YouTube has started to crack down on ad blockers and is now further increasing the ad load with unskippable 30-second ads on TV devices and ads when you pause the video on TVs.

Google's YouTube confirmed the news at the Upfront 2023 conference in New York this week.

The video platform is seemingly trying new things to reverse its current trajectory. YouTube's ad revenue declined almost 2% year-over-year in Q3 2022, almost 8% in Q4 2022, and 2.6% in Q1 2023.

Like linear TV channels, YouTube will introduce unskippable 30-second ads on TV devices including Smart TVs and media boxes. At first, these ads will show on the 5% most popular videos, initially in the US and later this year internationally.


Ads on the pause screen
YouTube will also start testing ads on the pause screen on TV devices, meaning that you will see and ad when you pause the video for whatever reason.

This is on top of video creators' own ads and sponsored videos as well as the regular YouTube ads and "recommendations".

 Also read: EU: Large TV platforms must clearly declare ads and 'recommendations'

The two new initiatives come less than a month after YouTube started blocking users' ad blockers with a notification asking the user to pay for YouTube Premium.

- Source: Variety