(TotalConservative.com) – YouTube users were not happy to find out about a new change to the video-sharing social media platform after Google put a stop to using ad-blocking software while watching content.
The company began cracking down on using ad blockers last year by banning some users utilizing the software from watching videos on its platform. YouTube has now updated its rules to include banning ad blocker use, which is now considered to be in violation of the platform’s terms of service.
The crackdown is to push more users into subscribing to YouTube Premium instead if they want to have an ad-free experience while watching content.
Google, the parent company that owns YouTube, is now employing a new tactic to put a stop to the digital freeloaders, according to reports from multiple users. The users claim that videos on YouTube are now loading at an incredibly slow pace when an ad blocker is activated. When the users turn off the ad-blocker, video speeds appear to return to normal.
Some of the users initially thought there was a problem with their internet connection. In a post on Saturday, Jan. 13, one user on Reddit wrote that he thought his computer “was going crazy” before realizing the ad blocker was triggering the slow loading speeds.
Google, along with other Big Tech companies like Facebook and Amazon, is also currently in the middle of challenging a law in Maryland that would tax digital advertisements on their websites. The companies claim the law violates their First Amendment right to free speech and freedom of the press. Although three challenges to the law were dismissed, a federal appeals court sent one of the challenges back to a lower court to be heard.
The US Department of Justice also sued Google last year for allegedly establishing a monopoly on digital advertising. The federal government also sued the company in an antitrust case, the biggest trial of its kind in decades.
Copyright 2024, TotalConservative.com
