YouTube Goes On A Blocking Spree For Ad Blockers

YouTube has just revealed that it is going to be taking a surprising step and experimenting to block ads using blockers.

This was initially noted by a user on Reddit, who was watching a video on YouTube, when a pop-up message appeared. It said that the platform does not allow the use of ad blockers.

As per experts, this step has been taken in lieu of the falling ad revenue of YouTube, since people block ads when using monetized videos.

This new development was made shortly after a series of actions were taken by the video platform, which is owned by Google.

Back in 2016, the tech giant took to getting rid of ad-blocking apps, which were created for the sole purpose of blocking ads on YouTube.

Thus, it removed such apps from the Play Store and made sure to modify its largely used Chrome browser. As a result, people could not add ad-blocking extensions to it.

In the previous year, the giant took to shutting down its third-party app, YouTube Vanced. It was mainly used to block any embedded ads that YouTube would show to those who did not have a Premium subscription.

What Is The Reason Behind YouTube Using Ad Blockers?

People have speculated that the timing for YouTube to be doing this is quite interesting. This is mainly because the video platform recently recorded a dip in its ad revenue.

The parent company of the platform, Alphabet Inc. took to reveal that the advertising earnings of YouTube recorded a year-on-year decline of 2.6%. This figure was only reported for the first quarter of this year.

After YouTube recorded this decline, it went on to add that this is the third quarter in a row, when it has noticed a fall in its ad revenue.

The platform further revealed that it had quarterly revenue of $6.69 billion in the first quarter of the current year. However, it had a revenue of $6.87 billion in the first quarter of the previous year.

Despite the fact that YouTube recorded a dip, it has managed to exceed the expectations of analysts, who predicted that the video platform would only record revenue of $6.6 billion.

On the other hand, the consistent fall in revenue had caused concern for numerous content creators. This is due to the fact that their income is heavily dependent on ad revenue.

The advertising woes of YouTube come at a time when it is facing stuff competition from several rivals. This, of course, includes TikTok.

As a result, the video platform has announced that it will be focusing more on Shorts, which has shown a rise of 80% in the previous year, where daily uploads are concerned.

Meanwhile, the ad-blocking experiment from YouTube is likely to be a part of a much larger strategy. Through this, the platform is possibly trying to persuade users to opt for the Premium subscription.

As per the Reddit user, the pop-up message also offered the option to make an account for YouTube’s ad-free service.