Is it just me or is blocking YouTube ads not working?
BlackTechLogy: Advertisers are flocking to streaming services over cable stations to promote their products
This post is part of a series entitled “BlackTechLogy.” Click here for the archived posts.
I was ecstatic when I found out about “That Was Us” podcast. I made the first season my dog-walking audio entertainment. And while I was watching another podcast on YouTube later on, I started seeing “That Was Us” thumbnails. To my delight, I realized I could watch Sterling K. Brown, Mandy Moore and Chris Sullivan give behind-the-scenes takes on one of my favorite TV series. It wasn't audio-only.
The problem? Even more than the other podcasts I already watch, it feels like Seasons 2-6 have YouTube commercials every three minutes. While the promos aren’t the same kind of dreadful TikTok promotional videos from someone’s driver’s seat or a social media user screaming inside of their home about a beauty product, I’m seeing the same products over and over again. I click the three dots to block one ad only to see the same product — with a different set of people.
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I decided to go back to listening to “That Was Us” on Spotify and only choosing YouTube when I wanted to see a particular timestamp. To my delight, Seasons 2-6 on Spotify are on video. Seeing their own occasional sponsors and a spontaneous ad from Spotify is much better than clicking “skip” and “block” every couple of minutes on YouTube.
Recommended Read: “The shoe video that went all wrong: Six tips to avoid a poorly edited marketing video ~ Six ways to make sure your commercial message lands”
Comparing my listening experience on YouTube versus Spotify for the same podcast made me wonder this though: When is Google going to admit that YouTube has gone bonkers with the ads? And why doesn’t the block option work for the advertised product instead of one specific (poorly acted) commercial? Granted, free streaming services —and podcasts — should be able to make money. If ads are their bread and butter, so be it. I am also no stranger to ads.
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But oftentimes the ads make no sense with the show or podcast. If it’s beating you over the head to the point that you can’t even listen to or watch the show without forgetting where you were in the episode, that’s another problem.
How streaming services like YouTube have changed the advertising industry
I knew digital advertising was going through a transformation when a colleague of mine was laid off while working on the print circulation desk. Meanwhile, I was constantly getting requests from the marketing team to post banner ads, square ads and occasional video ads on an online news site.