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
AI Briefing: How political startups are helping small political campaigns scale content and ads with AI
With about 100 days until Election Day, politically focused startups see AI as a way to help national and local candidates quickly react to unexpected change.
Media Briefing: Publishers reassess Privacy Sandbox plans following Google’s cookie deprecation reversal
Google’s announcement on Monday to reverse its plans to fully deprecate third-party cookies from its Chrome browser seems to have, in turn, reversed some publishers’ stances on the Privacy Sandbox.
Why Google’s cookie deprecation reversal isn’t actually a reprieve for publishers
Publishers are keeping a “business as usual” approach to testing cookieless alternatives despite Google’s announcement that it won’t be fully deprecating third-party cookies after all.