YouTube has announced that it is extending its anti-ad blocking crusade to third-party mobile apps. This means that the platform will be restricting the usage of its website when it detects a user using a third-party app that blocks ads.
According to its blog post, those using such apps may experience buffering issues or see an error that says “The following content is not available on this app” when trying to watch a video. “We want to emphasise that our terms don’t allow third-party apps to turn off ads because that prevents the creator from being rewarded for viewership”, said the tech giant.
Sure enough, using AdGuard while watching YouTube videos on a mobile browser now results in longer loading times. But, as always, it is likely just a matter of time before these apps find a workaround to this, continuing the streaming platform’s game of cat-and-mouse with ad blockers.
The company has been experimenting with ad blocker prevention measures since last year in order to push users to its Premium subscription. Back in 2022, it even managed to get Vanced, a popular modded version of the YouTube app, shut down through legal actions. Unsurprisingly, this led to another modded app called ReVanced to pop up.
(Source: Google)
