YouTube (GOOG) -) has managed to vex its consumers in its latest effort to stop users from using ad blockers for an ad-free experience on its app. A recently released pop-up notification on the platform is now warning ad block users that they are limited to watch only three videos on its website before video playback is disabled, and users are not happy.
Through this notification, the social media giant gives users the option to either remove ad block from their device to continue watching videos with ads or subscribe to its YouTube Premium service as an alternative to using an ad blocker to watch videos ad-free. The subscription service currently starts at $13.99 a month.
Users on X (formerly known as Twitter) aired their grievances about the new YouTube notification, and some are even contemplating abandoning the app entirely as a result of the pop-up.
nah this new youtube ad blocker is not it
— pam sessions (@itspamsessions) October 9, 2023
This new Youtube anti adblocker thing is really really really really annoying. I can't watch more than 3 videos without getting locked out! You suck, @YouTube! Maybe if you made ads WAYYY less intrusive, I would consider turning ad blocker off.
— Alison Lee (@pinkgirl4000) October 3, 2023
Awfully brave of YouTube to think i'm gonna stop using AdBlock before i stop using YouTube. pic.twitter.com/ymrMVRJ3Av
— Titanhunter143 (@titanhunter143) October 9, 2023
The new pop-up notification, which first rolled out as an experiment in May, comes after it was reported earlier this year that YouTube saw a 2.6% decrease in ad revenue in its Q1 earnings. Alphabet Inc., the company that owns YouTube, reported that the decrease marks the third consecutive year the social media platform faced a decline in ad revenue. YouTube was down by 7.8% in Q4 of 2022, and faced a 1.9% decrease in the quarter before. It is suspected that the decrease in ad revenue was due to advertisers cutting back on their spending due to fears of a recession.
Related: YouTube Competing for TV Ad Dollars
Advertisements are vital to YouTube as the platform generally pays 68% of its ad revenue to content creators who run ads on their videos, while the social media giant takes the remaining 32%. So it is no surprise that YouTube is honing in on users who bypass viewing ads while watching videos on the platform.
Since YouTube began rolling out the ad block notification to users in May, it has seen a slight increase in ad and YouTube Premium subscription revenue. YouTube ad revenue was up to roughly $7.7 billion in this year’s Q2 earnings, which is a bit higher than the $7.3 billion that it earned in Q2 last year, according to Alphabet Inc.’s latest Q2 report. Also in the report, Google services, which includes YouTube Premium subscription earnings, saw a $3.4 billion increase in revenue.
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