YouTube is adding five-second delays to videos for non-Chrome users, many users have reported.
This change comes as part of YouTube’s wider repression of ad blockers – browser add-ons that remove adverts from websites.
In June this year, some users were greeted with the screen below upon opening a YouTube video. Google spokesperson Oluwa Falodun described this to The Verge as a “small experiment,” encouraging users to turn off their ad blockers and instead try YouTube Premium.
In October, YouTube increased the scope for this massively. Android Authority reported a huge rise in searches for “YouTube ad block” and similar terms, as countless more people were hit with this screen.
YouTube Ads Communication Manager Cristopher Lawton said: “Ads are a vital lifeline for our creators that helps them run and grow their businesses. That’s why the use of ad blockers violates YouTube’s Terms of Service.
We’ve launched a global effort to urge viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience.”
Now, said “global effort” to quash ad blockers is extending to sabotage. Reddit user vk6_ posted a video on r/youtube showing an artificial load time added to YouTube videos when he used Firefox. When he used Chrome, however, this load time was removed.
Many commenters replied saying that they had faced similar issues with other browsers.
YouTube Premium, Lawton’s proposed solution to this, costs a hefty £12.99 each month. Thankfully, there are much cheaper ways to go about it.
uBlock Origin is a free, open-source ad blocker reported by many to work flawlessly even with YouTube’s new rules. VPNs with in-built adblockers like SurfShark and Nord VPN also bypass the new firewalls, and boast encryption features as a bonus.