YouTube TV users will soon have to endure longer and more frequent ads when watching videos on their TVs. The platform announced on Wednesday that it will introduce 30-second unskippable ads on connected TVs, replacing the two consecutive 15-second ads that can appear before a video starts. They will also begin testing ads that show up when users pause videos.
The new ad formats are part of YouTube’s efforts to appeal to advertisers who want to reach viewers on the big screen. Longer ads, they said, will allow for richer storytelling and better engagement with viewers. However, some users may find the longer ads annoying and intrusive, especially if they cannot skip them after a few seconds.
The company has not specified when the full rollout of 30-second unskippable ads will happen, but it has already started testing them on US viewers of YouTube Select content. There is no announcement yet on whether it will be expanded to other markets, but if testing proves successful, the platform will likely implement it to a wider audience.
In addition to longer ads, YouTube will also experiment with ads that appear when users pause videos on connected TVs. These ads will be displayed as banners around the video, and users will have the option to dismiss them.
The introduction of these new ad formats brings YouTube closer to traditional TV advertising, where unskippable ad breaks have always been the norm.
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To get rid of ads altogether, you can subscribe to YouTube Premium. In the Philippines, it costs ₱159 per month. Apart from ad-free watching, it offers background play and downloads for offline viewing, as well as the new 1080p Premium video quality and YouTube Music Premium.
