YouTube is renewing its crackdown on third-party apps that block video ads on the platform. In an announcement on Monday, the company confirmed that it will begin taking “appropriate action” against apps that allow viewers to watch ad-free videos in violation of the terms of service for its API services. The video streaming giant also urged viewers to switch to its YouTube Premium subscription plan for an ad-free experience on the platform. The move comes after the company announced a global crackdown on these apps in November last year.
In a community post, YouTube stated: “We are strengthening our enforcement of third-party apps that violate YouTube's Terms of Service, specifically ad-blocking apps. Viewers using these third-party apps may experience buffering issues or seeing the error “The following content is not available in this app” when trying to watch a video.”
The company emphasized that blocking ads on the platform through unfair means prevents the creator from being rewarded for their audience, as they cannot make money unless an ad is played for the viewer. This results in reduced monetization of videos despite the high number of views. He further added that ads on YouTube allow billions of users around the world to use the streaming platform without paying for it.
Suggesting an alternative, the streaming giant also urged users looking for an ad-free experience on the platform to subscribe to YouTube Premium, the company's paid plan that also offers other features such as background playback, videos offline and ad-free access. on YouTube Music.
Claiming that these third-party apps also violate the company's terms of service for API services, the post added, “We only allow third-party apps to use our API when they follow our Terms of Service for the services API and when we find an app that violates these terms, we will take appropriate action to protect our platform, creators, and viewers.”
Currently, YouTube Premium plans in India start from Rs. 79 per month – This option is limited to students. For most users, the base plan is priced at Rs. 129 per month. However, this requires the user to subscribe to a 12-month prepaid plan and make a payment of Rs. 1,290. As a result, the most affordable paid plan for a month will cost users Rs. 139.
