A small number Yahoo Mail users in the US have been restricted to access their accounts if they have an ad blocker installed. For now, only a handful of Yahoo Mail users is affected by this in the US, as the company confirms it is testing blocking Yahoo Mail users unless they turn off ad-blocking.
“At Yahoo, we are continually developing and testing new product experiences,” a Yahoo representative explains. “This is a test we’re running for a small number of Yahoo Mail users in the U.S.”
Following this, users who’ve been locked out of their accounts have complained on Adblock Plus support forums along with others who’ve also expressed their concerns on Twitter.
Users affected by the Yahoo’s move are obviously infuriated, though some users have found a way out of this. They say that by switching their Yahoo Mail accounts to basic view they were able to get access to their accounts.
When an ad blocker is detected, Yahoo starts locking users as the URL has ADBLK_TRAP added in the end. Users are presented with an on-screen message that says, “We are unable to display Yahoo Mail. Please disable Ad Blocker to continue using Yahoo Mail.”
Just like Google, advertising revenue accounts for an enormous chunk of income for Yahoo, who now seems to be taking extreme measures just to make some extra bucks. Online ads have undeniably become a menace for web users are constantly thwarted with annoying and at time non-nonsensical ads, which is the primary reason users are forced to install ad blockers.
It seems the company is desperately trying to get out of a financial pothole, as they yet again posted low quarterly earnings. Marissa Mayer led Yahoo also spun-off its lucrative stake in China’s Alibaba Group, in an attempt to prevent the remaining $1 billion investment in Alibaba from being taxed in the US.
