YouTube Regrets Banning Ad Block

YouTube's attempt to ban ad blockers backfired, creating unintended consequences that YouTube is now regretting. The video-sharing platform initiated an unprecedented crackdown, pausing streamed videos to prompt users to disable ad blockers, subscribe to YouTube Premium at $13.99 per month, or whitelist the platform for ad display. Failure to comply would result in users being unable to watch videos, with potential account penalties left unspecified.

This aggressive approach triggered a wave of complaints on platforms like X and Reddit, where users expressed dissatisfaction with YouTube's ad frequency. A notable Reddit post titled "Bye bye YouTube" gained substantial traction, accumulating 21,000 upvotes and nearly 10,000 replies in four days, highlighting the widespread discontent.

Despite YouTube's assertion that ad blockers violate its Terms of Service, users found workarounds, utilizing tools like Tampermonkey scripts, uBlock Origin in Chrome, or switching to alternative browsers, avoiding detection by YouTube. Concerns about potential account termination for continued ad blocking persisted, but the majority of users opted for undetected workarounds.

Some users suggested supporting content creators directly through donations rather than platform payments, citing the challenge of convincing viewers to contribute beyond ad revenue. YouTube pays content creators 55% of net ad revenues, but with fluctuating ad revenue, the platform sought stability by implementing stricter ad-blocker policies and removing individual ad choices for creators.

YouTube's struggle with ad revenue fluctuations prompted additional profit-seeking measures, such as a price hike for YouTube Premium from $11.99 to $13.99 per month. However, the platform faced resistance, as many users considered the cost too high for an ad-free experience. Ad blockers quickly adapted to YouTube's new rules, rendering the platform's efforts ineffective.

In the end, YouTube finds itself in a challenging position, realizing that costs are not inherent but rather determined by what users are willing to pay. The majority of ad-block users remain unwilling to pay $13.99 for an ad-free experience, highlighting the perpetual challenge for YouTube to enforce and maintain its policies in the face of user resistance and evolving technology.

Music:
From Russia With Love - Huma Huma
Carmen: Habanera (Instrumental)
Dream It - TrackTribe
In The Hall Of The Mountain King (by Grieg)
Forzisimo Adrián Berenguer

00:00 YouTube’s war on ad blockers
00:35 YouTube’s crackdown explained
01:06 Users resist YouTube’s policies
01:33 YouTube defends its actions
01:56 How users bypass YouTube’s restrictions
02:24 Direct support for creators
02:34 Why donations don’t work
02:52 YouTube’s revenue-sharing model
03:20 Automatic ad placements for creators
03:39 Why YouTube is fighting ad blockers (revenue struggles)
03:49 Price hike for YouTube Premium
04:05 Why YouTube can not win this war

[Q.A.a.R.I.S]

YouTube: "Ad blockers are against our Terms Of Service"
Also YouTube: _allows ads that are grossly misleading, sexual content, scams, click farms, etc._

[ababcb]

It's not just the quantity of the ads, but the quality as well. Scams, phishing, malware, you name it. I'm not taking that risk.

[feeblezak]

Best part is they demonetise channels for being "advertiser unfriendly" and then still run ads on them, pocketing 100% of the revenue and not paying the creator anything, all while fostering an oppressive air of censorship.

[Ollybollyk]

“We know you don’t like ads, so we’ll make ads more frequent and annoying to watch, and you’ll be forced to watch them, also we’re making them more invasive, unless you pay 15 bucks a month to watch a few dozen videos a week”

this couldn’t possibly backfire

[przemekkobel]

Funny thing - creators I watch most often are being demonetized by YT on regular basis for various made-up 'violations'. Guess my feelings when I see that message about supporting youtubers by ads...

[AI-LESS]

The experience watching a 30 sec ad just to watch a 1 minute video is just absurd

[edneddy]

What major companies forget is that the reason why people go for online streaming over classic television is because it's slightly more convenient. Remove the convenience and people will move elsewhere.

[gatch]

Youtube is actually showing ads of scammers. So disgusting!!!

[CritteRino]

Youtube launched a big campaign to make ad blockers known to many users around the world that have never thought about something like this exists. Thanks youtube.

[SLB-sl]

It's actually quite funny! YouTube seems to have forgotten the first rule of the Internet: If you try to force Internet users to do something, they are going to do the exact opposite.

[johnberger]

I would pay for a ad blocker long before I would pay for YouTube premium

[CrimsonCrusader]

People might be less hostile towards the ads if they A) didn't put them in the middle of video's, especially music or relaxation themed. or B) demonetize video's so they can't get the ad revenue but still place ads on those video's. You can't say you aren't going to pay a content creator because their content isn't advertiser friendly, THEN stick ads on it anyway and simply keep 100% of the revenue.

[TheMadMayor]

I will NEVER allow ads when watching YouTube. When it was just an ad or two at the start and/or end of a video, that was fine, but now they are pushing ads in the middle of videos, ruining the experience of any of the videos I watch. Until they wheel this back, I will continue to block ads on YouTube and directly support those who I enjoy watching regularly.

[tophatowl]

The biggest thing that wasnt mentioned is the streisand effect. The majority of users were not aware that adblockers exist, and by attacking people that use them (rightly or wrongly) points out to people "wait, I can block ads??" and then theyll go do it too.

[westube]

"The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting anti piracy technology to work. It's by giving those people a service that's better than what they're receiving from the pirates." - Gabe Newell. Although the he was talking about piracy the same can be said so with YouTube and ad blockers. To stop ad-blocking they need to provide a better service than what the ad-blockers provide.

[SeventeenGhost]

I read somewhere that the "ad blockers are against our terms of service" defense was uno-reverse because people got locked out of watching videos without creating an account, aka not having agreed to the ToS. Which meant that Youtube was collecting user information without their consent.

[Heisen]

It's a prime example of a phenomenon I like to call "The Prohibition Effect" where basically they try to force people into stopping a activity they hate by creating new rules to end it, only for it to become much worse than they could ever imagine.

[BreakfastBeer]

I don't think Youtube realizes how spitefully defiant the majority of their users are.

[SquirrelGamez]

Fun Fact: their ToS doesn't even mention adblockers so them saying those violate their terms is a lie.

[Matt-qvlm]

This is such a perfect example of what a company should not do.

Its just making more of us block ads.
My personal favorite is skipping to the end of the video, then pulling the slider back to the start.