Until very recently, there were certain tricks that allowed us to "skip" the advertising blocks when playing a video of YouTube. For the most impatient users, this was a good way to achieve continuity in viewing and avoid the annoyance of advertising. But this is already part of the past, because Ad blockers will no longer be allowed on YouTube.
This is something that the platform had already warned about last May. Now, in November 2023, the announcement has become a reality. Users who used ad blockers on YouTube may have already noticed that they have stopped working. It's more: it will be necessary to uninstall them (or to pay for access to YouTube Premium) to continue watching videos on the platform.
In this post we are going to see how ad blockers for YouTube worked until now, which ones have been the most used to date and what is the reason why they are no longer going to be of any use to us. I'm sure this is bad news for many, but it is a totally understandable decision from the platform's point of view.
Blockers that have already stopped working
YouTube allows advertising insertion in many channels with which he manages to obtain income and, at the same time, allows content creators to monetize their videos. Everyone understands this and accepts it willingly. However, it is true that in many cases these advertisements become too abundant and intrusive, making viewing some videos uncomfortable.
To solve this issue, YouTube ad blockers appeared. In the case of Chrome, the most used browser worldwide, was about Extensions Among the most popular we must mention the following:
They were very effective tools that fulfilled their purpose. Until relatively recently, users who had one of them installed on their computer could watch any YouTube video without the commercial breaks. But this is no longer the case.
The reasons for this decision
Although the measure has been very poorly received by a large part of users (basically, those who used ad blockers), there is a reality that cannot be ignored: Ads represent the most important source of income for YouTube.
The fact that more and more users were using some type of blocker meant great losses for the platform. And we must not forget either that these incomes are the basis of the monetization of many of the channels that we like to follow. Measures needed to be taken.
Now, YouTube users who use blockers are faced with a message on screen when they are about to play a video (like the one in the image above). It explains that to continue enjoying the content of the platform it is necessary to uninstall the blocker or subscribe to YouTube Premium. Some of the messages have a slightly more threatening tone, while others are more "friendly", although the idea is the same.
In other cases, no message is displayed. The image simply freezes and playback is impossible.
YouTube Premium and other alternatives
Trying to trick YouTube by installing new extensions or blockers does not seem to be an alternative that will work. In fact, The blocker detection system that YouTube has put in place is extremely sensitive and, in some cases, it can block computers that do not even have this type of extensions activated.
This is the fruit of a system that YouTube has been working on for a long time and that it has already partially tested with users from other countries, as a test.
In this situation, the options available to the user are limited to the following:
- Uninstall the blockers and resign yourself to watching ad-supported videos.
- Stop watching videos on YouTube and try other platforms such as Vimeo.
- Pay for a YouTube Premium subscription to avoid advertising.
One of the reasons for implementing this measure is to encourage users to switch YouTube Premium. exist three subscription plans with three different rates:
- Individual plan (11,99 euros per month).
- Family plan for five members of the same family (17,99 euros per month).
- Student plan (6,99 euros per month).
In addition, for all of them there is a free one-month trial period.
Beyond the advantage of eliminating advertising, with YouTube Premium we will be able to download videos and play them offline later and from any location, as well as play videos in the background.
All of this is what we must consider as options and alternatives while waiting for some other "trick" to appear that allows us to watch YouTube videos for free again while avoiding advertising. And for the platform to react again to avoid it.