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YouTube has been cracking down hard on ad blockers lately, but despite their best efforts, users have managed to find ways around it, but not without consequence. According to a post on Reddit by u/vk6_, YouTube is “punishing” these users with slower video loading times.
In the video, it shows how users on non-Chrome browsers like Firefox will be greeted with a “loading page” that takes about a few seconds to load before the actual video plays. It was initially thought that this could have been a glitch, but snooping around YouTube’s code reveals that it was done on purpose.
YouTube has since confirmed that this is the case in a statement made to Android Central which reads:
“To support a diverse ecosystem of creators globally and allow billions to access their favorite content on YouTube, we’ve launched an effort to urge viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium for an ad free experience. Users who have ad blockers installed may experience suboptimal viewing, regardless of the browser they are using.”
While we understand where YouTube is coming from, not everyone is thrilled by their heavy handedness in the matter. In fact, a criminal complaint was filed about a week ago in which it alleges that YouTube is spying on users to see if they’re using ad blockers, which goes against the EU’s GDPR.
Source: Android Central
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