Google-owned YouTube, which doubled down on its effort to crack down on users with ad blockers on its platform globally, is reportedly running advertisements for ad blockers. According to the cybersecurity company Malwarebytes, as of November 9, YouTube was still showing an ad for Total Adblock even after making it quite clear that using an ad blocker goes against its Terms of Service. "YouTube has made it quite clear that using an ad blocker goes against its Terms of Service, reminding users that they have a choice between accepting ads or paying for a premium subscription," the report said.
"Yet, as of November 9, 2023, YouTube was still showing an ad for Total Adblock, a browser extension that blocks… ads. It certainly looks confusing and is sending mixed messages," it added. While there is some irony here, the report noted that perhaps YouTube doesn’t have a good handle on its ads, and maybe that is why users have resorted to ad blockers in recent years. "It’s not that people want an ad-free experience to purposely hurt content creators. They more likely want a scam-free and malware-free experience but perhaps aren’t in a position to pay for a subscription," the report stated.
Meanwhile, YouTube's effort to crack down on users with ad blockers has resulted in a record number of uninstalls, with multiple ad-blocking companies reporting that thousands of people are uninstalling their products after the video-sharing platform began showing warnings to people trying to watch videos on its website while using ad blockers.
One of the companies, AdGuard mentioned that its Chrome extension has been uninstalled by over 11,000 people daily since October 9, up from 6,000 uninstallations per day prior to YouTube's change, reports Wired.