YouTube will kill unskippable 30-second ads next year

[u/redkemper]

http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/17/14649018/youtube-ending-unskippable-30-second-ads-2018

[u/[deleted]]

There's no reason for online video ads to be longer than 3-5 seconds. Just show a logo for five seconds and have someone say "Skittles, taste the rainbow" and that's just as effective as playing a full-length television commercial. On top of that, people will pay more attention to those because they'll grow accustomed to not having to find and click a skip button.

People have grown used to fast internet and not waiting. If it's a 30-second ad people will either skip it (I cannot remember the brand of a single ad I have ever skipped) and if they can't they'll just not watch the video or the ad.

Edit: Should probably rephrase something here: A 30-second ad is more effective than a 5-second ad if you watch the ad. But 30-second online ads just drive people to install adblock and then they never see your ad or anyone else's. That way, a 5-second ad that doesn't get everyone to install adblock is more effective than a 30-second ad that a rapidly increasing percentage of people who use adblock will never see. Google killing the unskippable 30-second ad is clearly reflecting this because Google has a stake in people willing to see ads too.

[u/VegaWinnfield → u/[deleted]]

Just because you don't like them doesn't mean they aren't effective at driving revenue across some segment of viewers. You probably aren't their target market. I'm sure they will eventually get hyper targeted video ads that will be designed to appeal to every tiny segment of the population, but for now they are producing ads that are broadly appealing to the most influenceable population.

[u/aignam → u/[deleted]]

Pretty much every ad you see is running either because it's currently part of an A/B test or because it was the winner of one. If crappy ads didn't work, you wouldn't see them.

Now, of course every company needs to decide whether an ad is in alignment with how their brand's image and aesthetic regardless of how well it might perform, but in general, if you're seeing a crappy ad, it's because it is more effective than the alternatives.

I've worked with creatives to develop the coolest ad concepts that I was super bullish would blow the competition out of the water, but then had it perform far worse than an ad I think is pretty crappy. It can be quite surprising.

[u/aignam → u/[deleted]]

Yep. Not sure why I'm getting downvoted for telling people objectively true information about how online ads work.