Ads have gradually crept into the YouTube experience as a means of keeping the site online and providing financial assistance to content producers. However, it appears that YouTube is already exceeding even this with as many as ten unskippable adverts appearing in a single break.
The majority of YouTube videos have commercials before they even start playing, and if the video’s author allows it, there may even be commercials within the video itself. Commercial breaks can range anything from a few seconds to several minutes, though viewers are typically given the opportunity to fast-forward through longer commercials after a certain amount of time has elapsed.
It has come to the attention of several YouTube users that the length and frequency of commercials on the platform have increased dramatically over the past month or two, particularly in formats that cannot be skipped.
Ad breaks in larger videos can occur as frequently as every few minutes, as pointed out in multiple threads on Reddit. A recent rise in complaints about excessive, unskippable advertisements during YouTube video breaks is almost as bad. Recent tweets and Reddit threads highlight ad breaks with as many as ten consecutive spots that cannot be ignored.
It is reported by multiple users that YouTube is currently testing an ad format that shows 5 to 10 UNSKIPPABLE ADS before their video starts. pic.twitter.com/A1lBhj0Rfl
— Alvin (@sondesix) September 14, 2022
It’s not happening with every movie or every viewer, but lengthier gaps between videos do seem to be on the rise recently. Ten commercials are the norm, but users with roughly five ads every break are more common.
As for the good news? Those commercials don’t last forever. According to user feedback, these commercials often last no more than six seconds, implying that even a commercial break consisting of ten nonskippable commercials would last no more than sixty seconds.
The “TeamYouTube” Twitter account responded to a user’s complaint about the increase in adverts by explaining that the format used to display these ads at the beginning of videos is known as “bumper ads.”
So @YouTube 2 ads weren’t enough now y’all wanna play 5 ads that no one cares for AND I CANT SKIP ?
— Mermaid Vee 🧜🏽♀️ (@BadGyalVeeVee) September 7, 2022
Since bumper commercials can only be up to six seconds long, YouTube used Twitter to add that “this may happen with a certain sort of ad style.” But they haven’t even noticed the surge in advertisements.
A YouTube representative informed Google that the “many advertising in an ad pod” format was being tested on a modest scale globally when people were viewing lengthier videos on TV. They also said the test was over and that they had succeeded in their mission to “reduce ad breaks” and improve the user experience.
Supposedly, ad pods were initially launched in 2018, albeit in a limited capacity, to gauge the optimal quantity of advertising needed to support long-form video playback without disrupting the user experience. Additionally, the streaming service reaffirmed that improving the user experience is its top priority and that one way to do so is by decreasing the number of advertisements displayed. It’s worth noting that not every user had to contend with the 5 unskippable commercials; some were still getting only 2 unskippable ads, as they had been before, while others were getting at least 10 unskippable ads or more.