YouTube ads are about to get more intrusive

Unless you give Google $10 each month, odds are that you watch your fair share of ads on YouTube. Unfortunately for those sick and tired of ads, get ready for those ads to feature additional interactivity and be more interruptive as a result of new extensions.

According to its blog post, Google expanded its TrueView in-stream ad format to allow advertisers to create more interactive ads. For example, an ad for an upcoming movie would allow YouTube users to browse nearby theaters, movie times, and movie formats. From there, they can purchase movie tickets without leaving the video.

Other examples include flight bookings and app downloads. Vodafone, Chili’s, 20th Century Fox, Headspace, and Maybelline are listed as early testers, though more companies will likely sign up in the near future. The new extensions are already paying dividends for Vodafone, which reported an increased number of ad clicks with its interactive YouTube ads.

Even though this is great news for companies, the new ads will likely not sit well with YouTube users. For starters, the aforementioned movie ad takes over the entire screen when your device is in portrait orientation. You can go to landscape to get rid of most of the ad, but folks usually get annoyed and irritated with full-screen ads.

Also, Vodafone’s increased number of ad clicks could be a result of those full-screen ads instead of viewers actually wanting to click on them. We could see additional tweaks made, since the new extensions are still in early trials.

It seems to be a matter of “when” and not “if” Google plans to roll out the new extensions to a wider number of companies. Either way, let us know your displeasure in the comments below.