• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, March 8, 2023

YouTube has announced that it will do away with overlay ads on videos as of April 6.

In a post on its forum, the platform said it is killing the “legacy format” banner ads that pop up and obstruct the view of videos because it is “disruptive for viewers.”

The move will help improve the viewer experience and "shift engagement to higher-performing ad formats on desktop and mobile devices," YouTube said. 

YouTube said it expects the end of the format to have little impact on most creators, as overlay ads appear only on desktop.

The remaining formats allowed in the video player are ones that play before, after or in mid-video; ecommerce-encouraging “view product” ads; and banner ads in the recommended video list.

Creators often get paid only if they meet specific ad engagement thresholds, and some advertisers have paid only when overlay ads are clicked on, as opposed to merely served, so it is likely that overlay ad payments to creators were limited, points out Ars Technica. In addition, when ads include “skip” buttons, creators aren’t paid when users opt to skip the ads.