YouTube's Risky Blocking Experiment: Will Users Surrender To Ads Or Embrace Premium?

Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG GOOGL YouTube is cracking down on ad-blockers with a new policy experiment. 

What Happened: A Reddit user shared a screenshot of a pop–up messaging on the platform stating, “Ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube,” prompting the user to click on a button to “Allow YouTube Ads” or “Try YouTube Premium.”

The message provided the reasoning behind this decision, saying ads were crucial for YouTube to stay free for users worldwide. The platform stated that interested people can opt for YouTube Premium to have an ad-free experience and creators can get paid with those subscriptions. 

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Unsurprisingly, netizens took to Twitter to share their frustration with the latest change, with some saying that YouTube’s aggressive ads policy pushed them to use ad-blockers. 

The company has confirmed to the moderators of the YouTube subreddit team that the ad-blocker pop-up message encountered by the Redditor is part of an experiment being conducted by them. 

Why It’s Important: YouTube reported having around 80 million Music and Premium subscribers as of November last year. Previously, Google said the company would invest more in YouTube subscription offerings, reported Android Police.  

The latest experiment indicates that the tech giant intends to handicap its free offerings and force users to pay for subscriptions. 

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