Yesterday, Google owned YouTube introduced ads that appear at the bottom of the video, and disappear after 10 seconds. For an example, click here. The ads are mostly transparent, and can be closed by clicking the close button on the screen.
If you click on the ad, a new player pops out, delivering a commercial and freezing the old video in the process. When you close the advertisement, your original video resumes from where you left off. Quite a streamlined design.
Even still, the ads, as always, are not very appealing. Why YouTube chose to place the ads on the video player itself (rather than to the side or to the bottom of the screen) just boggles my mind.
While the ads are streamlined and well-integrated, that might not be enough. In this day and age, there are a large number of alternatives that offer ad-free video hosting, some even with better quality video playback. A CNet poll indicates 57% of YouTube users would leave over this advertising issue. This doesn’t bode well for the Google acquisition.
More at TechnologyExpert.
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