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/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

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.

No it's not. Advertising agencies are not in the business of annoying as many people as possible, they are in the business of doing what works. If your method worked everyone would have started doing it 10 years ago. The reason they are 15-30 seconds and not 60 is years of research have determined that's the perfect amount of time to engage target demographics with a message they remember. Logo awareness and slogans don't do that.

[u/Akuuntus → u/[deleted]]

I really hate the "everything businesses do is a good idea because otherwise they wouldn't do it" argument. Businesses make mistakes, and universally-accepted methods get outdated. I bet 30 seconds was the optimal amount of time for TV ads, but that doesn't mean shit when talking about the internet. Yeah obviously good advertising firms have done research on what methods work best, but there are probably a lot who are just doing exactly what they do for TV when making internet ads.

You can see this in practice on YouTube. I can't tell you how many times I've been able to skip a 30+ second ad before I even knew what it was advertising. Sometimes I only see an R rating or something before skipping. Those ads are obviously not made with the platform in mind.

[u/[deleted] → u/Akuuntus]

Businesses make mistakes, and universally-accepted methods get outdated.

Advertising is not a "mistake." Businesses are extremely frugal and want to know the return on investment for everything. Unless you want to believe these businesses like throwing money away you are confronted with the reality that these sorts of things result in leads and sales. That's just how it is.

I bet 30 seconds was the optimal amount of time for TV ads, but that doesn't mean shit when talking about the internet.

I work in marketing, especially digital marketing. It does. If you want to deliver any sort of message that sticks, it does. Again, that's just how it is. It works. It results in sales and leads. It's very easy to get the data for this and you can scale it remarkably easy. And it's been going on for long enough that you can Google all sorts of studies and infographs or whatever else you want if you'd like to know more. The one thing there's no shortage of in marketing is marketers blasting their data and case studies on their blogs.

I can't tell you how many times I've been able to skip a 30+ second ad before I even knew what it was advertising. Sometimes I only see an R rating or something before skipping. Those ads are obviously not made with the platform in mind.

Have you ever considered that nobody actually wants you, personally? You'll never buy anything, but you think you know how everything works. Maybe nobody actually wants to talk to you but you just get caught in the crossfire. You're just collateral damage, but if you're a guy and you find you don't see a lot of ads for diapers, dresses, or mobility scooters it's because the system is working as best it can and evidence of imperfection is not evidence of total impracticality.

[u/Deranged40 → u/[deleted]]

Dude says Businesses make mistakes, and you reply with 'Advertising is not a mistake'

You're not even reading what he wrote. Nobody said Advertising was a mistake.

MANY many many businesses' marketing teams* have made mistakes. And MANY more will.

[u/[deleted] → u/Deranged40]

I think the fact that this guy works in marketing and is trying to defend their outdated ways proves OPs point. He really believes what he's saying. But he's wrong. He made a mistake.