Finally, YouTube is beginning to pay some attention to the complaints of users when it comes to ads. Let’s face the fact, YouTube cannot totally do away with ads since that is the main source of revenue for the company. However, they could do one or two adjustments in the way they place some ads. In as much as the Google owned company cannot get rid of ads, some of the ads can annoy many users on the world’s largest video platform.
Several complaints from users have finally drawn the attention of Google and they are working to make some changes in ad placements. This new move will ensure that users can enjoy the platform without some disruptive ads. Let’s admit it, YouTube Overlay ads is one of the most annoying ads on the platform. Usually when such ads pop up, there is a small close button on the top-right corner. Most users accidentally click on the ads when trying to close it, which leads them to another website away from YouTube.
Accidental click is a click anyway, and it generates more money for YouTube and the creators. But YouTube has finally come to admit that they exist because of the users and not just because of creators. They have decided to remove overlay ads from Videos.
Now, before most of you ask Google or ChatGPT what an overlay ad is, let me save you from that tussle. An Overlay ad is an ad banner that pops up while watching a video on YouTube. They normally pop up at the lower part of the video and cover almost the full length of the display. Such ads pop up when watching YouTube contents on a desktop or browser.
YouTube Set to Remove Overlay Ads from 6th April 2023
YouTube confirmed this new action in a YouTube Help Forum post. The company confirmed that the “legacy Ad Format” has been confirmed as disruptive for viewers. This kind of ads were removed from the mobile app some years ago and replaced with ad formats such as pre-, mid-, and post-roll ads. In most cases, users can skip these kinds of ads.
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Starting on April 6th, 2023, the “Overlay ads” ad format will no longer appear on YouTube to help improve the viewer experience and shift engagement to higher performing ad formats on desktop and mobile devices. Overlay ads are a legacy ad format that only served on desktop and are disruptive for viewers. We expect to see limited impact for most Creators as engagement shifts to other ad formats.
YouTube emphasized that getting rid of Overlay ads will have a limited impact on ad revenue of creators. But the company will shift focus to other ad formats to address such an impact. It is well noting that overlay ads are only available on the desktop version which constitute to a smaller portion of YouTube viewers. For that reason, the revenue impact will not be anything noticeable.
YouTube Creators Will No Longer Be Able to Use Overlay Ads 
If you are a YouTube creator, note that you can no longer activate or add overlay ads when accessing YouTube monetization options in YouTube Studio. The company has not made mention on the type of ad they plan to implement in place of overlay ads. But for now, you can use other ad formats including the new product tagging feature. This new feature gives creators the chance to tag a product they used or featured within their videos.
This move by YouTube will benefit users who mostly access the platform on desktops or through browsers. They can now enjoy YouTube videos without coming across any form of disruptive and annoying ads. There are selected ad blocking plugins that are able to block such ads. Now that YouTube plans to remove such ads, we wait to see what kind of ads the company intends to bring in place of overlay ads.
