YouTube Brings Ultimatum: Turn Off Your Ad Blocker or Go Premium

We get it: ads are annoying as hell. Video streaming platforms such as YouTube know that very well. But guess what? Those ads represent one of the major income sources that those platforms have. In other words, it’s in the best interest of streaming services such as YouTube to keep those ads running for all visitors.

On the other hand, we’ve all heard about ad blocker software such as Adblock. Anybody can install such an adblock as an extension for their browsers. As you’ve already guessed, YouTube and other video streaming platforms are not fans of such a scheme.

Buy a YouTube Premium subscription or get rid of your ad blocker

YouTube Premium subscribers don’t have to deal with ad blockers because, you know, they actually pay for the service. While the majority of people out there use the free version of YouTube, ads are necessary to keep the service alive.

According to XDA, YouTube is currently testing a new three-strikes rule targeting users who use ad blockers. In this global test, users will be given a few chances to comply by turning off their ad blockers or subscribing to a YouTube Premium account. If they don’t, YouTube will disable video playback. As harsh as the move may sound, we have to admit that it’s fairly reasonable. However, the move has sparked mixed reactions, with many criticizing YouTube for being greedy.

YouTube’s message is crystal clear: “Video player will be blocked after 3 videos.” The platform further adds: “It looks like you may be using an ad blocker. Video playback will be blocked unless YouTube is allowlisted or the ad blocker is disabled.”

The full rollout and potential impact remain unknown at this point, but we’ll clearly find out more about the news soon enough, so stay tuned!