YouTube Expands Ad-Blocker Crackdown, But Chrome Store Still Promotes Them

Don't be surprised if your ad blocker suddenly stops working on YouTube. The Google-owned company says it will start blocking more users with third-party ad-block tools installed on their devices from watching YouTube videos, according to a memo published this week.

Watching YouTube content is expected to get more difficult for those with ad-blocking extensions installed. Google warns that users may encounter "buffering issues" or see error messages that bar the content from being viewed.

"Our terms don’t allow third-party apps to turn off ads because that prevents the creator from being rewarded for viewership, and Ads on YouTube help support creators and let billions of people around the world use the streaming service," the memo reads.

YouTube didn't say it will restrict or ban accounts believed to be using ad blockers, however. Google also still has tons of third-party ad-blocking extensions on its Chrome web browser store specifically designed to block YouTube ads.

Chrome even labels at least six different third-party ad block extensions with "YouTube" in their names as "featured" because they supposedly adhere to "recommended practices for Chrome extensions," according to text on the extensions' Chrome web store pages. PCMag found over 20 different Chrome extensions still available at time of writing that all promise to kill YouTube ads. PCMag has reached out to Google for comment.

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Last year, YouTube rolled out messages to some ad-blocker users that barred them from being able to watch videos on its site. In the pop-up, they were given the option to allow YouTube ads or pay for YouTube Premium, the company's ad-free offering that still helps pay creators.