Google Admits YouTube’s War on Ad Blockers Leads to ‘Suboptimal’ Viewing Experiences

Some YouTube viewers who use Firefox or Edge instead of Chrome have reported having to wait around five seconds every time they try to load a video. In screen recordings shared on Reddit and other online forums, users show how their screen goes blank for a short time when they click on a YouTube video before the page loads. But when they moved to Chrome, this waiting period seemed non-existent. Android Authority And 404media, which reported on user complaints, was unable to reproduce the phenomenon. We also noticed no difference in loading times when we accessed YouTube on different browsers.

Based on code found by some posters on YCombinator and Reddit, YouTube implemented an anti-adblocker mechanism that is causing the delays. We found the code snippet cited in these threads, but its role is not entirely clear. In a statement provided by Google Android Authority, he admitted to setting up a system intended to trick viewers into uninstalling their ad blockers. The company said users with ad blockers installed “may experience suboptimal viewing” regardless of which browser they choose to use.

“To support a diverse ecosystem of creators globally and empower billions to access their favorite content on YouTube, we launched an effort to encourage viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or to try YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience,” the report said. the spokesperson said. “Users with ad blockers installed may experience suboptimal viewing regardless of which browser they use.”

YouTube began cracking down on ad blockers earlier this year, but it went all out earlier this month by blocking viewers around the world from watching videos unless they disable their apps, add-ons complements and extensions. The video hosting website hopes to entice users who can’t stand watching ads to subscribe to its $14-a-month YouTube Premium service. Since then, several ad blocking companies have reported seeing a high number of uninstalls per day, but Google has not yet revealed whether YouTube Premium subscriptions have also increased as a result.