Some Adblock Plus users are being greeted with a concerning message on YouTube: “An error occurred. Please try again later.”
In the past, the software would skip the pre-roll ad and the video would immediately play. With the error message, some videos would play after a delay of several seconds. As people on the Adblock Plus message board have pointed out, the message is mostly affecting Google Chrome, although people have spotted the issue on Firefox and Safari albeit less frequently.
In a statement, Adblock Plus said it’s investigating the issue and said “it would appear to be an issue on YouTube’s side.” We asked West Coast-based YouTube for comment; we’ll update the post when they do.
For now, it’s unclear if the message is simply an error or if the Google-owned company is trying to clamp down on users of the popular ad blocking software since it interferes with its bottom line. Or perhaps, more cynically, it’s a ploy to push people to subscribe to its paid, ad-free service YouTube Red.
People are voicing their displeasure on Adblock Plus’ message boards and Reddit, with many of them posting workarounds to prevent people from seeing the error message. Regardless, the message is clear that they’re not pleased with the inconvenience: “I’ll bail on YouTube before I’ll bail on my ad blocker,” one person wrote.
More in Media
SPUR publishes AI content tracking standard, pitches OpenAI and Google to join advisory board
Publishers are pushing for AI transparency with a new SPUR standard to track how AI tools use content, and inviting frontier AI labs to help.
Media Briefing: Publishers are turning GEO from an experiment into a business
Publishers are turning GEO into a new revenue stream as clients increasingly look to boost their brands’ visibility in AI-generated answers.
The creator economy’s stance on AI is shifting — again
Creators are integrating AI tools into their workflows, but at what point does it overtake the creative process and result in sameness?