California: Technology giant Google's battle against adblockers (apps that block advertisements) is nothing new. Now, to prevent users from using ad blockers, the company has adopted a new mechanism whereby YouTube streaming is being slowed down for those using ad blockers.
Past attempts by the company to circumvent ad blockers have included pop-up messages and a three-strikes policy. Under the three-strike policy, the video player was disabled after watching three videos with ad blockers.
9 to 5 Google recently flagged that YouTube was slowing down its streaming on devices with ad blockers.
Users of social networking platform Reddit pointed out the issue in a thread.
Some users using ad blockers have reported problems with previews playing and videos not opening in full screen or theater mode.
However, streaming improved significantly after users disabled ad blockers.