YouTube blocks ad-blocking mobile app from accessing its videos

YouTube’s war with ad blockers is far from over, and this time it’s focusing on tools that enable ad-free viewing on mobile devices.The Google-owned video platform announced it is “enhancing [its] Enforce third-party apps (particularly ad-blocking apps) that violate their terms of service. You may experience buffering issues or see an error message saying “The following content is not available on this app” when using the app.

The service said its terms don’t allow third-party apps to turn off ads “because this would prevent creators from receiving viewership rewards.” As it has done since it started cracking down on ad blockers over the past few months, YouTube recommends signing up for a premium membership if you want to watch ad-free content. YouTube Premium costs $14 per month.

Back in November, YouTube told us that it “launched a global campaign urging viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or to try YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience.” First, just use ad blocker, it will display a pop-up telling you that this violates the site’s terms of service. After a while, you were limited to playing a maximum of three videos with the ad blocker turned on, and then no more videos could load. Google later admitted that if you have an ad blocker installed, you “may experience a sub-optimal viewing experience,” such as having to wait longer before a video loads.