YouTube is running an experiment asking some users to disable their ad blockers or pay for a premium subscription, or they will not be allowed to watch videos.
it’s not hard at all. Just as your browser and operating system are identified when you access a web page, all plugins are also visible to the connecting server and are logged. This actually makes it pretty easy to identify you as a unique user as many people have distinct combinations of plugins added.
How do they tell when you’re using one?
I’m sure it isn’t that hard to detect that certain data isn’t being loaded.
it’s not hard at all. Just as your browser and operating system are identified when you access a web page, all plugins are also visible to the connecting server and are logged. This actually makes it pretty easy to identify you as a unique user as many people have distinct combinations of plugins added.