Users on Reddit and various other platforms have begun reporting significant slowdowns in YouTube performance when attempting to watch content with ad blockers enabled. This time, the cause is not related to server outages — it has been confirmed that the company is deliberately throttling video loading for those trying to avoid ads, reports Baltimore Chronicle.
Affected users state that launching a video with AdBlock or similar extensions leads to extended loading times and triggers a pop-up message suggesting to investigate the cause of the delay. Clicking on the prompt redirects the user to Google’s official support page, where the blame for the unstable platform performance is attributed to ad-blocking extensions. Reports also indicate that even anonymous users — those not signed into their accounts — are experiencing the same delays.
YouTube employed similar tactics back in 2023, when users were presented with two options: either disable the ad blocker or subscribe to the paid YouTube Premium service. Google maintains that advertisements are essential for supporting content creators and preserving free access to the video platform.
Earlier we wrote that Mexico closes case against Google.