YouTube has been in an ongoing battle with users using ad blockers on the site. The giant video sharing site has initiated a global campaign recently to get users to allow ads or subscribe to YouTube Premium.
Christopher Lawton, the platform’s communications manager said that the “use of ad blockers” breaches the platform’s terms of service and emphasises that “ads support a diverse ecosystem of creators globally and allow billions to access their favorite content on YouTube.”
In an effort to deter users from employing ad blockers, YouTube has incorporated a pop-up message displaying the statement, “Ad blockers violate YouTube’s Terms of Service.”
The message explicitly recommends disabling the ad blocker, and users are not granted permission to proceed with watching content unless they comply with this directive.
But that deterrence is not enough apparently, as YouTube started intentionally slowing down the site according to 9to5Google.
Several users have observed a sudden decline in the performance of YouTube, experiencing lag and unresponsiveness. Upon investigation, it was swiftly identified that disabling the active ad blocker promptly restores the site’s functionality.
9to5Google conducted their own testing on this theory and confirmed that indeed, YouTube exhibits poor performance when an ad blocker is enabled. They observed slow video buffering, difficulties in loading previews, and the inability to enter theatre mode or fullscreen without refreshing the website.
The root cause appears to be an intentional delay programmed into YouTube’s code to simulate a sluggish internet connection. While this tactic by YouTube is not entirely new, more users are becoming aware of its implementation.
For those encountering this problem, there are two official solutions: either disable the ad blocker or consider upgrading to YouTube Premium.
I have not experienced any slowdown with an ad blocker enabled. Perhaps YouTube is testing this on a small group of users? At the time of this writing, the company hadn’t made any announcements or comments regarding this issue.
