Unless you subscribe to YouTube Premium, you have to deal with watching video ads when you want to check out the latest viral clip on Google's streaming video service. However, one very annoying ad format will be taking its last bows next month.
In a post on YouTube's support site (via Android Police), the service announced that it will no longer support what it calls the "Overlay ads” ad format. Those are the banner ads that show up on the bottom of your YouTube video. However, they only were seen by people who accessed YouTube on the desktop website.
The support page admits:
Overlay ads are a legacy ad format that only served on desktop and are disruptive for viewers. We expect to see limited impact for most Creators as engagement shifts to other ad formats.
The overlay ads will officially disappear on April 6. Frankly, we don't understand why those ads shouldn't be taken down immediately, but perhaps there are contracts with ad agencies that might delay their disappearance until next month.
Google's YouTube division will likely see some more changes in 2023 under its new leader Neal Mohan. Earlier in March, he posted some of his plans for the business in the next year. That includes expanding revenues for both YouTube and its creators beyond ads. He plans to add more support for subscriptions, additional shopping options, and more.
Source: YouTube via Android Police
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