YouTube has recently intensified its crackdown on ad-blockers, requiring users to disable them to watch videos. Additionally, many users of AdBlock and similar advertisement-blocking tools have reported encountering one-hour, non-skippable ads, forcing them to reload their browsers to avoid spending hours watching videos that are, many times, only minutes long.

However, the real culprit might be the ad-blockers themselves, according to Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube. The company explains, “YouTube does not serve minutes-long, non-skippable ads,” with the company blaming these frustrating experiences on third-party applications interfering with the platform’s normal functioning.

Therefore, ad-blockers themselves might sometimes fail to provide users with the “skip ad” functionality. “YouTube is not hiding the skip button,” the company underscores. The only instances where non-skippable ads appear are for videos under 15 seconds in duration, YouTube explains, with this threshold extending to 60 seconds for YouTube on TV.

Blocking ad-blockers

YouTube states in its policies that “third-party apps designed to disable ads prevent creators from being rewarded for their content.” To stop the use of ad-blocking applications, the platform has begun issuing notifications urging users to disable them if they want to continue watching videos. Furthermore, YouTube reserves the right to block users from watching videos entirely if they repeatedly ignore warnings to turn off their ad-blockers.

“We only allow third-party apps to use our API when they adhere to our API Services Terms of Service,” the company explains. Furthermore, users attempting to bypass ads by purchasing discounted YouTube Premium from foreign countries’ subscriptions via virtual private networks (VPNs) have had their premium memberships canceled. According to TechCrunch, YouTube is able to detect when users “fake” their country of registration to obtain cheaper pricing.

YouTube’s multibillion-dollar ad business

This February, Alphabet released its latest financial results; the financial statements showed that YouTube ad revenue reached US$10.47 billion in Q4 2024 (from October to December), up from US$9.2 billion in the same quarter of 2023.

These solid financial results come amid a year of price hikes for YouTube Premium in multiple countries. Subscription fees have risen in multiple EU countries, including Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Belgium. The cost for an individual subscription has increased from €11.99 to €13.99 per month, while family plans have jumped from €17.99 to €25.99 per month.

Although YouTube Premium has existed for a decade, most countries only experienced their first price increases in 2023 and 2024, mirroring similar price hikes by Netflix and other streaming platforms.

In related news, YouTube is once again testing a more affordable Premium subscription tier, YouTube Premium Lite, after discontinuing it in 2023. According to Android Authority, users in Australia, Germany, and Thailand may soon have the option to subscribe to this lower-cost version.