I promise, YouTube doesn’t play hide and seek with the button to skip the ads

Have you noticed a change on YouTube to the “Skip” button to skip ads shown before videos? If so, you are probably not alone, but YouTube confirms this week that you have ideas… at least in part.

Some users have in fact noticed in recent days the appearance of a rectangle obscuring the “Skip” button on the web version of the platform.

As for the specialized media Android Policehe recently reported a change on the mobile version of the service, resulting in removing the old countdown. The “Ignore” button, as you can see at this address, then appears after a thin loading bar has come to an end, and only at the very last moment.

YouTube responds: there is definitely something new, but on the countdown

In a press release sent to The Verge, YouTube responded and assured that it did not intend to hide the “Ignore” button. On the other hand, the firm explains that it has started testing a new form of countdown on the Web and Mobile versions of its platform. Changes in the advertising broadcaster are also being tested. Enough to explain the observations ofAndroid Police and certain users.

“YouTube does not hide the “Skip” button. On ads that can be skipped, this button appears after 5 seconds of playback, as usual,” YouTube assured, then indicating that it had “ minimizes items on ad player ».

« Mobile phone and desktop users can on the other hand see the countdown appear in the form of a progress bar at the bottom of the screen », Also adds the Google subsidiary.

The stated objective is to allow more user engagement with advertisements broadcast before the videos. New features that are part of YouTube’s advertising strategy. An increasingly forceful strategy, some would say, which aims to strengthen the group’s profitability, but also to push more users towards the paid YouTube Premium offer… very lucrative for Google.