Frustrated users accuse it of adding five-second delays
When one Firefox user noticed recently that videos were loading slowly on YouTube, they accused Google (which owns YouTube) of “disgusting behaviour” in trying to push people to Chrome. They posted a clip on the Reddit forums (www.snipca. com/48429) that seemed to show a video taking five seconds to load. Several people replied saying they had noticed similar delays.
But then one user asked whether the delays were related to YouTube’s crackdown on ad-blockers. They looked closer at YouTube’s code and found that a five-second delay had been added in the section relating to ad-blockers. The plot thickened.
Websites then noticed the Reddit discussion and asked Google for comment. At this point we expected radio silence from Google, embarrassed that its latest tactic against ad-blockers had been exposed.
Far from it. Google admitted that users blocking ads “may experience suboptimal viewing”. That use of ‘suboptimal’ is a classic case of Google understatement. It later added that people “using ad blockers may have experienced delays in loading, regardless of the browser they are using”.
It gave the same reason it’s used over the past few months when taking on ad-blockers: “To support a diverse ecosystem of creators globally and allow billions to access their favourite content on YouTube, we’ve launched an effort to urge viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium for an ad free experience.”
What’s interesting is that this delay works across all browsers, including Google’s own Chrome. It’s clearly prepared to annoy Chrome users in its mission to exterminate ad-blockers.
But Google is still being a little careful. Not all YouTube users with ad-blockers are suffering delays. Some Computeractivestaff have been affected, others not. Like many of its ploys, this seems like an experiment to see how far it can push users before they revolt by switching off YouTube for good.
It has already tried warning viewers that they can watch only three more videos unless they allow ads. This started as a “small experiment” in the summer, but has now spread to most users – though it doesn’t seem to appear when watching YouTube in private mode in Brave.
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