NAVIGATING THE BLOCKS: YOUTUBE'S STRATEGIC MOVES AGAINST AD-BLOCKERS

The war between usability and revenue is back on. YouTube has kicked up its efforts to target users who block ads. If you use any of the various software and browser extensions available to block ads from showing up when you watch online video, YouTube is now aggressively clamping down on you. Why?

THE ONSET OF A TACTICAL SHIFT

YouTube’s latest move is a direct response to the growing use of ad-blockers. According to TechSpot, a range of technical measures are now breaking ad-blockers: some users find that when they play a video it stops halfway through, and the video will simply restart to that mid-point. Others find that the video plays back in a mute loop. Others still find that the only way they can continue watching their videos is to turn off their ad-blocking software.

THE SOUND OF SILENCE: A NEW DETERRENT?

Perhaps the most bizarre is the muted video tactic. As soon as a user who has an ad-blocker enabled starts to play a video, the sound track cuts out. It’s YouTube’s way of saying: You want to watch the video? Well you’re either going to have to put up with the silence or give in and turn off your ad-blocker. It’s an amusing tactic, but it highlights the enduring tension between user choice and the realities of how content is funded.

THE TARGET: ADBLOCK AND ADBLOCK PLUS USERS

What’s telling about this campaign, though, is its seemingly surgical quality: if, as TechSpot reports, the problem seems to be restricted to Adblock and Adblock Plus users, it could be that YouTube’s countermeasures are similarly surgery-like and targeted. Indeed, the perennial technological battle could make certain tools for ad-blocking, which are only peripherally related to the efforts of individuals to express themselves on the web, unviable in the near future as detection techniques become more successful and diverse.

UBLOCK ORIGIN: THE LONE SURVIVOR?

This seemingly simple story of ad-blocking and counter-strategies is one of the reasons why I decided to use uBlock Origin: it seems to keep working. While TechSpot notes that uBlock Origin users are unaffected, at least for now, this is a glimmer of hope for those ad-averse. Lifehacker offers a glimmer of hope for those ad-averse It also allows us to ask some questions about ad-blocking technologies. What will YouTube’s efforts mean for these technologies and how will they be modified?

BEYOND AD-BLOCKING: THE PREMIUM PROPOSITION

Underpinning YouTube’s increasingly aggressive approach to ad-blockers is a counter proposition: YouTube Premium. Through its lobbying against third-party, non-Google ad-skipping technology, YouTube has also been trying to market its subscription service. This shift from asking users to watch ads to persuading them to pay for an (ad-free) service is a strategic signal that YouTube is trying to ‘disrupt’ ad-blockers on its home turf by building a channel of revenue more independent of advertising.

THE CONUNDRUM OF CHOICE

The user is now faced with a choice: continue to use an ad-blocker and take the escalating measures that YouTube introduces against them, change to another ad-blocker such as uBlock Origin or give in and use YouTube Premium. It’s not just about YouTube. All users who consume digital content face a similar set of challenges and choices. This is a constant balancing act that content platforms have to deal with, between protecting the end-user experience and maintaining their financial viability.

UNDERSTANDING THE ORIGIN OF THE ISSUE

What lies at the heart of this evolution is the source of the standoff between content and ad-blockers. Fundamentally, this conflict has a shared history – between people who want to use content without interference, and the platforms whose revenue depends on ad views. And we can expect that story to continue to unfold. As platforms such as YouTube become more aggressive in their counter-measures, the ad-blockers and users will find ways to redress the balance between their desire for viewing versus the support of the content-maker.

To wrap up, YouTube’s latest changes to block ad-blockers represent a turning point in the debate between media deliverers and users over how media is consumed, and how we continue to pay for it. It is how users respond – and to which tools or alternative content ecologies – that will very much shape the future of online content. Knowing where this situation came from gives insight into the politics of digital content ecologies and the everlasting search for a utopian space between user experience and economics.