YouTube's ad blocker crackdown is intensifying further as the video streaming giant confirmed that it will slow down the load times of those who use advertisement blockers.
A young woman wearing headphones walks past a billboard advertisement for YouTube on September 27, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. YouTube has evolved as the world's largest platform for sharing video clips.
The Google-owned video platform started its ad blocker crackdown last fall in 2023. YouTube issued a warning prompt to users in October 2023.
The streaming giant said that ad blockers are not allowed on the platform. YouTube added that users only have two options; subscribe to YouTube Premium for $13.99/month or use YT for free and allow ads.
However, since many YouTube users refuse to pay and instead use ad blockers to watch videos without ads, the streaming platform had to take action, which was to slow down their load times.
YouTube Ad Blocker Crackdown: YT To Slow Down Load Times of Violators
According to Mashable's latest report, YouTube will make the load times of users with ad blockers slower. This means that YT will make the entire site slower whenever ad blockers are detected.
Google said that they will specifically slow down "suboptimal viewing." This is already experienced by many YT users, saying that their load times become very slow when using ad blockers.
Some of them said that YouTube's performance becomes better when they disable the ad blockers they use. Tech experts who experienced slower load times said that the issue is caused by an artificial timeout in the video platform's code.
They said that this artificial timeout mimics a laggy internet connection, making the site's performance, especially load time, slower.
Although this is not new YouTube, Facebook, and other social media platforms that are against the usage of advertisement blockers, tech experts said that the effect on YT is becoming wider and wider.
Read Also: TikTok's New 15-Minute Video Limit Leads to Criticisms as Users Claim It's Copying YouTube
What YouTube Users Can Do
The YouTube and Netflix app logos are seen on a television screen on March 23, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey. The Government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan passed a new law on March 22 extending the reach of the country's radio and TV censor to the internet.
Since YouTube is intensifying its efforts against ad blockers, users now only have one option if they don't want to pay the $13.99 per month and see ads while watching.
If you are one of them, the best thing you can do is try other video streaming platform alternatives. Luckily, MakeUseOf provided some of the best YT alternatives you can try:
- Dailymotion
- Utreon
- The Internet Archive
- Crackle
- Vimeo
- Twitch
- The Open Video Project
If you want to learn more specific details about these YouTube alternatives, you can click here.
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