YouTube says it’s not serving hourslong unskippable ads to users with ad blockers

Google has denied reports that it’s serving unskippable ads that last for minutes or even hours to some YouTube users who have ad blockers enabled, instead blaming ad blockers themselves for any “suboptimal viewing experience.” Users have complained of seeing unskippable YouTube ads ranging from a few minutes to several hours in duration.

“YouTube does not serve minutes-long, non-skippable ads,” says YouTube communications manager Oluwa Falodun, directing us toward Google’s listed policy on non-skippable in-stream ads. These are limited to 15 seconds or less in the majority of cases, with 30-second and 60-second variants available within YouTube TV. By contrast, there are no length restrictions on YouTube’s skippable ads.

Android Authority identified a number of complaints from Reddit users about the lengthy ads. Last week, one user reported seeing an hourlong advert with no option to skip, while earlier this month another shared a photograph of an ad almost three hours in length. This photo shows an ad blocker enabled, prompting fears that YouTube is acting punitively toward users trying to opt out of viewing ads.

The use of ad blockers is a violation of YouTube’s terms of service, and Falodun calls advertising “a vital lifeline for our creators.” She adds that when ad blockers are detected, the user is sent “repeated notifications” to either allow ads or subscribe to YouTube Premium, which is ad-free. The company reserves the right to disable playback entirely, but Falodun says this will only happen “after viewers ignore repeated requests to allow ads on YouTube.”

If these lengthy, non-skippable ads aren’t being served by YouTube intentionally, there is another possible explanation. One Reddit user suggests that ad blockers themselves may be to blame, preventing the skip button from appearing while simultaneously failing to actually block the ad. They say refreshing the page fixes the problem.

YouTube is certainly happy to point the blame elsewhere. “Viewers with ad blockers may experience a suboptimal viewing experience,” Falodun explains, “as some ad blockers distort the YouTube playback experience.”

Last October, YouTube denied trying to hide the skip button on ads after users reported not seeing the usual countdown timer for the option to skip. The company said it was “reducing elements on the ads player” by moving the countdown timer to a progress bar at the bottom of the player instead.