YouTube appears to be running a test that exposes TV app viewers to unskippable ad blocks of up to 90 seconds, a format that runs significantly longer than the 30-second unskippable bumpers the platform made standard only last month.
The format was spotted by users on the r/YouTube subreddit, with some viewers encountering the extended ad blocks across videos of varying lengths, including a 40-minute video and a separate clip under 20 minutes, indicating that video duration does not appear to determine when the longer format is served.
The actual ad block served in both cases runs longer than 90 seconds in total, with that figure representing the point at which the skip option unlocks rather than the full length of the advertisement itself, a distinction that places the format closer to traditional television pre-rolls than to standard digital ad units.
The rollout currently targets TV viewers specifically, with desktop and mobile audiences not yet reporting the same experience, a split that aligns with Google’s broader effort to attract traditional television advertisers who expect longer, uninterrupted formats similar to those found on cable and ad-supported streaming services.
Viewer response to the change has been broadly negative, which is hardly surprising.
Google really wants you to pay to remove these ads
The test arrives less than two months after Google launched a revamped YouTube Premium Lite tier in the US at $8 per month, offering ad-free playback, background audio, and offline downloads for the majority of non-music content, which positions the paid tier as the primary escape route for viewers unwilling to accept longer ad formats on the free service.
YouTube has not made any public statement confirming the test or providing details on whether the 90-second unskippable format will extend beyond its current TV app scope to other platforms or viewer segments.
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