Rejoice! For, from April 6, thou shalt no longer be compelled to endure video overlay advertisements on YouTube.
The Google-owned video sharing portal has decreed that the video viewing experience on desktop will no longer be hampered by an advertisement taking over portion of the display and impeding the content.
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The news comes via an updated YouTube Help post, where Google calls the overlay ads a “legacy format” calling them “disruptive” for the viewing experience. You’re not kidding! They were only shown on the desktop version of the app, so mobile users won’t notice a difference.
The post reads: “Starting on April 6th, 2023, the “Overlay ads” ad format will no longer appear on YouTube to help improve the viewer experience and shift engagement to higher performing ad formats on desktop and mobile devices. Overlay ads are a legacy ad format that only served on desktop and are disruptive for viewers. We expect to see limited impact for most Creators as engagement shifts to other ad formats.”
That doesn’t mean ads are going away, unless you’re a YouTube Premium subscriber. The pre-roll and mid-video ads will still be a massive part of the YouTube experience moving forward. As thus, Google says it doesn’t expect Creator revenue to be affected by the change.
If you can’t abide by YouTube ads at all, you can fork over a £11.99/$11.99 a month and get YouTube Premium. This also gives you the ability to download videos, and access to the YouTube Music streaming service. You can also listen to the audio from YouTube videos in the background while doing other things on your phone.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.