News + Trends

YouTube is now also taking mobile action against adblockers

16.4.2024

Translation: machine translated

YouTube is stepping up the fight against ad blockers on mobile devices. Third-party apps that block adverts are increasingly being targeted. Users could experience buffering problems or error messages.

The video platform YouTube is taking the fight against ad blockers one step further and extending it to mobile devices. Specifically, the enforcement measures for third-party apps that violate the terms of use are being tightened. This applies in particular to apps that block adverts, according to an announcement from YouTube. As a consequence, users of such third-party apps may experience buffering problems or receive the error message "The following content is not available in this app" when trying to watch a video.

YouTube points out in this context that third-party apps are not allowed to block adverts, as this would affect the remuneration of content creators. The use of the interface is only permitted for third-party apps if they comply with the terms of use of the API services. In the event of violations of these conditions, YouTube states that it will take "appropriate measures to protect the platform, creators and viewers". This could, for example, lead to accounts being temporarily or permanently blocked. The company has already threatened this in the past.

YouTube wants to sell more premium plans

These measures are no coincidence and go hand in hand with the promotion of the company's own paid subscription service "YouTube Premium". The company obviously wants to encourage more users to take out a Premium subscription. In addition to freedom from advertising, this also includes the audio streaming service "YouTube Music".

An individual membership currently costs 15.90 francs or 12.99 euros per month. The monthly price for a family plan with up to five members in the same household is 23.90 francs or 23.99 euros. A student tariff is available for 9.50 francs or 7.49 euros per month. An annual subscription for a single person is only available in Germany, not in Switzerland. The costs for this amount to 129.99 euros per year.

This approach by the video platform is not new. YouTube Communications Manager Christopher Lawton confirmed this last year when asked by the news platform The Verge. He described the action against ad blockers as a "global effort". My colleague Florian reported. However, contrary to initial assumptions, a YouTube block in January of this year was not due to the video platform's measures, but to a problem with adblock software.