If you are at least a semi-tech-savvy internet user, odds are high that you are either using an ad block in YouTube, or you are paying for the Premium tier, which has no ads. And Google is looking for ways of limiting that former option as it’s impacting the profitability of the website. YouTube confirmed that it is testing a new three-strike rule for ad blockers.
A company official said that YouTube is “running a small experiment” globally by urging people to disable ad block when watching videos on the website. In “some extreme cases” where people ignore the message, they get a temporary playback ban. Disabling video playback will only be applie when the user repeatedly ignores the prompt.
YouTube reminds us that ad blocker detection isn’t something new and the platform’s policy is strictly against the use of ad blockers. However, this is the first time the company is starting to enforce those rules. Of course, some users may get falsely flagged for using an ad blocker and there’s a link in the message for user feedback for those rare cases.
