Technology YouTube intensifies crackdown on adblockers with this new restriction

[CyberTech]

Content source

https://www.ghacks.net/2023/06/29/youtube-intensifies-crackdown-on-adblockers-with-this-new-restriction/

After having tested blocking users with content blockers outright on YouTube, Google is now, reportedly, running a new experiment that allows users to watch three videos before they are locked out of the site.

The report comes from Reddit user Reddit_n_Me who published a screenshot of the new experiment on the site. It needs to be noted that there has not been official confirmation from Google or YouTube, or other users who have received the message. It looks plausible though that Google is testing different thumbscrew approaches and it may use different counts of allowed videos before blocking the user.

The screenshot informs the user that the "video player will be blocked after 3 videos". Google explains that video playback will be blocked unless the user allows ads on YouTube in the adblocker or disables the adblocker outright.

Full article

YouTube intensifies crackdown on adblockers with this new restriction - gHacks Tech News

Google is reportedly running a new experiment that allows users to watch three videos before they are locked out of the site.

www.ghacks.net

 

[Jonny Quest]

Locked out of the site...wow. And yet, it's their site, and they can do whatever they want as far as that's concerned. Even though they probably hope people will upgrade to premium (I subscribed) for increased revenue, but what will that do as far as the YouTube channels we all enjoy and are subscribed to, how will it affect them if people start getting locked out? Don't they get some sort of revenue or kickbacks for views, which would possibly hurt them, no?

 

[MuzzMelbourne]

I actually don't really mind YouTube ads. I use it primarily for DIY and tech tutorials and figure they have to make quid to provide the infrastructure behind this somehow. I must have saved thousands of dollars in repair/tech support bills over the years.

If it becomes a real issue I'll subscribe. I just wish they were a little more discerning with WHAT they advertise.

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

New twist in YouTube’s war against ad blockers: pay or see ads after 3 videos

YouTube appears to be ramping up its crusade against ad blockers, as first spotted by users on Reddit. A member of the r/youtube subreddit posted a screenshot of a pop-up message that the Google-owned platform now displays, limiting the user to watching only three videos for free without ads. After that, the user must either pay for a premium YouTube subscription or enable ads.

The message says: “It looks like you may be using an ad blocker. Video playback will be blocked unless YouTube is allowlisted or the ad blocker is disabled.” YouTube tries to justify this by saying that ads help keep the service free for users and support creators.

So far, we have not seen the new YouTube popup ourselves. As we mentioned, YouTube is still experimenting with the ban, which may explain why we haven’t witnessed the new YouTube popup yet. If you have, and are using the AdGuard ad blocker, send us a message. In the meantime, here’s a video on how to block ads on YouTube on any device with any OS using AdGuard.

New twist in YouTube’s war against ad blockers: pay or see ads after 3 videos

YouTube appears to be ramping up its crackdown on ad blockers, urging users to turn them off or pay to watch ad-free videos. What could this lead to? Read on to find out.

adguard.com

 

[plat]

Guess I'm not part of the elite "experimental group" --not seeing this schmutz yet anyway.

Guess AdGuard will be ready to deal with this latest saber-rattling from Google, so they say.

Spoiler

 

[HarborFront]

Filters for YouTube to fix the 3 videos per row issue, block Shorts and more!

 

[vtqhtr413]

YouTube continues ramping up its efforts to push more users to its paid Premium subscription. The platform has begun testing a new anti-adblocker popup version aimed at non-paying (non-Premium) viewers. According to a new Reddit post, the updated warning includes a countdown timer in the top right corner, indicating how long the user has left to take action before the ad plays. Based on initial reports, the timer appears to run for 30-60 seconds.

The timed warning represents YouTube's latest tactic to wear down non-paying adblocker users. While workarounds like VPNs and some browsers like Brave exist, these are temporary fixes. YouTube likely has measures planned to counter such methods. The backlash over YouTube's intrusive promotions continues to grow. But the Google-owned company shows no signs of backing off the strategy. The timed warning box is likely the next phase in YouTube's ongoing efforts to push more ad blocker users into paid subscriptions.

YouTube gets more aggressive in pushing adblock warnings with countdown timer

YouTube is testing a popup for non-Premium users that urges them to disable adblockers with a countdown timer. It emphasizes the features of YouTube Premium so its creators can be paid.

www.neowin.net

 

[Jonny Quest]

Even with the uBlock filters, this is just going to be an ongoing cat-and-mouse between users and YouTube. What we need to do, is get the high school kids on this one.....

Security News - Some of the Most Prevalent Threat Actors are Teens

These teens "are incredibly effective social engineers, and they are able to convince people to do things that they ask them to do, like visit certain malicious websites and type in their username and password, or log into any desktop comm and download the AnyDesk client and provision access to...

malwaretips.com

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Google detects Microsoft Edge strict protection as YouTube ad-blocker

KEY POINTS​

• Google is blocking some Microsoft Edge users from watching YouTube videos if they have the “strict” tracking protection mode enabled.
• Microsoft Edge offers three levels of tracking protection: Basic, Balanced (default), and Strict. The “Strict” mode limits the tracking ability of companies like Google, possibly affecting content and ads.
• Users encountering this issue on YouTube see a message indicating that ad-blockers violate YouTube’s terms

Google detects Microsoft Edge strict protection as YouTube ad-blocker on Windows 11

YouTube doesn't seem to be a fan of Microsoft Edge's 'strict' tracking protection on Windows 11.

www.windowslatest.com

 

[The_King]

Today is the first day I got this message!

So long YT! At least I will have more time now to do more important things than watching cat meme videos the whole day!

This is a good thing for everyone! I personally don't see it has a negative really.

First on the list try to take over the w... Maybe keep that one on the back burner for now and do the smaller tasks first.

Yes I could just disable the AD blocker for reason X or Y but that is never happening from my side.

Edit:
I followed this instruction in this post and YT it working fine. Scroll up to the top of the post for these settings.


Back to watching cat meme videos!

 

[SumTingWong]

Users can get banned just having adblock enable on YouTube!?!

 

[The_King]

Users can get banned just having adblock enable on YouTube!?!

The last point in the video is extremely important.

Majority of people who watch YouTube do so on their mobile phones were the majority DON'T use adblockers!

On my YT channel as well stats show Android/mobile/Tablet/TV platform views are over 90% compared to PC/Desktop.

Yes, I am aware some people do use adblockers on their phones or setup through routers but this is not a common practice by the vast majority of mobile users.

 

[upnorth]

Have very little doubt that even a tool like Ghostery will soon start getting hit, but so far so good on my own system. Testing right now in Edge.

Discussion Thread - Ghostery updates

Ghostery Browser Extension 8.10.0 (April 28, 2023) Rollout: Firefox Chrome Edge Opera 2023-03-20 Ghostery Desktop Browser https://github.com/ghostery/ghostery-extension/releases/tag/v8.10.0

malwaretips.com

 

[klepto]

Its like Google found out that they were losing a few dollars here and there with adblockers and proxies so they waste even more money trying to stop it. I have a youtube premium acct for my gaming console cause I hate ads so much but at the same time I have a self hosted app called Piped on my dedicated server. It integrates with sponsorblock and I'm able to subscribe to people on youtube without actually being logged into to Google. I hope it doesn't get shutdown because it works very well.

I never want to be logged into Google on any of my PCs.. evah!!

 

[Sammo]

I have Google Fi and had forgotten that YouTube Premium is included for free and just activated it. No more crap from YouTube for now.

 

[jrw666]

If I open the video in a new tab, the ad plays for less than a second, then skips to the video!

 

[Mountainking]

Here is my take:
1. I am not paying 1 penny for youtube
2. Ads are inexistant from my geographical location.
3. Ultimately if needed ( and if they still work), I will use modified YT players.
4. For now Adguard player works and I can shift to that if needed.
5. Router level block (if it works)
6. And a last trick down my sleeve which would (in my opinion) still working in the near future if those above methods are somehow disabled.

 

[klepto]

You are lucky.. If I was forced to use Youtube on my laptops.. I hope Pihole will do its job.

 

[vtqhtr413]

Is Google deliberately slowing down YouTube video buffering for adblock users? - gHacks Tech News

Is Google deliberately slowing down the buffering of videos on YouTube for visitors who use an ad blocker?

www.ghacks.net

Reports suggest that Google may have implemented yet another anti-adblocking technique on YouTube. After slowing down the loading of YouTube for people with adblockers and showing ad blockers are not allowed by YouTube popups, it appears that it may now also slow down the buffering of videos on the site.

Users report that the video buffer is filling slower than usual and that this may lead to video playback stopping on YouTube. In other words, the video pauses because the buffer has to load more content to continue playing.

This happens on fast connections. Users who turned off their ad blocker to play the video reported that the buffering would return to normal. Even YouTube Premium subscribers appear affected by this, if they use an ad blocker. Another option is to use YouTube frontends. These ad-free privacy-friendly services, Invidious, or apps like NewPipe or Skytube, give you access to YouTube's entire database of videos.

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

From Raymond Hill on X:

uBO is *not* affected.