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Google pushing "Ad blockers violate YouTube's Terms of Service" banners on YouTube

It has been almost a year since Google started to implement changes on YouTube to block content blockers on the platform.  The fight against adblockers started in 2023 with "Ad blockers are not allowed by YouTube" banners being shown to affected users.

Google has been testing new implementations since then, including server-side ads that break adblockers, or by throwing jabs against competing browsers like Firefox.

A new banner

Ad blockers violate YouTube's Terms of Service

Reports on Reddit and other online forums suggest that Google has started to intensify its fight against content blockers once again on YouTube.

The new banner resembles the old. It is shown to users when they use content blockers. The text is slightly different, as it now says "Ad blockers violate YouTube's Terms of Service".

The options are identical to last year's banner: allow ads on YouTube or subscribe to YouTube Premium. No word on YouTube Premium Lite, a cheaper subscription option that promises fewer ads on YouTube as well though.

Not everyone appears to be affected by this. Google, is likely testing the waters on a small percentage of YouTube visitors to collect data and make sure that false positives are low.

Affected users report issues on non-Chrome browsers for the most part. Opera and Firefox seem to be affected specifically by this.

I tested YouTube video playback in several browsers with native or extension-based content blockers and it worked in all of them.

Affected users may try a few things to get back on track.

  1. First thing they may want to do is update the content blocker and its filter lists, if such an option is provided.
  2. If that does not work, loading YouTube in private browsing mode may help, as it uses a separate profile for the loading. Just make sure that the content blocker is allowed to run in private browsing mode.
  3. The next option is to test different browsers to see if they let you get around the blockage.
  4. Another option is to use Bing Videos to play YouTube videos. Not the most elegant of solutions, but it seems to come without any ads.

If all of those fail, you may want to give third-party frontends and apps a try. Invidious appears to be working again for now, and apps like NewPipe for Android are also alive and kicking.

Closing Words

The cat and mouse game between content blockers and Google's anti-ad-blocking on YouTube could intensify again in the coming months. Users with content blockers may be blocked from time to time when they try to play videos on YouTube.

Now You: do you watch videos on YouTube regularly? Did you run into any content blocks or use YouTube Premium? Let us know in the comments below. (via Neowin)

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