YouTube is slowing down video load times for users with ad blockers enabled, similar to a test it conducted in November. Some users have reported difficulty loading previews and the inability to open full-screen or theater mode when using ad blockers.
YouTube’s previous efforts to combat ad blockers have included experiments such as onscreen banners and a three-strikes policy. In a bid to push revenues, YouTube has long tried to convince its users to switch to the $14/month Premium tier.
Failing to do so would result in viewers having to sit through ads, with YouTube at one point even testing up to eleven unskippable ads, although the following backlash led the company to end this experiment.
As for people who continue to use workarounds, like using ad blockers, the streaming platform had some other plans, including, but not limited to, slowing down load times. YouTube is now seemingly bringing back this particular anti-ad block campaign, as noted by Reddit user NightMean. Several other users on the thread concur, with some reportedly mistaking the slowdown for reduced internet speeds.
The load times reportedly improve significantly when the ad blocker is disabled. The folks at 9to5Google tried this out on their own and faced slow buffering and found that even going into full screen or theater mode wasn’t possible, requiring a page refresh. Moreover, the site found that some of the previews refused to load properly in this state.
In a statement back in November, a spokesperson for YouTube confirmed that some users with ad block could witness “suboptimal viewing,” referring to slow loading times on the platform. YouTube is likely beginning to expand this behavior to more users. While some lucky users might be able to circumvent this new restriction, YouTube is likely to come up with more ways to compel users to disable ad blockers or fork out $14 per month for Premium.
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