Video streaming giant YouTube is working on a new way to ensure users see ads and don’t skip them. This includes hiding the ‘Skip’ button option.
The free viewing experience that users have been benefiting from, thanks to the Skip button, could soon be disguised from user view. But if you’ve really got a problem with ads, the app is giving you the chance to pay extra and subscribe to Premium.
Google says ad monetization is one of the chief ways it makes money and helps creators get their rightful share. Hence, features like ad blockers have already made it hard for websites on the search engine to benefit and now the skip button is also hindering its monetization potential.
We can see this as a smart tactic to push marketing of its premium tier. Remember, so many viewers are complaining about how ad segments keep getting longer by the day. And if you can’t skip them, it just adds to a not-so-pleasurable experience.
The app has been very vocal about the ongoing debate against freeloaders who don’t want Premium and also don’t want to watch ads that help the company support its free services including streaming.
Google shared its dilemma on many platforms about how users are getting smarter with new extensions on browsers and ad blockers to hinder ads. This is why it might be forced to take on such drastic measures after all.
Another experiment had the app injecting ads inside video streams to stop any kind of blocking feature. And now this is coming into play as its next move to promote ads. It’s all thanks to one Reddit user who says they caught the app carrying out a test that hides the Skip button that users see once, after which you cannot skip the ad.
The placement is very smart as it’s out of the users’ reach and blocked by on-screen stickers. You can liken this to the sticker disguising skipping tips on POS machines.
As per the comments seen on that person’s Reddit thread, others were also confirming that they were seeing this take place and how it might be launched much sooner than expected. Who knows, this might be a limited test as the negative feedback is growing on the subject. And if you know the Android maker, it really does take users’ feedback into consideration.
It’s all going to remain a mystery for some time but we’ll keep you updated. Whatever the case may be, the thought of hiding the skip button is really extreme and it seems like Google is running out of options to hinder skipping ads.
What can be possibly worse is the app opting to delete the skipping ads button as a whole. Yikes, that would be a nightmare we feel. Do you agree?
Image: BigBlueMountainStar /Reddit
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