Google denies longer unskippable ads on YouTube, but survey takers beg to differ

We recently reported about a few bizarre cases of YouTube viewers seeing hour-long unskippable ads. This particular article sparked a lot of conversation on our website, with many frustrated users sharing similar stories about YouTube’s unskippable ads getting longer over time.

So, we decided to conduct a survey asking people about the longest unskippable ads they’ve come across on the platform. The results are in, and they raise fresh concerns over YouTube’s ad practices, revealing that a majority of users are seeing unskippable ads lasting beyond two minutes — well over YouTube’s officially stated limit of 60 seconds.

“I had to buy Premium because last Christmas, Chick-fil-A had a 20-minute commercial during the night when my kid was watching music videos for bedtime. Still annoyed about it,” a frustrated YouTube user told Android Authority.

Our survey received over 8,600 votes, and 31% of the respondents reported seeing unskippable ads longer than two minutes on YouTube.

“When I get a 17-minute unskippable ad on a 5-minute video, that is ridiculous,” said a voter.

16% of the survey takers said they’ve seen unskippable ads lasting between one and two minutes, while 12% said the longest unskippable ads they’ve witnessed on YouTube were between 46 and 60 seconds.

Another 12% of the respondents reported seeing unskippable ads up to 30 seconds in length, while 5% said they hadn’t seen anything longer than 31 to 45 seconds, which is also something they are not too happy about.

“I’m often forced to sit through 45-plus seconds of ads on videos I want to watch. At this point, we’re going right back to regular cable television with the length and frequency of these ads,” a respondent commented on our survey.

Meanwhile, 24% of the voters said that they use YouTube Premium so they don’t see any ads and are removed from the problem.

What’s unsettling about these results is that YouTube’s official ad format guidelines, which the company pointed out to us recently, state that YouTube does not permit unskippable ads beyond 15 seconds on mobile and beyond 60 seconds on TV.

“Most of the time, when I get longer unskippable ads, it’s on my Samsung TV, with the official YouTube app for the TV. Okay, I haven’t seen any hour-long unskippable ads lately, but it’s not uncommon with 3-4 ads of 90 seconds in a row, unskippable,” reported a YouTube user who participated in our survey.

Google’s take on the matter

Clearly, many YouTube users are encountering unskippable ads that last much longer than the standard 15 seconds, with some ads stretching well beyond two minutes, even though Google’s advertising guidelines clearly state that the maximum duration for unskippable ads on YouTube should be one minute.

When we previously questioned Google about the discrepancy, the company attributed the extended unskippable ads to potential interference from ad blockers, claiming they can disrupt playback and cause such issues. Some people believe that ad blockers can glitch out and eat up the ‘Skip’ button while also failing to block ads. However, many of our poll takers have reported seeing extremely long unskippable ads, even without an ad blocker, and they believe Google’s response downplays the real issue.

YouTube has aggressively introduced new types of ads and extended durations in recent months, raising user suspicions that the platform might be pushing the boundaries of its own ad rules.

YouTube heavily relies on advertising revenue as a core part of its business model, and it’s no secret that the platform has been testing longer and more intrusive ad formats of late. While Google maintains that it’s upholding its guidelines, the growing frustration among users suggests a deeper issue at play.