Earlier this week, YouTube users began reporting 90-second ad breaks appearing within videos being streamed to televisions, seemingly expanding on the 30-second rollout that initially kicked off last year. YouTube has officially responded to these claims, but in doing so, it’s raising more questions than providing answers.
In a reply to popular Twitter account Dexerto regarding reports about these extended ad breaks, Team YouTube said its application currently does not utilize non-skippable 90-second ad breaks, nor is it actively testing this type of format. YouTube also said it’s “looking into this further,” though it’s not particularly clear what that means in the context of this experience. Multiple viewers posted similar accounts — including practically identical images — right down to noting that the UI initially promises the ability to skip in “90+ seconds.”
A representative for YouTube also reached out to 9to5Google to share the company’s official response as posted to Twitter while reiterating those exact comments.
None of this so far specifically provides an answer as to why these reports began popping up this week if 90-second ad breaks aren’t actually happening. If it’s a bug, you’d think YouTube would lean in that direction, rather than simply saying it’s “looking into this further.” If it’s an accidental rollout, well, that’s not too far off from A/B testing. Frankly, I’m having trouble coming up with an explanation that doesn’t imply some amount of work being done to experiment with this new format.
We’ve asked YouTube for further comment on how these ad breaks began appearing in the first place if it’s not something being actively tested by the company, and will update if we hear back. For now, if you’ve spotted 90-second unskippable ads while streaming YouTube videos to your television, share your experience in the comments — we’d love to hear about it.
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