From December 10, YouTube may block access to users who use an adblocker: here’s what’s true
Panic on the net among YouTube users and among “Content Creators”, i.e. the creatives who earn from the advertisements that are displayed along with the videos on Google’s platform. A revision of the terms of service, dated a few days ago but that will come into force on December 10, has indeed created havoc.
The new YouTube rules state: “YouTube may terminate your access, or access by your Google account, to all or part of the Service if YouTube believes, in its sole discretion, that offering the Service to you is no longer commercially feasible.” What does this mean? On the net there are two interpretations: some read this announcement putting themselves in the shoes of YouTube “viewers” users, others in the shoes of YouTube “creators” users. Then, however, there is also the official clarification of YouTube on Twitter, which throws a lot of water on the fire.
New YouTube terms of service: what people think
According to the first interpretation of these new terms of service of the video streaming service, anyone using an Ad Blocker (i.e. one of the many programs like AdBlock, which serve to block online ads) will be banned from YouTube from December 10 onwards. This is because, with such a program, the banners and advertisements sent to the user by YT are not displayed. As a result, says this interpretation, getting people who don’t see the ads to view YouTube is no longer “commercially viable.” The second interpretation, instead, concerns content creators: if the channel doesn’t generate visits and views of the videos, and therefore of the ads, then it will be closed by YouTube ex officio for the same reason as above.
YouTube denies everyone
The news about YouTube’s new terms of service was shared on Twitter, among many others, also by Ford Fischer, editor-in-chief of the online channel News2Share that deals with activism and American politics. Fischer received an official response from the TeamYouTube Twitter account, which refutes both of the circulated interpretations: “To clarify, the section about <commercially viable> is not about terminating an account because it doesn’t generate money. It’s about the ability to terminate certain features or parts of the service because they are outdated or get little use. This in no way affects creators or viewers.”