The time has come. YouTube is cracking down on Ad Blockers for their website even going so far as to block users if they refuse to comply.

Here is everything you need to know about the new policy.

If you have an ad blocker installed on YouTube, in the past week or so, maybe you’ve noticed some pop-ups appear asking to disable the service. You’ve probably ignored the message or clicked out but it looks like bypassing the pop-ups won’t get rid of the problem.

If a user refuses to disable the ad-blocker, they may face being blocked on the popular video platform. Users who really don’t want to see ads are going to be forced to pay for YouTube Premium. YouTube Premium is YouTube’s current ad-free service and sits at $13.99 per month.

As reported by Jay Peters on The Verge, YouTube’s current statement on Ad Blockers reads:

Although it seems like a quick and sudden change, this has been in the works for some time now. The justification for getting rid of the ad blockers currently is that they allow YouTube to be free. If users want an ad-free experience, they must pay for that convenience. YouTube has even stated that using an ad blocker, in general, is a violation of their terms and not allowed.

With this in mind, users may want to be careful if they choose to continue with their ad blockers. Many are not happy about the change but the pop-up will continue to appear as a repeated notification with YouTube disabling playback eventually.

This comes as no surprise with many social platforms pushing towards their paid services. We saw this recently with TikTok and Meta too. Pretty soon, it will be all platforms. The question now is which platform will be next?

Alex Caceres , 20 October 2023