Google Rolls Out Skippable Video Ads to Everyone

Google is now rolling out a new video ad unit, TrueView ads, for publishers. The new unit is based on the YouTube ads with the same name and its most striking characteristic is that viewers have a choice, either to skip ads that don't interest them, or to pick the one they'd like to watch.

Google first introduced these type of video ads on YouTube and they've proven very popular, both with viewers and with advertisers.

"TrueView ads, pioneered on YouTube, differ from traditional video ads in two main ways. First, they give viewers choice - for example, the ad may be skippable or present a choice of ads to watch," Google's Payam Shodjai wrote.

"Second, TrueView ads are sold through a Cost Per View (CPV) basis. You may be familiar with Cost Per Click (CPC) where the advertiser pays when someone clicks on their ad; similarly with CPV ads, advertisers are charged when a viewer chooses to watch the ad," he said.

For the advertisers, the choice is obvious, if they only have to pay when a user views the entire ad, they're going to with that option.

This is especially important since, because viewers have the option to skip the ad, if they don't it means they're much more likely to be influenced by it.

For the viewers, having the option to skip ads is a much better alternative to annoying and long pre-roll ads. Many people, when encountering a long ad instead of the video they wanted to see, simply give up and close the page.

TrueView ads drive up engagement since, on the one hand, a lot more people are going to suffer through five seconds of advertising to see their video and, on the other, if they like the ad they'll watch it in full and they'll watch the video as well.