If there’s one thing I have to point out about YouTube that has made the platform worse over the past few years, it’s the number of ads it now throws at you. I get it — it’s a free video platform, and ads are what keep things running for both Google and creators. But the sheer number of them, and sometimes their length, can get pretty annoying.

For the longest time, one small silver lining of using YouTube on its TV app has been that most ads are at least skippable. Unfortunately, it seems that this might not be true for much longer, as Google has approved up to 30-second unskippable ads to begin appearing on YouTube’s TV app.

This announcement comes from Google’s latest ad strategy for YouTube’s TV app, which it shared in a recent blog post, informing advertisers that its new “VRC non-skip ads” are now available so they can connect with the “millions of viewers enjoying YouTube in the living room.”

There are three different unskippable ad formats that Google is offering advertisers, which will be powered and delivered dynamically by Google AI, including “6-second Bumpers, 15-second standard, and 30-second CTV-only non-skippable ad formats.” So while there will still be shorter ad blocks, chances are you’ll start seeing 15-second and even 30-second unskippable ads on your TV while watching YouTube in the near future.

notable shows

Kitchen Nightmares, Merlin

notable movies

Clueless, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, How to Train Your Dragon, Mean Girls, Star Trek

Premium Subscription

Yes, $13.99 per month

Originals

No

Google really wants you to sign up for YouTube Premium

YouTube made over $40 billion in ad revenue last year

There’s no question that these 30-second unskippable ads will be annoying, and I dislike them immensely, but I feel like the writing was on the wall for this to happen.

Last year, Google revealed that its TV app had become the most popular way people watch YouTube in the US, so if it wants to maximize ad revenue and entice more people to sign up for YouTube Premium, making ads longer and unskippable on TVs is certainly a way to do that.

Plus, looking at the numbers, it’s no surprise that Google is expanding ads on YouTube’s TV app. According to Business Insider, Google generated $40.4 billion in ad revenue last year, surpassing the combined ad revenue of Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Skydance, and Warner Bros. Discovery, making it the largest in the media industry. YouTube also earned $21.9 billion from “Other Revenue” in 2025, likely from its YouTube Premium subscriptions. In a blog post last year, YouTube said it had over 125 million subscribers to YouTube Music and Premium worldwide.

So while YouTube certainly isn’t hurting on the revenue side, it’s definitely doing everything it can to keep driving those numbers up, and this unskippable ad initiative is likely part of that.

Of course, as I mentioned earlier, Google doing this is also just another way to convince more people to sign up for YouTube Premium, which costs $14 a month and offers an ad-free experience. Google even offers a cheaper version now, YouTube Premium Lite, which also provides an ad-free experience but with fewer features than the full Premium plan.

Ultimately, although not every ad you see while watching YouTube on your TV will be 30 seconds long, it appears that more unskippable ads are coming. It was nice while it lasted, being able to skip most ads in YouTube’s TV app, but those days seem to be numbered as Google aims to increase ad revenue and encourage more people to subscribe to Premium.