Get ready to make your popcorn breaks a touch longer! YouTube announced at the recent Brandcast event that your favorite big-screen YouTube content will soon feature a single, unskippable 30-second ad, replacing the former duet of 15-second ads. YouTube claims this move is meant to streamline ad viewing on connected TVs - their prime platform, accounting for a whopping 70% of YouTube Select impressions.
In the words of YouTube CEO, Neal Mohan, “The distinction between content types is vanishing, especially among younger viewers. YouTube is becoming a staple on the most prominent screen in the house.”
And that's not all! You’ll also see something new when you hit the pause button. YouTube is set to start testing "pause experiences," which, just like Hulu, shows an ad banner whenever a video is paused. You can, however, dismiss these banners at will.
The timeline for these ad-related updates is yet to be confirmed. The latest announcement rides on the wave of last week's crackdown on ad blockers. YouTube has been nudging viewers towards subscribing to YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience, with pop-up messages stating, "Ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube." Stay tuned for more updates!
