Yahoo! is starting to block its users from accessing their Yahoo! email inbox if they insist on using ad-blockers.

According to TechRadar, users started to rant about the experience after some of them were denied access in the own email messages. Ad-blockers recently made headlines when YouTube started bypassing ad-blockers installed by users on their browsers, prompting them to watch full ads before they can actually watch videos. This time, Yahoo! has joined the trend in restricting their users to what they can access if they continue using ad-blockers.

This move by Yahoo! led some of its users to letting go of their accounts, particularly Andrei Herasimchuk, former director of design of the company.

On his Twitter account, he basically complained about Yahoo! blocking his inbox access just because he's using an ad-blocker. While he acknowledged that his time using the service has been good, he's now considering using the Apple Mail despite not being a fan of it. When he was asked if he was one of the creators of Yahoo! Mail, Herasimchuk replied, "Create? No. Help Design? Yes. And now I'm moving on." 

Although Yahoo! didn't give any official statement about it at the time, they were apparently forced to do so after complaints surfaced online.

Over the weekend, Yahoo! explained that the reason why they did something drastic as blocking a user from accessing his own email while using an ad-blocker is to "test a new experience" for its U.S. users.

In a statement released by a Yahoo! spokeswoman featured on The New York Times, she said, "At Yahoo, we are continually developing and testing new product experiences. This is a test were running for a small number of Yahoo Mail users in the U.S." Yahoo! did not specify the scope of the test in terms of the number of users affected or when will the test ends.

 

Ad-blockers have been used by consumers for different reasons, but for some, it is mainly to avoid the annoying advertisements that tend to delay the users. Some use ad-blockers in order to prevent malware from infecting their computers. For Yahoo! to restrict its users from accessing their emails because of ad-blockers, it is understandable that users will be at odds with the service provider.

Have you experienced this problem lately when accessing your Yahoo! Mail? What do you plan to do if Yahoo! pushes through with their plans to block your email if you insist on retaining your ad-blocker?