Media.. "YouTube"
punishes users of the feature skipping ads!
YouTube users
trying to skip ads using the AdBlock browser extension, say the platform
retaliates by stifling the performance of their computers, PCGamer reported.
Activating AdBlock in an attempt to avoid commercials before and while watching
the video on YouTube increased CPU usage by 17%, as found by a PCGamer reporter.
Subscribers of the ad-free YouTube Premium service
who used AdBlock on
other websites, found that their computer performance is relatively low.
Another writer at PCGamer noted an increase of up to 18% in CPU
usage despite paying for ad-free viewing privilege.
YouTube
warns users that the use of ad blocking tools violates its terms of service
and recently began displaying pop-ups that require viewers to disable the browser extension.
However, 60 million people use AdBlock alone
and browser extensions with similar functions abound.
YouTube
Communications Director Christopher Luton contacted PCGamer
after publishing their Linker article explicitly that the video platform
was responsible for the performance problem.
"The upload delays experienced by AdBlock and AdBlock Plus users are not caused
by our efforts to detect the ad blocking tool," he told the site, which updated
its article to shift blame to AdBlock itself.
YouTube has long struggled
with its users' efforts to avoid ads it shows before, during and after videos
they would like to actually watch. Last year, the platform tried to limit
ad blocking users to
three videos before asking them to list the site, allowing it to run
its ads despite the ban, or pay for YouTube Premium.
Rejecting both options will leave visitors unable to view more content.
The platform acknowledged that it is conducting a "small experiment globally"
on ad blocking users in a statement to The Verge, where it framed its demands
as reasonable because "other publishers regularly ask viewers to disable ad blocking tools."
In November
YouTube was found to penalize users who use browser extensions that
block ads by delaying the uploading of their videos for five seconds
a tactic Luton acknowledged in another statement to The Verge.
Users can expect to "continue to see problems like this as YouTube
advertising blocking tools improve detection methods."
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