A representative for YouTube confirmed the trial and advised users to try YouTube Premium or enable adverts on the service.
YouTube is forbidding some viewers from watching videos unless they turn off their ad blockers or purchase a premium subscription, this is part of the trials being conducted by the platform.
This week, a Reddit user became the first to notice that YouTube would show a pop-up warning to some viewers that "ad blockers are not allowed."
Users who receive this message have two choices: either turn off their ad blocker to allow YouTube adverts, or think about signing up for YouTube Premium to remove all advertisements.
The pop-up stated that "you can go ad-free with YouTube Premium, and creators can still get paid from your subscription."
A representative for YouTube confirmed the trial and advised users to try YouTube Premium or enable adverts on the service.
According to the spokesman, "We're conducting a small experiment globally that encourages viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium."
"Ad blocker detection is not a recent development, and other publishers routinely request that viewers turn off ad blockers."
It is presently unknown in how many locations YouTube is displaying these notices or if the business intends to bar users of ad blockers from the website entirely.
According to a Variety report, YouTube's Music and Premium services reached 80 million subscribers in November 2022 after accumulating more than 30 million users in just over a year.
Encouragement of YouTube Premium usage will undoubtedly contribute to maintaining the current rapid membership growth rate.
On platforms where ad blocking is impossible or rooting the device (e.g., iOS, some TV OSs), making adverts longer over the past several years and making them unskippable would also likely encourage some users to subscribe to YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience.
As one Redditor put it, "It wouldn't be so bad if there weren't 2 minutes of unstoppable ads, and multiple ads before the video, ads interrupting the video, rendering the videos useless!!!"