Reports suggest Google is purposefully delaying YouTube video playback as part of its intensified efforts to combat ad blockers.
Google appears to be escalating its measures against ad blockers on YouTube. Watching videos on the platform has grown increasingly frustrating over recent years due to frequent unskippable ads. Last week, claims surfaced that Google was blocking video playback for users with ad blockers enabled. Google stated, “Using ad blockers breaches YouTube’s terms of service.”
Google’s crackdown on ad blockers has worsened, targeting the few remaining workarounds in browsers and third-party tools that allowed ad-free viewing without a $14/month YouTube Premium subscription. Users have reported a new problem: Google is intentionally slowing YouTube videos for those with ad blockers. A Brave browser forum user noted:
“I’ve been using Brave to block YouTube ads, and it works, but videos often show a black screen for the duration of one or two ads, with YouTube displaying ‘experiencing interruptions’ in the bottom left, citing ad blockers as a possible cause. Is there a fix?”
Some users reported receiving a three-video warning to disable ad blockers or face restrictions on watching YouTube content. Non-compliance led to temporary bans until browsers were updated and restarted. Others described 5- to 10-second video pauses accompanied by an “Experiencing interruptions? Find out why” popup.
YouTube users with ad blockers are redirected to a Google support page instructing them on resolving video playback issues.