Google continues to make some interesting choices when it comes to how the company approaches YouTube and advertising. Aside from all the different ways that the tech company has tried to push users to purchase YouTube Premium instead of using ad blockers, the company has also been making some interesting changes to the platform as a whole since 2023. It recently expanded testing for direct messaging — a feature that was originally retired in 2019. Now, it looks like Google is turning its attention back to advertising, as the company has announced some big changes coming to the YouTube app on smart TVs.
According to a post shared on Google’s Ads & Commerce Blog, the company has now brought unskippable ads to the YouTube app on TVs. The ads are designed to use AI to help optimize their deliveries. These ads will range from six-second bumpers to 15- and 30-second “CTV-only” unskippable formats. Google says the move is to help ensure that advertisers’ campaigns can reach the “right audience at the right time.”
Of course, that doesn’t change what it will mean for users, and being forced to potentially watch 30-second unskippable ads in videos is bound to be annoying for anyone. Considering ad blockers are a bit less of an issue on TVs, and YouTube was one of the highest-watched streamers on TVs last year, this move might not feel great to many. Unfortunately, it’s not the first time Google has done something like this.
The latest in a long line of ad changes
Over the past several years, we’ve seen Google take some extreme measures to increase the number of ads that reach YouTube viewers. These measures include blocking Adblock Plus users in Chrome and even slowing down load times for users with ad blockers. Now, while many people understand the nature of advertising online and how it helps to cover costs for websites, there’s also the fact that it is hard not to be a bit frustrated by how bad YouTube’s advertising setup has become for viewers, with people complaining on Reddit that they had multiple unskippable ads within a matter of minutes when watching a video.
So, the fact that YouTube is about to start forcing TV watchers to view unskippable ads throughout their videos just feels like another chapter in the long-running gag that is Google’s attempt to increase advertising efforts on the platform. Whether or not it will make any changes to the system going forward remains to be seen, but in the meantime, your best bet to avoid these new ads is to subscribe to YouTube Premium.
