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Yes, more ads! Six-second, unskippable Snapchat ads rolling out now
- There are new Snapchat ads on the Snapchat app that are six seconds long – and unskippable.
- The new Snapchat ads are part of an experimental program to raise ad-viewing time within the app.
- The current average ad-viewing time in Snapchat is only two seconds.
Everyone loves ads, which is why it’s so exciting that Snapchat is rolling out a new experimental ad program starting today, via AdAge. In fact, you may have already come across one; it’s the unskippable, six-second ad you saw promoting Deadpool 2, the new movie Tag, and the Samsung Galaxy S9.
Luckily, the ads only appear in Snapchat Shows – the professionally-produced media content from partners like Disney, NBC, and Viacom. You won’t see the ads in your Stories or other posts from your friends…at least not yet.
When you see an ad, there’s no indication that you can’t skip it. It’s only when you tap the ad in an attempt to skip it that you see the message “Continue in 6…” with the numerals counting down to zero.
Reportedly, Snapchat is testing these new ads to appease advertisers, who are unhappy with how little ad-viewing happens within the app. According to AdAge, the average ad-viewing time within Snapchat is only two seconds. It’s hard to see Snapchat raising profits with that small of a metric.
Although, all things being equal, it is nice that the ads are limited to six seconds. Some YouTube ads, for example, can last for much longer than that, and they are also unskippable. If you only have to wait six seconds between parts of a Snapchat Show, that’s not exactly the worst thing in the world. However, ads are still ads.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could view these experimental ads on our Android device using the new redesign of the Snapchat app? Oh, wait – there’s still no word on when that’s coming to Android. Oh well.