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YouTube Will Kill Unskippable 30-Second Ads Next Year (theverge.com)

YouTube is planning to do away with the non-skippable 30-second ads that appear before a YouTube video. From a report: In a statement first given to Campaign then confirmed by The Verge, a Google spokesperson said the company will focus on commercial formats that are more engaging for both advertisers and viewers. "We're committed to providing a better ads experience for users online. As part of that, we've decided to stop supporting 30-second unskippable ads as of 2018 and focus instead on formats that work well for both users and advertisers," Google said.

2 of 168 comments (clear)

  1. ads on youtube by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wait, there are adverts on youtube?

  2. Re:TANSTAAFL by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Advertising outlived its welcome, though.

    First and foremost, people have been treated like cattle by the ad industry for way too long. Knowing that people can't do anything but grin and bear it, they became more and more obnoxious, and now that people can actually go and give them the finger, they come whining. Sorry, but fuck you. Even IF you treat me with respect now, it's too late to apologize. Dear advertising industry, please go and die. I'd love if you did it slowly and in agony, but for practicality reasons, just make it quick.

    Aside of this, they're doing it wrong. This could be the most topical ad in the world they're showing, the ad that could change my life to the better, provide me with more money than I could want, make me rich and famous, unite me with the perfect partner that I will love for all eternity, and still I would not want anything but to get rid of that ad. Why? Because it gets into the way of what I wanted to do.

    How does the average YouTube experience look like? At least to me, this looks like this: I think "hey, that's a song I want to hear" or "hey, that's a documentary I'd like to see", I go on YouTube, I find it, I click start and ... an ad. That is not what I want. That is by no means what I want. I'm neither interested in this ad nor am I actually even noticing what it is for, all I do is search the "skip it" button, or if there isn't one, reload the page until you finally get an ad that is either 5 seconds long or does have a "skip it" button.

    This is why the whole thing doesn't work.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.