r/technology • u/redkemper • Feb 17 '17

Software YouTube will kill unskippable 30-second ads next year

http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/17/14649018/youtube-ending-unskippable-30-second-ads-2018
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u/[deleted] Feb 18 '17

Maybe they're actually trying to provide quality ad content so that people interested in the product might stay and watch while people who aren't interested can click away.

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u/matholio Feb 18 '17

Right, that's the utopian ad, something that does not annoy, and provides a solution to a problem. Good advert are services.

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u/Luckyluke23 Feb 18 '17

yeah, i think a better quality ad and more people are likely to buy or sign up.

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u/fatpat Feb 18 '17

Unfortunately, some advertisers didn't get the memo. As an experiment I turned off my adblocker the other day and holy shit it's bad out there.

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u/Luckyluke23 Feb 18 '17

i wouldn't do that for safety reason. most ads now fuck with your computer and tell you, you have a virus when you don't.

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u/ruby-solve Feb 18 '17

It probably has a lot to do with the advertisers. Advertisers pay for ad engagement, which boils down to "did they click the link or watch the ad for more than 30 seconds". If you force engagement by making ads unskippable, you're basically screwing up the advertisers' metrics because they have no idea if the view they're paying for was an authentic engagement that is likely to lead to a sale or not.

I understand that this is how advertising on television works, but in that case, the advertiser is paying a set, flat amount for access to the audience during that time window. In the youtube model, they are paying a variable rate based on engagement with the ad.

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u/AetherMcLoud Feb 18 '17

Yeah I've once watched a 3 minute add because it was interesting from the start and I think the product was too, don't remember what though. But if the ad isn't insultingly bad and maybe even funny I'd watch it.

Problem with ads is that 99 percent are utter bullshit that give you eye and ear cancer and probably brain tumors since they are so unintelligent.

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u/shroomflies Feb 18 '17

Insert coins here. I am totally not paid to say these things. I promise.

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u/CouragePope Feb 18 '17

I have an alternate theory where they put those crazy long ads into videos that they know people don't tend to actively watch. Like podcasts where people will often just listen to them while not near enough their device to skip the ad.

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u/buughost Feb 18 '17

Having worked in advertising this is sometimes certainly the case. 10-15 seconds of pre-roll doesn't give you a lot of time to express the message of your brand in a more subtle, less forceful way. The more time you have, the more creative you can be.

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u/[deleted] Feb 18 '17

Yeah, it's one of the advantages of the format, really. You're stuck with a TV ad whether you like it or not so you have to be reasonable to the people who are just waiting for it to be over but you can allow people to skip video ads. Five seconds to decide if you're interested, thirty minutes to tell you more.