YouTube issues statement saying it has not removed the skip button

Many people have probably seen an ad playing and a skip button appearing in the bottom right corner when trying to play a video on YouTube. It was reported that this skip button was hidden in October 2024, but YouTube said in a statement to the media that 'YouTube has not hidden the skip button.'

YouTube says it is 'not hiding the skip button' on ads - The Verge

According to overseas media Android Police, when you try to play a video on the Android version of the YouTube app, an ad movie will play, but instead of waiting a few seconds after playback starts as before, the skip button will now only become available after a certain amount of time has passed and the yellow bar at the bottom of the video playback space reaches the right edge, and the skip button will appear.

'We think this could become standard behavior for YouTube in the future,' Android Police said.

YouTube's 'ad skip button' finally disappears - GIGAZINE

In response to the report, YouTube spokesperson Oluwa Falodun said, 'YouTube has not hidden the skip button. We have changed some of the ways that ads are displayed on YouTube, and for skippable ads, you can still press the skip button five seconds into the ad.'

According to Falodun, YouTube is working to reduce elements within the ad player, and may replace the countdown timer to skip ads with a seek bar at the bottom of the screen. This will 'allow viewers to engage more with the ad through a cleaner experience,' Falodun argued.

Still, it is true that YouTube is actively working on displaying ads, accusing users who try to skip ads using any means, such as browser extensions, ad blocking apps, or fake YouTube clients, of 'violating the terms of service. ' It has also been reported that the company is taking measures to hide ads, such as by experimenting with inserting ads directly into videos .