For those who rely on third-party apps to bypass ads while watching YouTube videos, get ready for some disruption. The American social media company has announced a renewed crackdown on these apps, citing violations of its terms of service and a negative impact on creators’ revenue.
“We’re strengthening our enforcement on third-party apps that violate YouTube’s Terms of Service, specifically ad-blocking apps. Viewers who are using these third-party apps may experience buffering issues or see the error “The following content is not available on this app” when trying to watch a video,” the Google-owned company said in a blog on Monday.
“We want to emphasize that our terms don’t allow third-party apps to turn off ads because that prevents the creator from being rewarded for viewership, and Ads on YouTube help support creators and let billions of people around the world use the streaming service,” it added.
This move follows YouTube‘s earlier efforts to curb ad-blocking extensions on web browsers. Now, the focus is on mobile apps that offer ad-free viewing experiences outside of the official YouTube app.
For an ad-free experience, the company reiterates an official solution via its YouTube Premium subscription offering. This paid tier removes ads and provides additional benefits like background playback and offline video downloads. In terms of pricing, an individual YT Premium subscription costs Rs 129 per month in India, with an annual plan available for Rs 1,290. The company also offers one month subscription for Rs 139 and a three-month subscription for Rs 399. Additionally, YouTube offers a family plan that allows up to five users to enjoy ad-free content, priced at Rs 189 per month.
Meanwhile, the crackdown extends beyond just disrupting user experience. YouTube plans to take “appropriate action” against apps that violate its API terms of service. This could involve blacklisting the apps or taking other measures to prevent them from circumventing YouTube’s ad system.
