YouTube tightens restrictions on ad blockers, banning third-party apps

YouTube has announced that on April 16, 2024, it will take steps to prevent users from watching YouTube through third-party apps that have ad-blocking capabilities.

Enforcement on Third Party Apps - YouTube Community
https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/269521462

YouTube ad blocker crackdown: Third-party apps now under fire
https://bgr.com/tech/youtubes-ad-blocker-crackdown-expands-to-third-party-apps/

In 2023, YouTube launched a 'global initiative' to make videos viewable only if you turn off your ad blocker or subscribe to YouTube Premium. This caused confusion, with the popular content blocker 'Adblock Plus' no longer working on YouTube, and the official website being inundated with inquiries.

YouTube starts blocking 'Adblock Plus' that erases ads, causing chaos, Adblock Plus official also starts responding - GIGAZINE

YouTube said, 'Viewers using third-party apps may experience buffering issues or see the error 'The following content is not available in this app' when trying to play videos,' and announced that it has strengthened restrictions on viewing on external apps with ad blocking capabilities.

YouTube's main source of revenue is advertising, and it has made it clear that hiding ads is a violation of its terms of use. Until now, the main target was users who watched YouTube on browsers with ad blockers installed, but this measure has expanded the restrictions to third-party apps with ad blocking capabilities.

'Vanced' was a well-known third-party app equipped with an ad blocker, but development was halted in 2022, and it was reported that the reason for this was the need to avoid legal conflicts with YouTube.

Ad-blocking YouTube app 'Vanced' discontinued due to request from Google - GIGAZINE

YouTube said, 'We only allow third-party apps to use our APIs if they comply with our API Terms of Service. If we find an app that violates these terms, we will take appropriate action to protect our platform, creators, and viewers.' It reiterated its view that not only users who hide ads, but also app developers who offer such a feature are in violation of the terms of service.

With the ban on ad-blocking browser extensions and apps, the only way to watch YouTube without seeing ads is to subscribe to a paid YouTube subscription service.

In addition, after the price increase in July 2023, the individual plan for YouTube Premium is 1,280 yen per month and the family plan is 2,280 yen per month at the time of writing. In addition, the cheapest plan 'Premium Lite', which was being tested overseas in September of the same year, was discontinued .