When we speak about Youtube, it is clear that Google is constantly trying to bring innovations to offer people the perfect viewing experience. Over these years, we have been witnessing small but significant changes in the way we watch Youtube videos as a result of this. Google has also kept advertisers abreast of these trends by introducing new Ad experiences alongside.
Back in 2018, Youtube made a major change to the way it serves ads and this feature was termed Ad Pods. Ad Pods or Podding signifies multiple ads that are placed all together and then played back to back during a single Ad break. In the case of Youtube, Ad pods have two ads served back to back. Ad pods are only included on longer videos with at least 5 minutes in length.
Why Ad Pods were introduced:
Ad Pods are the current advertising trend for Youtube and it was implemented back in 2018. This major change was mainly based on the user experience study that was conducted by Youtube during that time. This analysis made it clear that the views are not only sensitive to the length of the ad but also the frequency of the ad break. This was mainly evident in longer viewing sessions. This truly signified that the interruptions by Ads while watching a video correlate with better user metrics. Lower Ad break interruptions mean fewer chances of content abandonment and higher rates of viewing the ads. As a result, Ad pods were introduced to cut down the number of interruptions caused by Ads while viewing videos. Another major reason for the Ad Pod introduction is the growing usage of Youtube on TV Screens. Delivering a TV-like experience to its viewers is a really important matter.
Viewing two ads in Ad Pod doesn't mean that there won't be any Ads displayed in the later stages of a video. It simply reduces the frequency of Ad breaks in a video. As far as we have seen, users that viewed Ads via Ad pod experienced up to 40% fewer interruptions by Ad thereby increasing the possibility of watching the video till the end.
Facts that advertisers need to know:
Youtube was able to find an 8-11% spike in unique reach and a 5-10% increase in advertiser's frequency, with zero impact over Brand Lift metrics. The main reason behind this success was viewers chose TV as a platform for viewing Youtube videos. Youtube was able to convince the TV Ad buyers by emphasizing the increased opportunity to reach users (both reach and frequency) and the potentiality to hit more people that are purely targetted audience of that brand. The other two factors supporting the Ad Pods are:
- There are no major differences observed in Brand lift between position A and position Z in the Ad Pod.
- No differences were observed in Brand lift between the ads that were run in an Ad Pod and the ones that were not run in an Ad Pod.
An advertiser will not be able to know about the type of Ad that will be placed along with their Ads in an Ad Pod. However, Youtube guarantees that its advertising algorithm would not place the ads of two competing products together. The chances of appearing in the first Ad Pod depend on the bid. The ad with the highest bid will get the first position (position-A) in the Ad Pod. As always, the only option to gain viewers' attention on your Ad is by making the first five seconds count (the viewer may have options to skip Ads after the 5 Seconds). Make your identity clear by displaying your brand logo. Do detailed research and find the "Call to Action" that best suits your product.
Building better experience for viewers:
Based on the continuous analysis of user behavioral patterns, Youtube is planning to expand the usage of Ad pods over other video Ad formats as per the announcements made in June 2021. Three major factors are given below:
1. Longer viewing sessions:
It is quite evident that users are concerned about the frequency of ad breaks, especially while watching longer videos. This is the main reason why Ad Pods were introduced earlier.
2. More self-directed views
The way users choose to watch videos have also changed. Earlier, we mostly accessed youtube only to watch the links that were shared by some of our friends. With the advancement in technology and data speed, video viewing on Youtube has turned out to be more self-directed. Viewers are more interested in watching recommended videos and in surfing through home and trending feeds. The watch time by each user on Youtube has spiked to an unbelievable range.
3. More TV screen views
We can find a tremendous increase in people who are watching Youtube videos on Television every day. Ads based on TV screen devices were introduced earlier as a result of this. These three user trends have been the major factors based on which Youtube has to build the ideal video viewing experience and in finding more suitable ways in delivering Ads for advertiser partners.
Now there are various advertising formats for Youtube:
1. Skippable video ads :
These Ads play in the video player itself and can be skipped by a viewer after 5 seconds. They support platforms like TV, desktop, mobile devices, and game consoles.
2. Non-skippable video ads:
The way users choose to watch videos have also changed. Earlier, we mostly accessed youtube only to watch the links that were shared by some of our friends. With the advancement in technology and data speed, video viewing on Youtube has turned out to be more self-directed. Viewers are more interested in watching recommended videos and in surfing through home and trending feeds. The watch time by each user on Youtube has spiked to an unbelievable range.
3. Bumper ads:
Bumper ads include short but non-skippable ads that play in the video player. They are up to 6 seconds long and are turned on along with skippable or non-skippable ads. They support platforms like mobile devices, desktops, TV, and game consoles.
4. Overlay ads:
These ads are not played in the entire video player but consume a 20% portion of a video. They have mainly overlaid images on text ads of size 468x60 or 728x90 pixels. They are placed on Desktop platforms only.
Until now Ad Pods were only used for skippable in-stream ads and bumpers. However, Youtube has announced in June 2021 that they are is planning to use Ad Pods over non-skippable ads too. As one of the leading Digital Marketing agencies providing PPC marketing in Dubai we hope that this is the right time to start advertising on Youtube.
Why we care:
The introduction of Ad Pods over non-skippable ads would reduce the frequency of non-skippable ads during the video. This seems to be a good move for advertisers to reach their targetted audience. However, from the users' point of perspective, it would be annoying to sit and watch multiple non-skippable ads at the beginning, in between the videos they love without a way to skip these ads. Either way, it would be beneficial for Youtube as they can expect more Ad revenue or viewers may switch to ad-free paid subscriptions.
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