DIGITAL LIFE

Google and the dictatorship of ads: YouTube starts hiding the skip ad button on cell phones

The new method was identified by users who presented screenshots and more about this attempt, which in turn was based on hiding, with a kind of black rectangle, the button in the browser until the ad ended.

Now, this same attempt can be seen in the mobile application of Google's video platform when they hide the button for a brief period. The technology giant has been looking for ways to combat the use of Adblockers, as well as studying ways to make people watch ads.

With the current change presented, the Skip ad button is only revealed when a certain limit is established, that is, the 5-second counter that signaled when the user could skip the content is disappearing.

Now, it is possible to confuse skippable videos with those that are mandatory to watch. Below is an example posted on Android Police that shows exactly how this will work:

It is worth noting that, as far as we know, these efforts by Google to make users watch commercials are being seen as a less than interesting move, since advertisements are shown even when the YouTube app on the TV is paused.

Considering that YouTube will not actually use a rectangle to cover the button for desktop users, it is possible that we will soon see this method of hiding the skip option counter on PCs as well, not just on mobile phones. Take advantage and check out other new features from YouTube.

It seems that Google has taken a different approach to making its YouTube users watch the platform's advertisements. In recent times, the video platform has been showing long advertisements and others that are not even possible to skip, despite being quite long.

Now, even those that, theoretically, can be skipped, will no longer be able to do so, as Google has been studying a new format to obfuscate the Skip button using small overlays of black rectangles to hide this option.

A Reddit user named BigBlueMountainStar shared a screenshot showing YouTube hiding the skip button while announcing that the chosen video will start soon. Apparently, this is happening with only a few accounts, which could mean that the platform is testing how to apply this change that hides the button in general. Check out the image in question posted on Reddit by the user below: 

It is natural and understandable for a free service to have ads, especially on YouTube, but these changes by Google to force its users to watch everything that is shown have been quite annoying users. Currently, the video platform has been showing ads to YouTube users on TV when they pause a video. The company has also been studying ways to inject ads directly into the server to bypass ad blockers, which have been increasingly popular after these streaming measures. Unfortunately, subscribing to YouTube Premium seems to be the most viable option to avoid being bothered by ads.

mundophone