YouTube has started the week by making another user angry. The company is once again dealing with an issue related to the display of ads, which has been affecting the platform more than usual lately. A few weeks ago, we reported that the app was showing ads even to premium users, and today, we have to talk about another issue that many free account users are facing.
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According to Reddit, YouTube is showing ads that last up to an hour. While this isn’t new, it becomes a problem because users can’t skip the ads after 5 or 10 seconds. The r/YouTube thread is filling up with people reporting this bug, and many are commenting that sometimes it’s impossible to watch a simple video because of this issue.
As you can imagine, Reddit is treating the problem as a one-off bug. YouTube itself has not commented on the issue, but everything points to it being an error from some testing. Hour-long ads are allowed on the platform, but they have always been skippable after 5 or 10 seconds.
The issue seems to be with the ‘Skip’ button, which never appears and forces users to watch the entire ad. It’s not a huge problem when the ad lasts 30 or 40 seconds, but it becomes a major issue when the ad lasts several minutes or, as many users have reported, up to an hour.
Having Trouble with YouTube Ads?
If you’re one of the affected users, don’t worry: it’s only a matter of time before YouTube fixes the issue and the ‘skip’ button returns on ads longer than 20 or 30 seconds. Also, based on what we’ve read on Reddit, it’s unclear whether the problem is happening only in the United States or if it has spread to other countries as well.
If you’re facing this problem on your YouTube app or browser, the solution seems simple: just close the app or tab and search for the video again. The button won’t magically appear, but you might find that the required ad is shorter, and you’ll only have to wait 30 seconds or a minute before you can watch your long-awaited video.
Luckily, everyone agrees that this is a bug and that YouTube hasn’t removed the ability to skip long ads. So, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before everything is fixed and the skip button returns, allowing you to press it in record time.