Either watch ads or opt for the premium tier. That’s the message YouTube is sending out. In the last few months, YouTube has ramped up its block of ad blockers. In a statement, the company said it has “launched a global effort to urge viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience”.
In case you come upon YouTube’s block, there will be a notice that says “video playback is blocked unless YouTube is allowlisted or the ad blocker is disabled”. The prompt is to allow ads or try YouTube Premium.
YouTube has told The Verge that it was disabling videos for users with ad blockers in June but back then it was a “small experiment globally”. “When you block YouTube ads, you violate YouTube’s Terms of Service. If you use ad blockers, we’ll ask you to allow ads on YouTube or sign up for YouTube Premium. If you continue to use ad blockers, we may block your video playback,” YouTube writes on a support page.
All this also means, there has been a spike in searches for ad blockers that still work on YouTube. There are several Chrome extensions that claim to help bypass YouTube’s ad blocker restrictions.