YouTube is Showing New Alerts to Free Users With Ad Blockers

Google is reportedly testing new alerts with free users watching videos with an ad blocker. Last month, Google confirmed that it was running a “small experiment” that required select users with ad blockers to disable them to watch videos.

Earlier this week, a Reddit user (via Android Police) shared a screenshot of a new pop-up warning him that the YouTube video player will be blocked after 3 videos if he doesn’t disable his ad blocker.

The message once again emphasizes that “ads allow YouTube to stay free for billions of users worldwide. It also recommends subscribing to YouTube Premium to enjoy an ad-free experience

While this new pop-up is slightly less aggressive than the previous one, it appears that Google is preparing to crack down on ad blocker extensions. However, users in the Reddit thread claimed that the uBlock Origin content blocker browser extension doesn’t appear to be blocked yet.

It’s currently not clear if Google is currently showing these alerts to a lot of free users with ad blockers. Anyway, this strong-arm tactic may not be the best way to encourage users to subscribe to YouTube Premium, which is priced at $11.99/month in the US