YouTube’s crack down on ad blockers leads to record number of uninstalls

Google-owned YouTube’s effort to crack down on users with ad blockers on its platform globally has resulted in a record number of uninstalls, with multiple ad blocking companies reporting that thousands of people are uninstalling their products after the video sharing platfrom began showing warnings to people trying to watch videos on its website while using ad blockers.

One of the companies, AdGuard mentioned that its Chrome extension has been uninstalled by over 11,000 people daily since October 9, up from 6,000 uninstallations per day prior to YouTube’s change, reports Wired.

Another extension, AdLock, saw a 30 per cent increase in daily installations and uninstallations in October compared to previous months.

Ad blocking company Ghostery reported that its usage was flat in October as it experienced three to five times the daily number of installs as well as uninstalls.

According to the company, over 90 per cent of its users who completed a survey about why they uninstalled the product stated they did so because the tool no longer worked with YouTube, the report mentioned.

Since YouTube’s crackdown seems to affect only Chrome users on laptops and desktops, some users switched to other browsers, such as Microsoft Edge.

According to Ghostery, installations of the Edge browser increased by 30 per cent in October compared to September, the report showed.

YouTube sold nearly $22 billion in advertisements in the first nine months of this year, up around 5 per cent from the same period last year, accounting for roughly 10 per cent of Google’s total sales.

YouTube creators typically receive 55 per cent of ad sales on longer videos and 45 per cent on Shorts.

According to industry research firm Insider Intelligence, premium subscriptions are expected to produce $2.7 billion in sales this year.