Not all YouTube ads are unskippable – but some are.
YouTube has six different kinds of ad formats that you may experience while watching YouTube videos. These are skippable in-stream ads, non-skippable in-stream ads, in-feed video ads, bumper ads, outstream ads, and masthead ads.
Let’s go through each to see if they are unskippable or not.
Incidentally, YouTube TV also has unskippable ads, but these are slightly different from ads on YouTube. To learn more about YouTube TV ads, see our why does YouTube TV have ads? article here.
Quick Links
Six types of YouTube ads
Skippable in-stream ads
Skippable in-stream ads, as the name would suggest, are skippable. These are the ads you see before, during, or after watching a video, and are longer than 15 seconds long.
It’s because of this length that these in-stream ads are skippable – you can choose to skip them after the first 5 seconds rather than having to watch the entire ad through from start to finish.
Non-skippable in-stream ads
Non-skippable in-stream ads are exactly the same as skippable in-stream ads, with the only difference being the length of the ad and therefore the ability to skip.
Non-skippable in-stream ads are limited to 15 seconds or shorter, and it’s because of this length limit that they cannot be skipped.
In-feed video ads (formerly discovery ads)
Despite the name of these ads, these aren’t actually video ads – they’re just a thumbnail image and some text. So these ads are unskippable – you just have to scroll past them to avoid them.
Bumper ads
Bumper ads are those video ads you see mostly at the start of a YouTube video, and are 6 seconds long maximum. They’re called bumper ads because they’re really short, and are just a little bumper.
Because of their super short length, YouTube bumper ads are unskippable.
Outstream ads
Despite promoting YouTube video content, outstream ads aren’t actually available on YouTube itself – only websites and apps running on Google video partners.
So we won’t talk about these here.
Masthead ads
YouTube masthead ads only appear on the YouTube homepage, and can be up to 30 seconds long.
Masthead ads are technically skippable, as they will often have a ‘Close Ad’ icon in the top right that you can click to hide the advert altogether.
To summarize:
Can you skip skippable in-stream ads? Yes.
Can you skip non-skippable in-stream ads? No.
Can you skip in-feed video ads? No.
Can you skip bumper ads? No.
Can you skip outstream ads? N/A.
Can you skip masthead ads? Yes (technically).
This does beg the question though – why are some YouTube ads skippable and some are not?
Why are (some) YouTube Ads unskippable?
The main determinant of whether a YouTube ad is skippable or not is it’s length – how long the advert is.
If the ad is shorter, they will be unskippable, meaning you have to watch them from start to finish. If they’re longer, they will generally be skippable.
The reason YouTube allows both skippable and unskippable ads is that by having both, YouTube is subtly pushing advertisers to opt for the non-skippable ad formats, so that the advert they paid money to produce doesn’t immediately get skipped after just 5 seconds.
This strategy benefits YouTube too, as the shorter the ads are, the more of them YouTube can show to a user, meaning the more ad revenue YouTube makes.
Frequently asked questions
Why are there so many unskippable ads on YouTube?
While it may seem that there are forever more and more unskippable ads on YouTube, you’re not alone in thinking that. Plus, you’re right – there are more unskippable ads on YouTube.
Because unskippable YouTube ads are shorter in length, YouTube will serve more of them to it’s users, including you. That’s why you will sometimes see ‘Ad 1 of 2’ before the YouTube video you’re trying to watch.
This strategy makes more money for YouTube in the form of ad revenue, as they can show more ads to it’s users.
Why am I getting more unskippable 15-second ads from YouTube?
15 second videos are the longest video ad length YouTube will show that you can’t skip. These YouTube ads are called Non-Skippable In-Stream Ads.
The proportion of skippable YouTube ads vs unskippable YouTube ads is not determined by YouTube (at least not directly), but rather by how many of each ad type advertisers buy (YouTube can indirectly push advertisers to want to buy certain ad formats over others, so they do indirectly have some control over the distribution of ad types shown on the platform).
Because advertisers don’t like to get their ads skipped after the first 5 seconds, the majority of them will only create their ads to be up to 15 seconds in length, so that they can’t be skipped by the user.
The result of this is that as more and more advertisers choose to advertise on YouTube, the number of 15 second unskippable ads has ballooned, as advertisers see these as the best ads to advertise their brands on the platform.
Why do companies use unskippable YouTube ads?
Companies choose to use unskippable ads as they are the best format promote their brand’s products and/or services without their advertising message being butchered in the form of skipping it 5 seconds in.
These companies spend a lot of time and money creating, designing, filming, and editing these ads, so the last thing they want is for someone to skip it immediately after it loads.
Hence, more and more advertisers on YouTube choose to use unskippable YouTube ads to ensure their marketing is not ruined.
1 thought on “Why are YouTube Ads Unskippable?”
Comments are closed.