YouTube is coming after people using ad blockers with a maddening change

YouTube has been at war with ad blocker extensions since they came into popularity, and now the company behind the largest video platform in the world has moved to implement what is easily the most annoying change yet. Slowed video load times.

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This isn't the first time YouTube has targeted popular ad-blocking software such as AdBlock Plus, uBlock Origin, or Ghostery, as it was back in November last year when the company annoyed millions of users around the world by disabling video-watching for select accounts. A recent video posted to Reddit indicates the company is now throttling video load times for accounts using ad-blocking software.

These suspicions were backed up by a report by 9to5Google, which stated there is "an artificial timeout written within YouTube's code to act as a laggy internet connection," and while this code has been within YouTube's software for quite some time, it appears it's being used to a much wider effect.

So, if you have noticed some slow load times with your YouTube videos lately, or they appear to be lagging slightly, I would recommend switching off your ad blocker software, then reload the page.

YouTube communications manager Christopher Lawton explained that ad blockers simply violate the platform's terms of service, "ads support a diverse ecosystem of creators globally and allow billions to access their favorite content on YouTube."