YouTube is making it a bit harder to watch videos if you’re using an ad blocker.The use of ad blockers violates YouTube’s Terms of Service. Late last year, the site started displaying an “Ad blockers violate YouTube’s Terms of Service” message in the video player whenever a person using an ad blocker attempted to view a video. To proceed, they had to disable the ad blocker or sign up for YouTube’s ad-free tier, YouTube Premium.Now, YouTube is taking things up a notch and will slow down the entire site when an ad blocker is detected, 9to5Google reports. Google is referring to the experience as “suboptimal viewing.” Many users report that the site becomes laggy and unresponsive until ad blockers are disabled.9to5Google notes that the issue is caused by an artificial timeout in YouTube’s code that mimics a laggy internet connection. It’s not new, but more and more users are starting to see it.
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YouTube Premium, which removes ads from YouTube as well as YouTube Music, currently runs $13.99 a month. You can also purchase a yearly subscription for the site for $139.99. Student ad-free plans currently cost $7.99 a month, and the company’s Family plan, which works for up to five family members, runs $22.99 a month.
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