YouTube experiments with blocking Ad Blockers, requires users to allow ads or sign up for Premium

It was recently discovered by a Reddit user that YouTube is currently experimenting with blocking users who have enabled ad blockers such as Adblock Plus or uBlock Origin from accessing videos on the platform. This means that when users try to use YouTube.com with an ad blocker enabled, they will receive a pop-up message stating that ad blockers are not allowed on the platform.

In order to access videos, users will have to allow YouTube ads or sign up for YouTube Premium, a subscription service that offers ad-free viewing for a monthly fee of $10. YouTube claims that ads are necessary to keep the platform free for its billions of users worldwide. The income generated from ads pays for the storage and bandwidth needs of YouTube's content, which has been increasing over time.

Although it is easy to see why YouTube might want to block ad blockers, it may also cause frustration among users. The company has been increasing its ad load in recent years, which has led to complaints from users. Additionally, YouTube Premium may not be affordable for occasional viewers who do not want to see ads. It remains to be seen how YouTube will address this issue going forward, but for now, the blocking of ad blockers is just an experiment being conducted by the company. Just keep in mind that it may be difficult to predict when it will happen, but it would be prudent to start preparing for the inevitable change that could come sooner rather than later.