Blocked by YouTube, Thousands of Users Crowd Uninstall Ad Blocker
YouTube is increasingly aggressive in banning the use of ad blockers on its platform. As a result, hundreds of thousands of users flocked to uninstall ad blockers because they received warnings from YouTube.
A number of companies that offer ad blocking services say thousands of users have uninstalled their products. This mass uninstall occurred after YouTube expanded its ban on the use of ad blockers globally.
One company, AdGuard, said more than 11,000 people had removed its Chrome extensions every day since October 9. Before YouTube implemented the new policy, the uninstall rate was around 6,000 people per day. AdGuard CTO Andrey Meshkov said there were 52,000 people who uninstalled the AdGuard Chrome extension on October 18.
Another ad blocking company, Ghostery, said it saw three to five times the number of daily installs and uninstalls over the past month. Interestingly, 90% of users surveyed said they removed the product because it couldn't be used to watch YouTube without ads.
Even so, ad blocker users are still looking for other tricks to get around YouTube's rules. For example, AdGuard users switch to a paid version of the ad blocker that is unaffected by YouTube blocking.
Because this block only affects users who access YouTube via Google Chrome on laptops and desktops, some other users are trying out other browsers.
Ghostery said it saw a spike in installations of its extensions on Microsoft Edge of up to 30% in October compared to the previous month, as quoted from Engadget, Sunday (5/11/2023).
YouTube has actually started blocking the use of ad blockers since the beginning of this year, but at that time it was just a small experiment involving a small number of users. Now this policy has been expanded globally, and users are required to turn off ad blockers if they want to watch videos on YouTube.
Advertising is an important source of income for YouTube and Google, contributing USD 22 billion in revenue from the start of this year to September. Apart from that, YouTube also encourages its users to subscribe to YouTube Premium which can remove ads and provide other exclusive features.
Diblokir YouTube, Ribuan Pengguna Ramai-ramai Uninstall Ad Blocker
YouTube semakin gencar melarang penggunaan ad blocker di platform-nya. Akibatnya ratusan ribu pengguna berbondong-bondong uninstall ad blocker karena mendapatkan peringatan dari YouTube.
Sejumlah perusahaan yang menawarkan layanan ad blocking mengatakan ribuan pengguna sudah uninstall produk mereka. Uninstall massal ini terjadi setelah YouTube memperluas larangan penggunaan ad blocker secara fglobal.
Salah satu perusahaan, AdGuard, mengatakan sudah ada lebih dari 11.000 orang yang menghapus ekstensi Chrome-nya setiap hari sejak 9 Oktober. Sebelum YouTube menerapkan kebijakan baru itu, angka uninstall berkisar 6.000 orang per hari. CTO AdGuard Andrey Meshkov mengatakan ada 52.000 orang yang uninstall ekstensi Chrome AdGuard pada 18 Oktober lalu.
Perusahaan ad blocking lainnya, Ghostery, mengaku melihat tiga hingga lima kali lipat jumlah instal dan uninstall harian selama sebulan terakhir. Menariknya, 90% pengguna yang disurvei mengatakan mereka menghapus produk tersebut karena tidak bisa digunakan untuk menonton YouTube tanpa iklan.
Meski begitu, pengguna ad blocker masih mencari trik lain mengakali aturan YouTube. Misalnya, pengguna AdGuard beralih ke ad blocker versi berbayar yang tidak terpengaruh pemblokiran YouTube.
Karena pemblokiran ini hanya mempengaruhi pengguna yang mengakses YouTube lewat Google Chrome di laptop dan desktop, beberapa pengguna lainnya menjajal browser lain.
Ghostery mengatakan pihaknya melihat lonjakan instalasi ekstensinya di Microsoft Edge hingga 30% pada bulan Oktober dibandingkan bulan sebelumnya, seperti dikutip dari Engadget, Minggu (5/11/2023).
YouTube sebenarnya sudah mulai memblokir penggunaan ad blocker sejak awal tahun ini, tapi saat itu bentuknya hanya eksperimen kecil yang melibatkan sedikit pengguna. Kini kebijakan itu diperluas secara global, dan pengguna wajib mematikan ad blocker jika ingin menonton video di YouTube.
Iklan memang merupakan sumber pendapatan penting bagi YouTube dan Google, yang menyumbangkan pendapatan sebesar USD 22 miliar dari awal tahun ini hingga September. Selain itu, YouTube juga mendorong penggunanya berlangganan YouTube Premium yang bisa menghilangkan iklan dan menyediakan fitur eksklusif lainnya.