Youtube acknowledges 90-second ads, blames bug

YouTube users recently discovered a new 90-second non-skippable ad format on the platform, sparking widespread discontent. Initially, Google denied the existence of such ads, but later revealed that they were the result of a bug.

Accidental ads

The company claimed that inaccurate timers caused the ads to be displayed as longer than their actual length. A fix is being rolled out to prevent such ads from appearing again.

Google emphasized that it is not testing new, longer ad formats, and that the 90-second ads were not intentional.

YouTube's ad length rules vary across devices and apps. On smartphones, non-skippable ads should not exceed 15 seconds, while TV apps allow up to 30 seconds. However, some users of the TV app recently saw timers for ads that were significantly shorter than 90 seconds, suggesting the bug was more widespread than initially thought.