YouTube kills the 30-second unskippable ad format

YouTube said that it’s no longer making its 30-second unskippable ad formats available for advertisers after this year. From next year onwards, brands can purchase other unskippable ads such as 20-second promos and 6-second bumper ads.A statement from Google to Marketing said:“We’re committed to providing a better ads experience for users online. As part of that, we’ve decided to stop supporting 30-second unskippable ads as of 2018 and focus instead on formats that work well for both users and advertisers.”(Read also: Top 10 YouTube ads in Singapore from July to December 2016)Desh Balakrishnan, managing director of Maxus said the move was a good one as it “saves all consumers from the grueling 30-seconds of watching a non-skippable video”.“ With the shorter non skippable formats, the time spent waiting for it to be over is not that long, especially with the 6-seconds format,” he added.Meanwhile an Unruly "Future Video Survey" found that two-thirds (60%) of viewers are put off brands when they are forced to watch pre-roll ads, and consumers want user-friendly, non-interruptive ad formats that empower them to share and interact.Shorter, more engaging videos are the format for mobile, with long form emotional ads still relevant for leisure time."This YouTube move is positive for the industry as it pushes advertisers to innovate their digital strategies. That said, YouTube users will be disappointed to hear that they'll have to put up with 30-second forced pre-roll ads until 2018," said Phil Townend, Unruly’s chief commercial officer, APAC.Meanwhile, earlier this month YouTube added on live streaming to find new ways to let creators and viewers interact with each other and the videos they watch. It will roll out the new mobile live streaming feature to every creator with more than 10,000 subscribers.To help creators earn revenue from live streaming, YouTube also launched Super Chat, a new live stream monetisation tool available to creators in more than 20 countries (and viewers in more than 40 countries).