Great news! YouTube will be removing overlay ads from videos next month
One of the main ways creators on YouTube earn money is through ads that are displayed in their videos. These ads usually come in at the start of the video and sometimes halfway, depending on the length. Then there are overlay ads, which are annoying banners that appear while the video is playing.
The good news is that if you’ve always felt that overlay ads kind of ruined your YouTube experience, then know that they will be going away next month. This is according to a post on the YouTube Forums where it has been confirmed that the feature will be removed on the 6th of April, 2023.
“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 being said, while this is good for viewers, it also means less ways for creators and YouTube themselves to earn money from these ad placements. We’re sure that YouTube could have something else planned to replace it, but right now it is unclear what the company plans to do, but hopefully it will be less annoying and intrusive.
Source: YouTube