Bad news marketers, or maybe not.
Gone were the days we got to enjoy YouTube videos without having to skip any ads. Just like how Neil Patel had put it:
But also, gone were the days we got annoyed at the pervasive “Skip after 5 second” or “30 seconds unskippable ads”. We just got used to it and got along with life. YouTube needs to keep their business running anyway and I’m pretty much thankful that even now in 2017, YouTube is still relatively free.
Good News
However, YouTube just released some pretty good news for people who still simply hate ads. By 2018, YouTube will remove their 30-second advertisement to focus on effective advertising options that would actually work for both advertisers and consumers.
Additionally, new advertising options has already been launched, including the new “6 seconds ad”, or bumper ads that mostly cater to mobile users who account for up to 50% of YouTube views.
Skippable ads vs Unskippable ads
YouTube has observed that skippable ads deliver stronger engagement. More often than not, Trueview ads, or widely known as skippable ads appeal to the short-attention span of viewers these days and they are more user-friendly.
With skippable ads, advertisers can drive results by reaching out to people who are genuinely interested in their products, hence it’s known to be more effective. On the other hand, for unskippable ads, advertisers might be paying dollars to show their ads to completely uninterested parties.
Video is the new king
This is seemingly the trend as the announcement came after Facebook announced that they will remove ads that are played before videos, only allowing ads to be played in between videos instead. There has been an increased focus on video marketing in the tech world. In fact, in a recent report by Adobe, “videos” are one of the up and rising trends in digital marketing industry.
YouTube, however, will keep their “5 second skippable ads” as well as their 20 seconds ad.
I mean, we don’t really have the option of skipping ads on TV anyway. Besides, does anyone still watch the TV?
