YouTube will be slower if you're using an ad blocker

YouTube is furthering its crusade against ad blockers by slowing down load times, our friends at PCMag report.

This a continuation of a crackdown that started last fall. In October, YouTube warned users of their ad blocker usage with a prompt, "Ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube," and options to either allow ads or subscribe to YouTube Premium ($13.99/month).

This move upset users, who scrambled to find alternatives to YouTube's rules. As Mashable's Alex Perry stated at the time, however, "The problem with this is that YouTube will almost certainly weed out working alternatives over time, so some degree of adaptability may be required here on the user end."

It seems that Perry is correct, because now 9to5Google and others report that YouTube is lagging for folks using ad blockers. 9to5Google observed that this is mostly due to an artificial timeout written into YouTube's code, which increases the buffering time on videos. Google, which owns YouTube, calls this "suboptimal viewing."

A YouTube spokesperson told Mashable, however, "Recent reports of users experiencing loading delays on YouTube are unrelated to our ad blocker detection efforts. Our help center offers troubleshooting tips for users experiencing issues."

For now, it appears that the solutions are to use YouTube's tips, disable ad blocker, or subscribe to YouTube Premium.

UPDATE: Jan. 16, 2024, 9:11 a.m. EST This article has been updated with a quote from a YouTube spokesperson.