Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The YouTube mobile app is starting to hide its countdown timer and grayed-out skip button when it plays ads.
- The skip button now only surfaces after a user has watched a specific portion of the ad, and it becomes skippable.
- This could push users to focus on the ads’ content instead of fixating on the now-retired countdown timer.
It’s no secret that Google really wants users to pay for its YouTube Premium service. Beyond adding exclusive features to the paid tier, the platform has been making the free service more irritating to use, which pressures viewers to subscribe. In its latest experiment, YouTube is hiding the countdown timer and grayed-out skip button when playing ads in its mobile app. The skip button now suddenly appears once a user has watched enough of the advertisement.
According to Android Police, YouTube for mobile is now hiding the countdown timer when playing ads for some users. The change was seemingly applied to push viewers to focus on the advertisement itself rather than when they can skip it. So, instead of locking the skip button behind a visible timer, the button abruptly appears when users have watched a specific portion of the ad.
Interestingly, users can still estimate when a YouTube ad will become skippable through the yellow seek bar at the bottom of the video. This subtly delivers the needed information without distracting users from the sponsored content.
Like most fresh YouTube introductions, this change to how ads work on mobile appears to be a limited test. The company seemingly hasn’t officially announced it, and not all users are spotting it. Whether Google kills it or expands its availability to all users remains unclear.
