A YouTube spokesperson told Search Engine Land, “We’re testing an update to the design of the ‘Skip Ads’ button across all platforms. Our goal is to provide a more consistent user experience in line with the updated look and feel on YouTube we announced last year.” The new design for the button includes the following features:
- A reduction in the size of the text.
- A background with reduced opacity.
- A button that is curved instead of a rectangular box.
- Using ‘ads’ instead of ‘Ads’ in the text.
In the slideshow embedded with this article, you can see a comparison between the current “Skip Ads” button and the new revised one. While Google says it is updating the button for consistency, the redesigned “Skip ads” button blends in more with the background and is smaller possibly making it harder for some users to find. This could lead to an increase in the view rate for ads on the streaming video platform which Google would like to see as it could result in more YouTube ad campaigns. The bottom line? Fewer YouTube users stopping the ads before they run to the end resulting in more ad dollars for Google.
