but its video platform is playing the bad cop in this situation. For YouTube viewers who refuse to pony up for Premium, the days of a blissful ad-free experience may be at an end.
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