YouTube, the video-sharing social media platform wholly owned by Google, has recently silently implemented a new ad format starting this September 2022. YouTube users who are not subscribed to YouTube Premium, will now receive up to 5 advertisements to be watched, before your video starts.

The news broke out when several YouTube Free users started complaining on Twitter and Reddit that they have been receiving 5 ads instead of 2, before they could watch their YouTube video. 

So @YouTube 2 ads weren’t enough now y’all wanna play 5 ads that no one cares for AND I CANT SKIP ?

— Mermaidvee (@BadGyalVeeVee) September 7, 2022

youtube just gave me 5 long unskipable ads pic.twitter.com/FgUUrzZvoB

— The Ricked One (@LoganC01962550) September 8, 2022

For several YouTube Free users, they reported that they have received 5 unskippable advertisements as opposed to skippable advertisements before a video-watching session, and this caused dissent and upset among the users.

Regarding the matter, YouTube has issued an official reply on Twitter acknowledging the situation and stated that the new 5-ad phenomenon could happen to YouTube users with the company’s certain type of ad format called bumper ads. As explained by YouTube, these bumper ads are short-form ads on the platform that are typically 6 seconds long, and unfortunately unskippable.

hmm…this may happen with a certain type of ad format called bumper ads, since they're only up to 6 seconds long. if you'd like, you can send feedback directly from YouTube via the send feedback tool

— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) September 7, 2022

Currently not all YouTube Free users are experiencing the “5 ads before your video starts” situation, so it seems like YouTube is currently testing out the waters among selected YouTube Free users. As of now, most users of YouTube Free are only receiving up to 2 ads before their video starts, but it is not known whether the “5-ad format” change will be rolled out to all YouTube Free users soon.

Lastly, YouTube reiterates that if both Free and Premium users have any feedback regarding YouTube’s ad policy, users can always send feedback directly to the company via the “Send Feedback” tool on the company’s video-sharing platform.

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(Source Main, Source 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

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