You'll soon have to watch 30-second non-skip YouTube ads on TV

Non-skip ads on YouTube app

At the YouTube Brandcast event in New York on May 17, YouTube executives announced that the platform would introduce non-skipping 30-second ads for the most-watched content on TV, similar to the ads that users have had to watch between TV shows or cable shows for decades.

Additionally, YouTube has also begun testing “Pause Experiences” for YouTube on TV, a feature that will display ads whenever a user pauses a video.

According to Nielsen estimates, more than 150 million unique viewers in the US watched YouTube and YouTube TV on television in December 2022. YouTube remains the most-watched service on television in the US (both streaming platforms and traditional channels).

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan says more people are choosing to watch YouTube on their TVs, calling it a “seismic shift” in how people consume video content. Audiences, especially younger ones, no longer differentiate between the types of content they watch. When they turn on their TVs, they want to watch everything in one place, from their favorite creators to blockbuster movies to football matches. And they can find it all on YouTube.

According to Mr. Mohan, YouTube is using artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver ads to the right audience, improving the measurement of reaching audiences no matter where they are watching. He commented that AI will change the way people produce videos.

The 30-second non-skipping ads will appear in YouTube Select, the top 5% of content viewed and interacted with on the platform. Sean Downey, Google’s president of ad sales, said it will give marketers the opportunity to tell “longer-form” stories to build brand awareness. The new ads will first appear in the US before expanding internationally.

As for Pause Experiences, they will be “incredibly visual” ads, Downey said. They will also include a QR code for users to scan and interact with the brand.

According to Vietnamnet