Google's YouTube has started cracking down on ad blockers used by viewers to remove the increasingly intrusive video ads on the platform. The company refers to it as an experiment.

YouTube has significantly increased the amount of video ads in recent years on top of the video creators' own ads and sponsored videos, so some viewers have turned to ad blockers rather than paying for the quite pricey YouTube Premium subscription.

That option may soon be history as Google has started to fight back on YouTube.


 The message that some YouTube viewers are seeing. Photo: Sazk100, reddit

An experiment
Google's initiative to prevent ad blockers is currently being tested with some viewers before a potential full rollout. Or it may be scrapped entirely. The company refers to it as an experiment.

- "We're running a small experiment globally that urges viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium," a Google spokesperson told IGN. "Ad blocker detection is not new, and other publishers regularly ask viewers to disable ad blockers"

Google previously banned YouTube Vanced which was a popular third-party YouTube app used to remove all video ads. Some users installed Vanced on Android TVs as a side-loaded app.

- Source: Reddit, IGN