Is YouTube Killing Itself With Long Adverts?

Those of us in the copywriting and content writing business appreciate the importance of conciseness. Indeed, written content is, on the whole, getting ever shorter. Bite-size chunks are what it’s all about. So, why do video commercials seem to be getting ever longer? Of course, I’m talking about YouTube.

Like many people, recently I’ve resorted to using adblockers when it comes to the world’s biggest video site. And, until now, it’s worked pretty well. But, as you may have noticed, the geniuses at YouTube have declared war on adblockers to push people to subscribe to the paid, ad-free YouTube Premium service.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I appreciate that YouTube is a business, and has every right to make money. But, I suspect it is currently following a path that will lead to its downfall.

You see, I have no problem with adverts. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated by commercials - which is probably why I ended up in the world of marketing. In fact, I’ve been using YouTube since the early days, and it’s only within the last year that I’ve resorted to using adblockers. And, the reason? The insanely long unskippable advertisements. Simply put, they are becoming insufferable.

Again, if an advert is entertaining and relevant, then maybe I’d sit through it once or twice, but that isn’t the case. Most adverts are either painfully boring, scammy, or completely irrelevant to me. Worse still, if you live in a small country like I do (Malta - the tiny archipelago between Sicily and Libya), there are very few geotargeted ads, so you end up seeing the same three over and over and over and over.

I’ve never been to Turkey, and by all accounts, it’s a fascinating place, but I’m really starting to hate it because of the interminable Turkish Airlines ad. I’ve never used a certain local butcher, but I never will because of their cringeworthy and unskippable ads. And, if I am forced to sit through another crypto scam ad featuring a deepfake of Elon Musk, I’ll probably throw my laptop off the balcony.

Of course, I want to keep this post short and sweet, so I’m going to leave it at that for today. But, if anyone from YouTube sees this, please for the love of God, pull back from the brink and think about it. And, as for advertisers, I swear, a five or six-second teaser will not only work better for your brand but also cost a whole lot less.

Is it just me, or do long YouTube ads drive you up the wall too?