Pay Up Or Watch Ads: YouTube Amps Up Its Anti-Adblocker Popup With A Countdown Timer

Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL YouTube is stepping up the pressure on users to either watch ads by disabling their adblockers, or pay up for a premium subscription to avoid ads.

What Happened: YouTube is testing a new countdown timer on its anti-adblocker popup, putting users on the clock and giving them time to either disable the adblocker or subscribe to YouTube Premium.

See Also: YouTube Will Start Showing A Blank Page If You Have Watch History Disabled: Here’s How To Fix It

YouTube earlier had the anti-adblocker popup without a timer, so users had as much time as they needed to consider their options. However, it looks like the video streaming giant is losing patience and wants users to decide quickly.

In a statement earlier to The Verge, YouTube said that it would give users multiple notifications to decide before it completely blocks access to its service. The popup says, "Ad blockers violate YouTube's Terms of Service", and several users on Reddit have reported seeing it already.

"Ad blocker detection is not new, and other publishers regularly ask viewers to disable ad blockers," Google spokesperson Oluwa Falodun said.

The anti-adblocker popup is currently being tested globally on select groups, so you might see it eventually if you use an adblocker.

"We take disabling playback very seriously, and will only disable playback if viewers ignore repeated requests to allow ads on YouTube," Falodun added.

YouTube Premium Now More Expensive: YouTube hardening its stance on adblocking comes at a time when the video streaming giant has hiked the prices of its subscription service.

YouTube Premium now costs $13.99 a month, up from $11.99 earlier. The premium subscription gives users an ad-free experience, enables background playback, allows users to download videos, and also supports creators who get a percentage of the subscription.

image credits – Shutterstock

Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link.

Read Next: Samsung Galaxy S24 Could Borrow This Life Saving Feature From The iPhone