To avoid advertising, many people use ad blockers – including on YouTube. The video platform has wanted to prevent this for a long time and has now apparently taken appropriate measures.
“Hello everyone, we are increasingly taking action against third-party apps that violate the YouTube Terms of Service, especially apps that block ads”: This is how an official message begins with which Rob from TeamYouTube announces that users who use ad blockers use, you will have problems with streaming in the future.
This is how YouTube takes action against ad blockers
This means that there may be difficulties with buffering in the future. In addition, error messages are likely that hinder the corresponding videos. YouTube's announcement does not only refer to ad blocker plug-ins.
Third-party ad blocking apps such as Vanced, Grayjay, Newpipe or Skytube will also no longer work in the future. The applications previously allowed users to use premium content free of charge, for example to play videos in the background or download them.
“We would like to emphasize that our terms and conditions do not allow third-party apps to disable advertising,” the statement says.
Because with advertising, the content creators are compensated for their work. The ads on the platform would help YouTube support creators and reward them for their viewership. The company only allows third-party apps to use its API if they adhere to the relevant terms of use.
Is YouTube targeting more premium subscriptions?
The company understands that some people prefer a completely ad-free experience. The solution to this is YouTube Premium. Subscribers in Germany currently pay 12.99 euros as an individual. For families, the subscription costs 23.99 euros per month. Students are charged 7.49 euros per month.
Overall, the reactions to YouTube's latest measures are likely to be negative. In recent months, the platform had already started to throttle the speed of the website. In a Reddit post, users reported that the site worked normally again as soon as the ad blockers were deactivated.
The EU also looks critically at YouTube's measures. Patrick Breyer, digital rights lawyer and member of the European Parliament, explained on Mastodon back in November 2023: “YouTube wants to force us into surveillance advertising and tracking with an anti-adblock wall.” He asked the EU Commission to check the legality. So far, however, there has been no result.
Also interesting:
Source: https://www.basicthinking.de/blog/2024/04/23/youtube-gegen-ad-blocker/
