YouTube is testing to ban ad blockers. Media, users who use tools to avoid digital advertisements on the platform I can’t play videos. In addition, it aims to present itself as a compelling reason for them to consider opting for the paid subscription, which, among other things, allows viewing content without interruption.

The evidence surfaced on Reddit this week. Some users have told the site that when they access www.youtube.com with the software mentioned above, they are greeted with a popup that says “Ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube”. The message was accompanied by two alternatives: disable ads or pay to use YouTube Premium.

YouTube confirmed the evidence

The idea of ​​banning ads didn’t just get stuck in a Reddit thread. The company itself confirmed this with the statements made by a BleepingComputer spokesperson: “A small worldwide experiment This encourages viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium.”

Message some users get with ad blockers

It is unknown in which regions it is conducting the trial or whether it intends to make it widely available. That said, YouTube has been known to experiment one after another to boost its advertising system and paid subscription. At the end of last year, some users were seeing up to 10 ads per video, lasting anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes.

You have also considered limiting the maximum available quality. 4K playback (2160p) is an exclusive benefit to payers. Accordingly, in February of this year, the user tried to stay out of the equation. free Content in “1080p Premium”, an alternative whose quality is directly related to a higher bitrate (bitrate).

It should be noted that YouTube’s paid plan has grown significantly. It reached 50 million subscribers at the end of 2021 and this number increased to 80 million at the end of 2022. There are two alternatives in Spain: YouTube Premium Lite, which lets you remove ads and other benefits for 6.99 Euros per month, and YouTube Premium, which offers everything on the Lite plan and on-device downloads for 11.99 Euros per month. and Music Premium.

Advertising is one of the economic cornerstones of Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube. However, ad revenue from the video platform three months in a row. The latest financial results show that the first quarter of 2023 was $6,690 million, but down 2.6%. This scenario comes in the middle of YouTube’s recent command change.

In February, Neal Mohan became CEO after longtime CEO Susan Wojcicki left. The new leader, who previously served as head of display ads and product manager, has become a key man in the development of products like YouTube Premium and Music Premium. Now it faces the challenge of continuing to attract users to keep growing.

Images: javier miranda | Azamat E

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