Some YouTube users have started to notice that YouTube is popping up a message stating that ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube. One of the first people to notice this ad block block was Reddit user Sazk100.
A popup message seen by Sazk100 and others says that "ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube." The message goes on to say that "ads allow YouTube to stay free for billions of users worldwide" and that if you don't want ads, you can pay for YouTube Premium.
Not everyone using YouTube will have gotten this message, regardless of their use of ad blockers. Google has a tendency to run A/B testing on their live products and services, which means that this new feature showed up for a small group of unwilling participants while everyone else continued to use the "regular" version of YouTube without interruption.
A Google representative did offer a brief statement on this new ad blocking ban when asked by IGN. They say that this is merely a "small experiment" at the moment.
We're running a small experiment globally that urges viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium. Ad blocker detection is not new, and other publishers regularly ask viewers to disable ad blockers.