Several YouTube users are reporting that their videos are skipping to the end, and everything that they have in common is that they all use ad blockers whenever streaming on the platform. While there are no announcements from either Google or YouTube, it is known that the company cracked down on the use of adblockers over the past few months since last year.
YouTube has manifested various ways of fighting ad blockers, with one previous case outright not playing the video when toggled by the user.
YouTube Skips to End of Videos When Using Ad Blockers
Users have taken to Reddit to reveal the latest situation on YouTube when they employ ad blockers alongside streaming on the Free account, saying that the platform ends the videos right away when detected. The deal now is whenever users click on a video from their home feed or search, it would no longer play and skip right to the end where the iconic recommended videos appear.
This also happens when users click on the replay button, which is supposed to bring them back to the start, but that does not happen; it jumps to the end again, like when playing it in the first place.
Lastly, the Redditor also claimed that when seeking different parts of the videos, users will get the buffer animation, but nothing will appear even after waiting for a long time.
New Tactic by YouTube Against Ad Blockers
In a separate video, a Redditor shared how this would look when doing so, calling this new tactic by YouTube a "weird behaviour" of the platform.
The only solution to this problem is to remove the ad blocker. Despite the seemingly bricked streaming experience, the video will play fine and without any hitch.
YouTube's Ad Blocker Crack Down
Almost a year ago, YouTube first tested its crackdown against ad blockers. It looked to block video streams whenever the system detected that one's computer was using such technology on its devices. However, this initially gave users three chances to disable ad blocks and continue streaming, as, after the third video, this is when YouTube enforced its iron hand.
YouTube has emphasized in many ways that its Terms of Service and other policies see ad blocker use as a breach or violation. In a previous situation, YouTube took it into its hands to appeal to users using ad block technologies, giving off a warning message or notice informing the public that they can detect a person using it and then advising them to upgrade to Premium or disable it.
Like Netflix and other streaming platforms' password-sharing crackdown, YouTube's current fight against ad blockers is ongoing and will be so moving forward. In this situation, however, YouTube is no longer giving users three chances or pop-up messages that remind them to turn off ad blockers, as the company skips right to the end of videos immediately, whether it is their first time.
Related Article: YouTube Ad Blocker Crackdown: Now Targeting Third-Party Apps