YouTube strikes back with adblock users once again. This time, we have very noticeable slowdowns, specifically laggy access across the board. Yup, it’s not just loading times and delayed responses, folks. You might not even be able to type whatever you want to watch in time.
The Ad Block Arms Race
As any regular consumer of YouTube videos on browser knows, the platform has recently attempted to double down and finally end the use of ad blockers once and for all.
To dissuade users, YouTube has initially implemented a pop-up message that sternly declares, “Ad blockers violate YouTube’s Terms of Service” if the system detects the use of an ad block extension.
This was effective for a very brief time, forcing some users to flee to non-Chromium-based browsers to prevent the message from blocking their videos.
However, since then, extension developers have adapted to this, either creating new code to bypass the detection, or just ignoring the rule altogether. Some ad skip extensions, for example, simply speed up the ads to mere split seconds, effectively blocking them regardless.
Streamlandia Strikes Back?
Much more recently, a second method, now rolling out to even more users, involves deliberately slowing down the entire site, labeling it as “suboptimal viewing” when an ad blocker is detected.
Reports on Reddit for the last few days highlight users experiencing sudden lags and unresponsiveness on YouTube, specifically linked to ad blocker usage. Verified through independent testing, enabling an ad blocker results in slow video buffering, preview malfunctions, and difficulties entering theater mode or fullscreen, all of which are resolved by disabling the ad blocker.
Based on first-hand experience, it would seem that YouTube’s tactic involves introducing artificial delays, simulating a laggy internet connection. While this strategy isn’t entirely new, an increasing number of users are now becoming aware of it.
After a short while, though, Google eventually responded to the controversy via Android Central. Its official statement asserted that the slowdowns were not caused by any of their anti-blocker systems. The response even suggested that the issue was with the extensions themselves, or at least the latest updates of these browser apps.
In more complicated instances, the use of multiple adblockers may even worsen the issue and make it more apparent, as suggested by uBlock Origin developer Raymond Hill in the same report.
Collateral Damage
So, what happens to Premium users who use ad block extensions for other purposes? Why, they would also experience slowdowns as well, since YouTube’s detection system only ever checks for adblocking extensions.
No exceptions even if you paid for Premium. The work around here is to disable ad blocking on YouTube, as with premium all videos are ad free anyway.
The Dilemma Goes On
As users navigate this landscape, the debate over YouTube’s aggressive approach against ad blockers continues. This leaves many to grapple with the choice of paying for an ad-free experience or enduring the challenges posed by YouTube’s controversial measures. Something that we believe is still far from being over at this point in time.
