(Credit: Getty Images/Silas Stein/picture alliance)
YouTube users started noticing this week that videos are loading with a delay in browsers other than Chrome, and it turns out this is a feature, not a bug.
As Android Authority reports, YouTube confirmed the delay is present for anyone who visits YouTube with an ad blocker enabled, but Chrome is exempt for some reason. YouTube refers to this as a "suboptimal viewing experience," and it's being done on purpose.
A YouTube spokesperson shared the following statement:
"To support a diverse ecosystem of creators globally and allow billions to access their favorite content on YouTube, we’ve launched an effort to urge viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium for an ad free experience. Users who have ad blockers installed may experience suboptimal viewing, regardless of the browser they are using."
It seems that YouTube decided the best way to get people to turn off their ad blocker is to introduce a fake loading delay to act as a penalty. The problem is, this wasn't announced as a feature and therefore it looks like a fault.
YouTube offers two solutions to removing the delay: turn off your ad blocker and start watching the ads or subscribe to YouTube Premium. The problem is, watching the ads takes longer than waiting for the initial delay before a video plays. As for YouTube Premium, it's not cheap at $13.99 per month, and therefore a short delay before videos play seems like a small price to pay to save $140 a year (if you pay annually).
There are a number of solutions to ditching the commercials on YouTube, but it looks as though Google has decided to start clamping down on avoidance. This subtle loading delay may just be the first of many nudges introduced by the video platform.