A user needs to buy a subscription of YouTube premium to get an ad-free experience. For an annual fee, you can watch ad-free videos and listen to music even with your phone screen turned off. The subscription also includes ad-free access to YouTube music. Some users bypass the paywall and go ad-free without paying by using third-party applications or ad-blockers. YouTube has started testing a policy whereby people using ad blockers will be given three strikes and then be barred from watching YouTube videos.
YouTube has confirmed that it is testing the three strike policy against ad-blockers after a redittor had disclosed the possibility of the same. YouTube has informed Android Authority about the tests and provided some more information about it saying, “We’re running a small experiment globally that urges viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium. Ad blocker detection is not new, and other publishers regularly ask viewers to disable ad blockers”
This step can be a direct result of YouTube losing revenue-growth in 2022. The platform earned $29.24 billion in 2022 from ads which is up only by 2% from the previous year when it earned $28.8 billion.
The users who apply ad-blockers to bypass ads on YouTube will be sent repeated notifications to allow ads. If they continue to use ad-blockers not paying heed to the notifications, video playback for such users will be temporarily blocked. There will be a prompt for users to inform YouTube if they feel they have been wrongly flagged for using ad-blockers.
The company has said that it takes blocking video playback “very seriously” and will take that step only after repeated warnings. YouTube has 2.1 billion active users monthly. In 2021 it had 50 million premium subscribers. Whether these policies will bring more premium users onboard or increase ad revenue, time will tell.
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