Life is about to get very frustrating for people watching YouTube on their TVs if they don’t subscribe to avoid ads. At the YouTube Brandcast event announced, that the company will soon place 30-second unskippable ads next to top-performing content viewed on connected TVs. Viewers will see a single 30-second ad instead of two consecutive 15-second commercials, but that doesn’t mean shorter ads will disappear entirely. The 30-second ads will be available to advertisers through YouTube Select, a premium advertising platform that targets the top five percent of YouTube content. The company claims that 70 percent of YouTube Select impressions come from TVs, making it an ideal platform for longer ads.
“Viewers are increasingly turning on YouTube on the biggest screen in their home,” YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said at the Brandcast event. “Viewers – especially younger viewers – no longer differentiate between what content they watch”. At the advertising industry event, the video platform wanted to emphasize to the representatives of the advertising agencies that it had a right to exist not only among the TV networks, but also that they were the best option in terms of reaching consumers. “It’s a place where advertisers can build their brands,” said Sean Downey, president of sales for Google and YouTube. Downey cited recent data from Nielsen, according to which YouTube was the most viewed streaming platform in April. Due to the screenwriters’ strike, it was particularly beneficial this year that the company’s platform is based on user-generated content, as they will not be affected by the cancellation of the series and the expected drop in viewership.
YouTube also announced that it will begin testing ads that appear when a viewer pauses a video on a connected TV. It’s similar to the in-pause ad feature that Hulu introduced a few years ago, and marketers dubbed it the “Pause Experience.” Based on the published example photo, such advertisements from YouTube will appear in the form of a banner next to the video, and it will be possible to remove them by selecting the “decline” button. “We’re going to experiment with that and learn with the brands, and then we’re going to launch more definitive products,” Downey said.
Pressing Pause will immediately display an ad on YouTube
Hulu’s success is not clear, advertisers have had mixed reactions to its effectiveness. “In terms of reach and brand awareness, inter-break ads are good, but not great,” said David Mirsky, group director of MMI Agency. “These have limited storytelling opportunities, but offer a valuable format that brands can use to cement themselves in the minds of consumers.” Mirsky added that interstitial ads could be even more compelling when added with audio and other creative options.
YouTube did not say when the changes – 30-second non-skippable ads and inter-break ads – would be rolled out. These announcements follow the video hosting platform’s recent crackdown on ad blockers. Last week, YouTube revealed that it is experimenting with pop-up messages that say “Ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube” and prevent the desired video from playing, encouraging viewers to subscribe to YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience.
Source: SG.hu Hírmagazin – IT/Tech by sg.hu.
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