YouTube cracks down on ad-blockers, encourages users to switch to paid tier

Google’s video streaming platform YouTube has started cracking down on ad-blockers in its global efforts to encourage users to try premium subscriptions or allow ads. According to media reports, the streaming platform has started displaying a warning message that “ad-blockers violates YouTube’s terms of service”. In a screenshot of the warning message posted by The Verge, the streaming platform noted “ads allow YouTube to be used by billions worldwide”.

YouTube started the crackdown on ad-blockers initially in June this year as an experiment. It showed a pop-up message asking users to disable the ad-blocker to watch videos on the platform. Citing YouTube communication manager Christopher Lawton, The Verge reported that the crackdown on ad-blockers is part of its global effort to encourage users to allow ads or try YouTube Premium.

According to a report on Android Authority, users have been posting complaining about seeing warnings in different formats for using ad-blockers on Reddit. It stated that YouTube gives a warning in some cases while restricting access to the platform.

The Google-owned video streaming platform has not specified about the kind of limitations it is imposing over those using ad-blockers yet.

YouTube had earlier introduced unskippable 30-second ads on its TV app to push users into subscribing to an ad-free premium plan.