YouTube Drops Overlay Ads On Desktop Site Starting April 6

YouTube Drops Overlay Ads On Desktop Site Starting April 6

Say bye-bye to the banner ads that occupies the bottom section of the videos.

Starting April 6, YouTube will no longer show “Overlay ads” on videos for desktop and browser, which are banner-style pop-up ads that often block or interrupt the currently playing content. The removal of this ad format was confirmed by the video platform in a Help Forum post, stating that it is a “disruptive” legacy ad format for viewers. On the mobile platform, Overlay ads have long been replaced by pre-, mid-, and post-roll ad formats.

YouTube has assured that the removal of Overlay ads will have a “limited impact” on creators, and the company will shift to “other ad formats,” although it did not provide any specifics. Since Overlay ads are only shown on desktop platforms, it is likely to constitute a smaller proportion of ads shown on monetized content.

YouTube Studio will no longer allow the activation or addition of Overlay ads from April 6, 2023. It is unclear what the replacement will be, but it could include the recent “Product Tagging” feature, which allows creators to tag products featured or used in their videos.

Source: 9to5Google

Pokdepinion: I mean, given their push on the full-screen (and sometimes unskippable) ads, I can see this format rendered largely redundant for a long time by now.