YouTube will continue its “enforcement” of ad-blocking techniques that allow users to watch their favorite videos and more without interruptions.
This time, the company plans to clamp down on 3rd party applications that provide a YouTube experience but without the annoying advertisements we are used to seeing on the official platform.
In an announcement made on the Community Support Page, details of the latest crack-down appear to target “third-party apps that violate YouTube’s Terms of Service, specifically ad-blocking apps.”
In all likelihood, this means that popular replica clients or forks of the application such as ReVanced, SmartTube, and NewPipe will be in the crosshairs of YouTube and their latest enforcement efforts.
This isn’t the first time we have seen these applications under attack as YouTube previously shut down the Vanced App which was a free YouTube platform for Android phones and tablets.
Their latest efforts, however, seem to be pointed more at the users of these applications as noted in the Community Update announcement.
Viewers who are using these third-party apps may experience buffering issues or see the error “The following content is not available on this app” when trying to watch a video. We want to emphasize that our terms don’t allow third-party apps to turn off ads because that prevents the creator from being rewarded for viewership, and Ads on YouTube help support creators and let billions of people around the world use the streaming service.
As you can see, those who use these 3rd party applications may encounter streaming issues such as buffering or blocking of access entirely.
This is all part of their push to get more sign-ups for YouTube Premium which provides an ad-free YouTube experience for $13.99/month. The company states:
We also understand that some people prefer an entirely ad-free experience, which is why we offer YouTube Premium.
Last year, the platform began ramping up efforts to block ad-blockers with similar protocols that prompted users to disable ad-blockers such as AdBlock, Adblock Plus, and UBlock Origin, to watch their preferred content.
Hide Your Digital Fingerprint
Ad-blockers violate YouTube’s API Services Terms of Service and these 3rd party applications fall under these guidelines as well.
We only allow third-party apps to use our API when they follow our API Services Terms of Service, and when we find an app that violates these terms, we will take appropriate action to protect our platform, creators, and viewers.
It will be interesting to see how these tactics are enforced and if this will be the demise of these popular apps used by millions across the world. You can find the announcement from YouTube at their support page below.
Enforcement on Third Party Apps – YouTube Announcement
If you are an ad-free YouTube user, let us know if you have come across issues with these applications. Drop a comment in the comment section below!
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