YouTube’s ad blocker crackdown expanded to a global scale soon after starting as a small experiment. To some extent, it has been working as intended, forcing people to turn off their ad blockers, but it has backfired for the most part.
While a lot of people are uninstalling ad blockers, even more people are switching to better ad blockers that work seamlessly with YouTube’s crackdown. Wired reports that hundreds of thousands of users uninstalled ad blockers in October, but even more are switching to better alternatives, reaching record-breaking numbers.
Krzysztof Modras, a representative from Ghostery, a prominent ad blocker available on Chrome’s extension store, has reported a notable surge in both installations and uninstalls during the past month. They observed three to five times the usual activity.
Interestingly, over 90% of users who chose to uninstall the extension mentioned that its inability to function effectively on YouTube was their primary reason for doing so. On the flip side, the company noticed a 30% increase in installations on Microsoft Edge, as users sought a viable alternative to address their ad-blocking needs.
AdGuard, another ad-blocking service, revealed that they typically witness approximately 6,000 daily uninstalls on Chrome. However, during the period between October 9 and the end of the month, this number spiked to 11,000 per day, reaching a peak of 52,000 uninstalls on October 18.
Interestingly, the paid version of the extension remained unaffected by YouTube’s restrictions. Consequently, as users became aware of this fact, the company reported a surge in user counts, with installations soaring to 60,000 on both October 18 and October 27.
Industry experts, including Modras, caution that YouTube’s endeavors to thwart ad blockers might trigger the development of more intricate blocking methods. These advanced tactics could potentially give rise to unintended security vulnerabilities.
