YouTube viewers who watch content on connected TVs may soon face more frustration as the platform plans to introduce 30-second unskippable ads. The announcement was made at the YouTube Brandcast event, where it was revealed that these longer commercials will replace two consecutive 15-second ads. Additionally, YouTube intends to display ads when users pause videos.
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While YouTube claims that viewers will only see a single 30-second ad instead of two shorter ones, it does not mean that the shorter ads will disappear entirely. Advertisers will be able to access 30-second ads through YouTube Select, an advertising platform that targets the top five percent of YouTube content. Since 70 percent of YouTube Select impressions come from TVs, the platform is considered ideal for longer ads.
According to YouTube CEO Neal, more and more viewers, particularly younger ones, are tuning in to YouTube on their home’s biggest screen, blurring the line between the type of content they consume.
YouTube also announced plans to test “pause experiences” on connected TVs, which are ads that appear when viewers pause a video. These ads will resemble banners surrounding the video and can be dismissed by selecting the “dismiss” button. According to an early look by Adweek, this will work similarly to the pause ad feature rolled out on Hulu a couple of years ago.
The timeline for the rollout of these changes, including the introduction of 30-second unskippable ads and pause ads, has not been specified by YouTube. Further details are expected to be provided in the future.
These announcements come in the wake of YouTube’s recent crackdown on ad blockers. The platform has been experimenting with pop-up messages stating that “Ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube,” encouraging viewers to subscribe to YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience.
