Security News > 2024 > April > Google to crack down on third-party YouTube apps that block ads
YouTube announced yesterday that third-party applications that block ads while watching YouTube videos violates its Terms of Service, and it will soon start taking action against the apps.
Google exposes numerous APIs allowing developers to integrate YouTube into their applications, showing videos or retrieving data about videos hosted on the platform.
Some developers have created apps for Android and iOS with millions of users that are promoted as a way to watch YouTube videos without seeing any advertisements in videos.
Google now says that any apps using YouTube APIs that block advertisements may soon be blocked from its developer APIs.
"We want to emphasize that our terms don't allow third-party apps to turn off ads 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," says the YouTube announcement.
YouTube has been experimenting with various methods to crack down on ad blocking since last year, including prompting users to disable their ad blockers to watch videos and restricting users of ad blockers to just three videos.