Kate Mills 
Jan 14, 2024
In an attempt to discourage the use of ad blockers, YouTube has started slowing down load times for users with any sort of ad blocker enabled on their device.
The move, decelerating buffer speeds for ad-blocker users, is reportedly aimed at the platform's pursuit of a broader scope of premium subscribers.
The use of ad blockers has in recent times reached an all-time high, which is being attributed to the rising frequency of ads' appearance while watching videos on the platform, as reported by 9to5Google.
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According to YouTube, opting for any method to avoid ads is a blatant contravention of the terms of service. It further remarked, in an official statement, that unskippable, pre-video ads are pivotal to generating huge revenues for the service, and the sole way to avoid them is to pay YouTube by purchasing a premium YouTube account.
The platform has begun discouraging the use of ad blockers in various ways. The first is a pop-up message that says, “Ad blockers violate YouTube’s Terms of Service.” The warning then suggests you turn off your ad blocker. The user is not allowed to continue watching without doing so.
Another way in which users are being notified and warned about using ad blockers is one that’s now starting to be released to more users. YouTube has recently started slowing the entire site when an ad blocker is being used, referring to it as “suboptimal viewing.”
In a post on Reddit, many people reported that YouTube has become slow and stopped working well suddenly. They found out that if you turn off your ad blocker, the site starts working better right away.
This happens because YouTube has a feature in its code that makes it act slow if it thinks your internet connection is lagging. Even though YouTube has been doing this for a while, more users are now noticing it.
If you're facing this problem, there are two official solutions: turn off the ad blocker or switch to YouTube Premium.
However, for many users, neither option is perfect, and the ways YouTube tries to discourage ad blocker use are controversial. It puts viewers in a tough spot, making them decide between paying $10 per month or enduring potentially up to 10 minutes of ads they can't skip.
