YouTube is replacing the two 15-second ads users currently see with one 30-second unskippable commercial – unless you opt for the $120 ad-free Premium tier.
The shift will impact connected TVs, not mobile viewing, and be shown with top-performing content – but an official roll out date has not been given.
The option will be available through YouTube Select, a targeting option open to eligible clients who want to reach the audiences of the website’s most popular channels.
YouTube announced the longer ads Wednesday, noting 70 percent of Select impressions land on TVs and the 30-second gives advertisers more time ‘for richer storytelling.’
YouTube is set to replace the two 15-second ads with one unskippable 30-second commercial on its TV streaming service
‘This format also seamlessly fits into what viewers already expect and experience on the big screen. Instead of seeing two :15 ads consecutively, they’ll see one :30 ad,’ YouTube shared in the announcement.
The video-sharing platform did not provide much detail on the change but revealed it would bring new Pause experiences to the commercials.
The feature will let users stop the 30-second segment from learning more about the products or services, which YouTube said will be ‘highly visual and more interactive.’
This suggests QR codes could be included – a feature Hulu added in 2019 to its advertisements.
YouTube has made a dramatic shift from its humble beginnings in 2005.
It kept to its roots as a video-sharing platform, but in 2017, the Google-owned company sought to capture the ‘cord cutters’ market and launched YouTubeTV, which streams live television.
‘More and more, viewers are tuning into YouTube on the biggest screen in their home,’ YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said during the company’s YouTube Brandcast upfront event Wednesday in New York, as reported by Variety.
‘Viewers — especially younger viewers — no longer make a distinction between the kind of content they’re watching. When they turn on the TV, they want everything they love in one place — from their favorite creators, to blockbuster movies, to football. And they can find it all on YouTube.’
The feature will let users stop the 30-second segment from learning more about the products or services, which YouTube said will be ‘highly visual and more interactive.’ This suggests QR codes could be included – a feature Hulu added in 2019 to its advertisements
The announcement comes as YouTube is also testing ways to tempt users into disabling ad blockers or paying for the premium subscription – $119.99 for 12 months.
The experiment was spotted by Redditor users who shared that YouTube barred them from watching certain videos unless they turned off an ad blocker.
‘Yes, this has been confirmed as an ‘experiment’ by YouTube, confirmed by a YouTube employee that reached out to me,’ the users shared in a thread.
According to Statista, YouTube’s global advertising revenues amounted to $29.24 billion in 2022, compared to $8.150 billion in 2017.
This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk
