YouTube tries to restrict video playback if ad blockers are used

original news: Susan Wojcicki may no longer be at the helm of YouTube, but regardless of the changes at the top, Alphabet is going to stick with its plan to increase revenue from its video platform. Sometimes, with measures that can arouse suspicion or raise an eyebrow. More specifically, Bleeding Computer notes that YouTube is conducting a “little experiment” to avoid the use of ad blockers, similar to what happens on some news pages.

The first clues about this test, which appears to have a global reach, recently appeared on Reddit, where a user commented in surprise that YouTube displayed a notice ordering him to deactivate his advertising filter or else the player would stop working after three videos. “Ads allow YouTube to remain free for billions of users around the world. You can remove advertising with YouTube Premium and creators can continue to charge from your subscription,” the message states.

As a YouTube spokesperson told Bleeping Computer, in “extreme cases” (read: repeatedly ignoring prompts to turn off the ad filter) video playback could be temporarily disabled. In some ways, it’s a looser move than when it decided to completely block ad-blocker users from accessing it during another experiment in May.

This new measure to encourage subscriptions to YouTube Premium is just the latest in a long list that includes improving the quality of videos in Full HD, placing up to 12 ads on videos of non-Premium users and limiting video playback. 4K as part of another experiment. Needless to say, not all have been enthusiastically received.

For now Google has not confirmed the countries that are part of the experiment.