You read it right! Google has taken its gloves off and now new measures are being taken against AdBlock users on its YouTube platform with some already complaining about the platform’s harsh tactics.
Several users of AdBlock have reported cases of intensive resource usage and performance issues on their PCs more so when using the Google Chrome browser, which has frustrated the user experience when trying to watch videos without ads on YouTube.
To increase its ad revenue, Google has taken several steps in the most recent YouTube app and web updates where users are given a warning against using ad blockers and also limiting their video-watching time after a few videos. But now, things have taken a drastic turn.
According to PC Gamer, AdBlock users have been reporting widespread performance issues with the extension enabled on YouTube, with most stating that their PCs slowed down terribly though the reason behind the issue is believed to be an extension issue and not the platform itself.
In a YouTube subreddit thread shared over the weekend, several users reported having slow load times and increased CPU usage while using AdBlock on YouTube. Some users stated that while the AdBlock extension was active, computer resources skyrocketed causing Chrome to crash or slow down completely.
Even though using AdBlock or similar programs is against the platform’s terms of service, the extension is very popular among users with over 60 million Chrome web store users to date making it a go-to for anyone who doesn’t like advertisements popping up and distracting their video-watching time.
In recent months, YouTube has been detecting ad blockers across different browsers including Brave with a notification appearing later due to ad blocking and shutting down the player.
The issue is reported to be affecting those subscribed to YouTube Premium while using AdBlocker for other websites. There are also claims that the problem may be an extension issue though users have their suspicions that YouTube has something to do with it and we don’t blame them either.
Google Is Fighting Back Against Those Who Use AdBlockers On YouTube
YouTube’s communications manager, Christopher Lawton “said that users will keep seeing issues like this as YouTube’s ad-blocker detection methods improve”, which has only made users suspect that the company is to blame yet might not be the case. Regardless, Lawton’s statement kinda drives the point home though he further added that, “loading delays experienced by Adblock and AdBlock Plus users are not caused by our ad blocker detection efforts”.
As for now, you can keep using and testing with different browsers such as Brave, Vivaldi, Edge or Firefox to see if the issue doesn’t cut across and stick to the browser that works best for you though we anticipate more measures to be taken soon by Google.
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