• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Does ANYONE watch YouTube ads? Like, what's the point of them?

NinjaBoiX

NinjaBoiX

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
718
So like most of you I watch quite a bit of YouTube, especially before bed. I get why ads exist on the platform but given that you can skip them after 5 seconds, does anyone actually watch them?

I'd almost prefer that they make you watch them rather than the sporadic irritant they are at moment.

"I'm quite enjoying this video. Oh, there's inevitable third ad pop up, let's wait until the first possible moment to skip it then continue as planned."

It's just a pointless interruption, surely nobody chooses to actually watch them? I don't get it...
 
Cordy

Cordy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,344
I don't watch them but some people do given they're commercials. Some people just listen to Youtube clips and then the ad plays as they're doing something else and they don't feel like switching. If not that, some people just don't feel like skipping them given they're so short. That's not me but I've seen people do that numerous times.
 
JeffGubb

JeffGubb

Giant Bomb
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
842
I'm sure Google has plenty of literature that you can read that explains why they are a worthy use of your marketing budget.
 
BeforeU

BeforeU

Banned for use of alt account
Banned
Oct 30, 2017
1,936
I know, thats my take on EVERY AD everywhere. I dont think I have ever purposely clicked a single ad in my entire life lol

But companies making billions and billions of $$ every month. So i guess there are people out there.
 
Extra Sauce

Extra Sauce

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,912
BeforeU said:
I know, thats my take on EVERY AD everywhere. I dont think I have ever purposely clicked a single ad in my entire life lol

But companies making billions and billions of $$ every month. So i guess there are people out there.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I feel most people who are influenced by ads would tell you they are not influenced by ads.
 
Dan-o

Dan-o

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,893
Impressions, man.

Also, advertisers know that most people skip it at that 5-second mark, so they fill that with the most amount of information that they can. Not just the words spoken, but the music, sounds, and visuals too. Some of them have it down to, dare I say, an art form. It's gross, really. Some really insidious ones will do it just right so there's a bit of a cliffhanger right at that 5-second mark, hoping you don't click SKIP and keep listening.
 
Wulfric

Wulfric

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,966
If I'm painting something and have YT on in the background, sometimes an ad will play all the way through.
 
SmarmySmurf

SmarmySmurf

Banned
Nov 5, 2017
1,931
I haven't seen an ad on youtube in forever, but I think 5 seconds is enough time that your mind is already made up. If you skip I'm pretty sure they pay less. YT is okay with that because they are still getting some money, advertiser is okay with it since they know they failed to hook you and it was a lost cause after that point. And I'm sure some people are too lazy to skip as soon as they can, especially when binging playlists.
 
Mass_Pincup

Mass_Pincup

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
7,129
Most people skip ads unless it's for something they care about.

I'm sure most things being advertised in Youtube would get skipped ASAP by the crowd browsing ERA, but imagine it being the latest Marvel trailer or the latest hyped game.

Most ads aren't being made to make you discover a product but more to make you remember its existence.
 
BeforeU

BeforeU

Banned for use of alt account
Banned
Oct 30, 2017
1,936
Mass_Pincup said:
Most people skip ads unless it's for something they care about.

I'm sure most things being advertised in Youtube would get skipped ASAP by the crowd browsing ERA, but imagine it being the latest Marvel trailer or the latest hyped game.

Most ads aren't being made to make you discover a product but more to make you remember its existence.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I would skip that too. Because what are the chances of one of us who haven't already seen it in full HD multiple times? lol
 
Reversed

Reversed

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,365
Probably to make you unconsciously choose their product the next time you go to the store.
 

Deleted member 437

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
11,039
Sometimes when I hit a 30 second non-skippable ad, I keep refreshing the ad in hopes to hit one that is shorter.

Half the time, I end up wasting a minute, lol.
 
SatoAilDarko

SatoAilDarko

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,824
Whenever a new movie trailer premieres in a genre I would be willing to watch almost certainly a trailer before YouTube will show up and become I don't watch commercials on television I usually let it run quite a bit to see what it's about.

Then I never see it again.
 

Deleted member 28564

User-requested account closure
Banned
Oct 31, 2017
3,604
My phone actually pops out adverts after the page's videos have loaded, making me accidentally click them. Fair to say, I go back to the previous page almost immediately. So those videos won't ever influence me. The first 5 second ones don't bother me, besides the fact that their audio is really loud.
 
Htown

Htown

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,319
I have let movie trailers play if they catch my attention and don't try to shove the entire thing in my face in the first 5 seconds
 
Garlador

Garlador

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
14,131
I still don't know why they have 15 second ads that you have to wait 10 seconds to skip.
 
Tom_Cody

Tom_Cody

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,970
I pay for YouTube Premium so it's not an issue. The main appeal for me is the ability to download videos, but the ad removal is a nice bonus.
 
Johnny Blaze

Johnny Blaze

Avenger
Oct 29, 2017
4,165
DE
Since I have opted out of almost everything thanks to gdpr, 99% of the time on YT I get an add for grammarly or whatever TF that autocorrect app is called.
 

ReactionShot

Member
Oct 25, 2017
505
Youtube's average CTR (Click Through Rate, % of viewers who click the ad) is ~4%, way above industry standard (~1%) and Facebook ads (~0.5%). In one word, the advertisers know the majority of the population will skip/ignore the ad and they don't care at all; as long as they show it to enough number of people someone will surely get interested.

Anecdote: I have two friends who voted Trump after watching YouTube ads from PragerU. Those ads do work.
 

mrmoose

Member
Nov 13, 2017
21,185
ReactionShot said:
Youtube's average CTR (Click Through Rate, % of viewers who click the ad) is ~4%, way above industry standard (~1%) and Facebook ads (~0.5%). In one word, the advertisers know the majority of the population will skip/ignore the ad and they don't care at all; as long as they show it to enough number of people someone will surely get interested.

Anecdote: I have two friends who voted Trump after watching YouTube ads from PragerU. Those ads do work.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

So kind of like Nigerian scammers then. Send it to enough people and someone will bite.
 
Lace

Lace

Member
Oct 27, 2017
904
I have Youtube Premium so I don't see them anymore. I use Youtube enough in my daily life that I rather pay a measly monthly price to avoid seeing them and still support the channels I enjoy.
 
supernormal

supernormal

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
3,147
If the ad looks remotely interesting or well made I'll watch it. I never use ad blocker for anything. I actually find the universal hate for ads here, kinda weird.
 
Enzom21

Enzom21

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,989
Speaking of ads on YouTube. What the fuck at ads before a movie trailer?! The trailer is the ad. That shit gets an Adblock enable.
 

Deleted member 1086

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,796
Boise Area, Idaho
If it's a video of 5 minutes or less and an ad starts playing before the video, I'll just refresh until the ad goes away. Hate trying to listen to a song only to have to sit through an ad before it.

best one though, lets see if we can get an ad to play before an ad
 
ReAxion

ReAxion

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,882
you're going to undermine everything the internet businesses banked on if you tell them we don't like ads and we don't watch them if we don't have to.
 
Poppy

Poppy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,273
richmond, va
i downloaded food fantasy because of a youtube ad i saw because my iphone doesnt block ads when im watching youtube in bed and now i'm playing a goddamn chinese gacha game

part of the problem
 
You must log in or register to reply here.