YouTube's Crackdown on Ad-Blockers Leads to Record Uninstalls; Users Seek Alternatives

YouTube's strict enforcement against ad-blockers results in surge of uninstalls, driving users to find more resilient alternatives and spurring a rise in paid ad-blocking services.

YouTube's crackdown on ad-blocking applications has led to a record number of uninstalls of these tools, with users citing YouTube's new rules as the key reason for their removal.
Popular ad-blocking app, AdGuard, witnessed a significant increase in uninstalls, resulting in an average of more than 11,000 uninstalls per day in October, a jump from their usual 6,000 daily uninstalls. At its peak, AdGuard observed 52,000 uninstalls in a single day.
In addition to a rise in uninstalls, YouTube's ad-block crackdown has also bolstered a surge in subscriptions to AdGuard's paid service, which is not affected by the platform's restrictions.
In response to YouTube's measures, users have started actively seeking resilient alternatives to ad-blockers, such as the browser extension uBlock Origin and AdGuard's paid tier, to continue avoiding ads on the platform.
The crackdown aligns with YouTube's strategy to promote its paid service, YouTube Premium. This service's price has been increased in multiple countries, almost doubling in certain regions.