YouTube has ramped up its efforts to combat the use of ad-blocking software on mobile devices, targeting users accessing videos through third-party apps that bypass ads.

The move aims to uphold YouTube’s terms of service, which prohibit third-party apps from disabling ads, thus ensuring creators are appropriately rewarded for their content, the Times of India has reported.

Users of such third-party apps may now encounter buffering problems or error messages indicating that content is unavailable within the app. In a recent blog post, YouTube emphasized the importance of ads in supporting creators and enabling billions of users worldwide to access the platform.

Last year, YouTube launched a global initiative encouraging users to either allow ads or upgrade to YouTube Premium. Additionally, the platform began disabling videos for users employing ad-blocking extensions on their desktop browsers.