Arrr, Google be pillagin' Microsoft Edge users' YouTube with their war on adblockers. Shiver me timbers!
2024-01-15
Be the troubles plaguing Microsoft Edge on YouTube naught but a mischievous pest, or be there a darker plot afoot?
Microsoft's Edge web browser is reportedly experiencing issues when users try to watch YouTube videos, and some are speculating that Google, the company behind YouTube and Edge's main competitor Chrome, may be to blame. Users have taken to Reddit to complain about the performance of YouTube in Edge, with one user pointing out a two-second delay in videos and high CPU and memory usage by Edge. Another user reported receiving a pop-up message from Google suggesting they switch to Chrome. Some people believe that Google is intentionally reducing Edge's performance to encourage users to switch to Chrome.However, it seems unlikely that Google would benefit from such actions, considering Chrome's overwhelming market dominance. Chrome holds 59.65% of the market share, while Edge only has 5.54% and Firefox has 2.56%. Deliberately sabotaging its own service could lead to users blaming YouTube, which would harm Google's advertising revenue. A more plausible theory is that the poor performance is a result of Google's efforts to combat adblockers on YouTube. Google has been limiting video access for users with adblockers and may be reducing performance for Edge and Firefox users as well.
Google's goal is to encourage users to disable adblockers or subscribe to YouTube Premium, which offers ad-free videos. It's possible that the measures taken to identify adblock use are also affecting Edge and Firefox users. Disabling adblock extensions in these browsers has reportedly resolved the performance issues. Rather than a malicious plot to promote Chrome, it seems that Google is simply protecting its advertising revenue. However, Google needs to ensure that its technology accurately identifies adblock software and doesn't penalize innocent users or users of rival browsers.
Ultimately, advertising revenue allows Google to keep YouTube free and support content creators. If the widespread use of adblockers threatens this revenue, it could result in a less desirable alternative for users.