Last week, some YouTubers took to Reddit to post images of black rectangles on the video sharing platform. The shapes appeared to right where the “skip” button should be during ad playback, suggesting that YouTube was obfuscating the process to get you to sit through marketing.
However, YouTube is now saying that’s not the case. In a statement to The Verge, a spokesperson said that “YouTube is not hiding the skip button.” According to the representative, the button will appear after 5 seconds of ad playback, as it “always” has on the platform.
Instead, what YouTube is doing, it says, is “reducing elements on the ads player” so that “viewers can engage more deeply with the ad through a cleaner experience.” Basically, a progress bar will appear on the screen to indicate when users can skip the ad. In other words, YouTube is apparently just changing how ads are presented without actually making it harder to skip them.
That said, the company is still pushing ads in other ways, including through tools to combat third-party ad blockers. Of course, YouTube Premium is also available for $13.99/month to remove ads entirely.
Source: The Verge
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