YouTube Cracks Down on Third-Party Media Players That Block Ads

YouTube has eliminated the ability for viewers to leverage third-party apps to circumvent its seemingly endless advertisements. In a Google community announcement posted Monday, a YouTube employee said that viewers using third-party media players with ad blockers might experience buffering issues or see content errors as a direct result of those apps.

"We’re strengthening our enforcement on third-party apps that violate YouTube’s Terms of Service, specifically ad-blocking apps," the announcement reads. "We only allow third-party apps to use our API when they follow our API Services Terms of Service, and when we find an app that violates these terms, we will take appropriate action to protect our platform, creators, and viewers."

The announcement clarifies that ad-blockers aren't allowed "because that prevents the creator from being rewarded for viewership, and Ads on YouTube help support creators and let billions of people around the world use the streaming service ...