YouTube is throttling videos and slowing down for viewers using adblockers

by

Once more, YouTube is intensifying its battle against ad-blocking software by significantly restricting the functionality of the site for users who do not subscribe to its Premium service.

The widely-used video streaming service is making significant efforts to prevent viewers from skipping or evading its advertisements.

Previously in June, a website owned by Google prohibited several ad blockers, and also stated that users with a Premium Lite subscription would start seeing advertisements while watching Shorts videos.

Despite certain users employing adblockers or specific browser combinations to enjoy an ad-free YouTube experience, the platform has retaliated by deliberately decreasing video playback speed for those who have adblockers activated.

YouTube punishes viewers for using adblockers

Users have been sharing screenshots on social media platforms, indicating that YouTube appears to be slowing down or even making their videos difficult to watch due to what seems like deliberate throttling.

One person stated, “Using an adblocker can cause a decrease in performance on YouTube, as evidenced by the screen capture showing ‘interrupted’ playback.

They’re slowing down performance if you use an adblocker
byu/One-Celebration-3007 inyoutube

As a gamer, I’ve been relying on Brave to dodge YouTube ads, and it seems to be functioning as intended, but there’s a catch: most videos display a black screen during the ad duration or for a couple of ads, with YouTube announcing ‘interruptions’ in the lower left corner. One potential explanation, according to the Brave browser forums, is that ad-blocking features might be causing this issue.

Based on findings by Telegrafi, it appears that YouTube intentionally introduces a delay of around five seconds before content begins to load, using the JavaScript setTimeout function for this purpose.

They note that the sluggishness impacts not just video playback, but additionally features like commenting, uploading fresh videos, and fundamental site functions as well.

Currently, as reported by PCWorld, developers of ad-block extensions are discovering methods to bypass certain YouTube tactics that cause slowdowns. An AdGuard representative describes this ongoing situation as a “traditional game of cat and mouse.

In 2024, YouTube advertisements generated a revenue of $36 billion for the company. It seems that the site intends to surpass this total in 2025, as they experiment with longer unskippable ads and employ AI technology to strategically place ads during peak viewer engagement moments.

Read More

2025-06-18 20:18