Submission + - YouTube's 'War' on Adblockers Shows How Google Controls the Internet (404media.co)
Over the last few months, people using ad blockers have been getting these popups from YouTube that say ads are not allowed on YouTube, that they violate YouTube's terms of use, and encouraging them to sign up for Premium.
“The use of ad blockers violate YouTube’s Terms of Service. We’ve launched a global effort to urge viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium for an ad free experience,” a YouTube spokesperson told 404 Media. “Ads support a diverse ecosystem of creators globally and allow billions to access their favorite content on YouTube. We will of course cooperate fully with any questions or queries from the DPC.”
Meanwhile, every major adblocker and its user base has started to talk almost exclusively about YouTube’s escalations, and have been working on mitigations to stay one step ahead. The ad block saga has also become the main topic of conversation on the YouTube subreddit and a popular topic on YouTube itself. The uBlock Origin team has been updating a “filter” that evades detection from YouTube and posting mega threads about the situation on its subreddit every couple days, the latest of which notes that “YouTube changes their detection scripts twice a day, which means that even if you got a filter update earlier today, another one might be required soon. There’s no way around this if you want to remain logged in.”