Youtube Views

TrueView ads on YouTube allow advertisers to only pay for ads that are watched to completion.

Users have the option to skip these ads after five seconds of viewing, and a new study by LaunchLeap found that 59% of millennials opt for skipping.

Although the metric may sound discouraging, it's actually a good thing for users, advertisers and YouTube. Those who skip ads are likely uninterested from the outset, and an option to skip provides for a user-friendly experience while ensuring advertiser dollars are spent on those who are arguably more engaged. In addition, 29% of millennials indicated that they watch video ads to completion, which is reportedly better engagement than Snapchat, where users watch only three seconds of a video ad, according to Ad Age.

Here are a few implications of ad-skipping on YouTube:

• When they don't skip, people pay attention to YouTube ads. Based on eye-tracking technology, Google and Ipsos found that attention paid to YouTube ads is 84% higher than advertising on TV. In addition, the audience size of 18-49 year olds on YouTube during prime time is larger than the top 10 TV shows combined. However, it is important to note that measurement comparisons between TV and online video are not exactly apples-to-apples, due to different audience definitions. In any case, YouTube will increasingly become part of ad planning discussions among TV advertisers.
• Send out the message quickly. As younger generations skip ads, it's important that brands convey a memorable marketing message in the first few seconds of the ad. This way, brands can still make an impression on ad-skippers or entice users to watch the entire ad placement.
• YouTube Red needs more unique content. The study reaffirms the notion that users can easily dismiss ads on YouTube, even in the absence of ad-blockers. For the subscription service, YouTube Red, this means that the value proposition must go beyond an ad-free experience. And it is. The company is doubling down on expensive, high-quality content, and building production studios in YouTube offices worldwide, which the platform's top creators can tap into.