The largest video-sharing platform, YouTube, is cracking down on ad blockers in order to protect its advertising revenue. In recent years, ad blocking software has gained in popularity but has acted as a distribution between YouTube and its advertisers. Its popularity has been from users seeking to improve their online experience by eliminating unwanted advertisements and works by offering users the ability to skip or remove video ads. 

However, this has created challenges for the platform and has had a detrimental impact on content creators’ earnings. When viewers use ad-blockers, content creators receive fewer ad impressions, leading to reduced income from their content. This financial challenge discourages creators from producing quality content and can even force some to seek alternative income sources outside of YouTube.

For advertisers, ad-blockers mean that their campaigns are not reaching the intended audience, which diminishes their ROAS. The inability to effectively target viewers who have installed ad blockers undermines the value of advertising on YouTube, leaving many advertisers frustrated and searching for solutions. 

So, to combat this, YouTube is introducing a number of features to try and mitigate the issue. 

YouTube Premium 

Youtube launched an initial test with a pop-up that states “Ad blockers violate YouTube’s Terms of Service”. It gives two options, to allow YouTube Ads or to Try Youtube Premium. The user does not have the ability to continue to the video with the ad blocker. Although, as this was a small experiment, it didn’t affect every user with an ad blocker. Now, YouTube has expanded its effort so soon this will affect users globally. 

Improved Detection

YouTube is investing in better detection and bypassing mechanisms to ensure that ads are delivered to viewers who would normally use ad-blockers. The platform is also constantly upgrading its algorithms in order to identify and serve ads even when ad-blockers are in use.

Better Platform Experience 

YouTube is also working on enhancing the overall user experience by making ads more engaging and less intrusive. By creating compelling ads as well as optimising ad placements, the platform aims to reduce the incentive for users to download ad-blockers while ensuring that ads do not disrupt the viewing experience.

For advertisers and content creators, YouTube’s global effort to crack down on ad-blockers is good news in terms of protecting revenue. The success of these efforts will depend on YouTube’s ability to balance the interests of advertisers and content creators whilst also providing a good user experience without ad blockers.

Due to YouTube cracking down on ad blockers, the visibility of advertisements on the platform could increase. If you are interested in increasing your ad performance, get in touch today and let us help you.