YouTube breaks ad blockers again and tries to restrict viewing (Update: Google statement)

Update, June 14, 2024 (02:30 AM ET): Google has released a statement confirming that it has released an update that may affect ad blocking tools. It suggests users “allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium” to support the site’s creators. Read the full statement below:

YouTube is improving its performance and reliability when serving both organic and ad-supported video content. This update may result in a sub-optimal viewing experience for viewers with ad blockers installed. Ad blockers violate YouTube’s terms of service, and for some time we’ve been encouraging viewers to support their favorite creators and enable ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience.

Original article: YouTube has taken a tougher stance on ad blockers in recent months, testing different systems to discourage users from using them. These measures included a three-strikes system for users of these tools and skipping or muting videos in their entirety. Ad-blocking tools have seemingly bypassed all of YouTube’s efforts so far, but the company is now testing several systems that could make ad blocking much more difficult.

According to findings from SponsorBlock (a plug-in that identifies and skips sponsored segments in videos), YouTube is testing server-side ad insertion. Using this method, YouTube effectively combines ad segments into videos and displays the entire package to viewers, rather than combining them from two sources in your browser or app.

This makes it a little harder for ad blockers to identify where an ad starts and ends. It could also break other plugins like SponsorBlock, as video timestamps would no longer be consistent across all video instances. Other potential side effects include not being able to skip ads.

Notably, the SponsorBlock team notes in the FAQ that this shouldn’t signal the end of ad-blocking tools, but they are much more complex to implement. Some users, especially on the uBlock Origin subreddit, have encountered ads even when running the plugin.

However, another obvious change could be more about third-party apps. A bug reported on the NewPipe GitHub earlier this month suggests that Google is forcing some users to sign in before watching a video. It will show up as a security check with the message: “Login and verify you are not a robot.” This issue was also flagged on the X developers of the cobalt content grabber.

This means that YouTube could in the future restrict access to videos that are not logged in and force users to log in to watch content. This would make YouTube more like a traditional video streaming service, but it would negatively impact third-party apps and likely the way shared YouTube videos are viewed on the web.

Cobalt developers have since found a way around the login restrictions, but any future changes to YouTube would likely break this and other tools.

Both methods are still undergoing testing, and it’s unclear if or when YouTube will expand these measures. If you have encountered any of these measures, please let us know in the meantime. We’ve reached out to YouTube for comment and will update this article if or when we hear back.