Why are many people forced by YouTube to watch ads for nearly 3 hours?

While YouTube's 'skip ad' button typically appears after a few seconds on ads for free users, some people have recently experienced frustrating experiences of having to wait for hours-long ads without a skip option. The issue has left many users on Reddit frustrated, calling the ads 'absolutely ridiculous'.

Why are many people forced by YouTube to watch ads for nearly 3 hours? Picture 1

The non-skippable ad lasts almost an hour.

The story began more than two weeks ago when one user posted an image of a three-hour ad with no skip button. Soon after, another user reported an hour-long ad that they couldn't skip, leading many to question the cause of the phenomenon.

Some have suggested that this could be a strategy by YouTube to encourage users to subscribe to its ad-free Premium plan. However, upon closer inspection, it appears that both cases are related to users having ad blockers installed. Specifically, in the first case, the 'skip ad' text is still visible in the bottom left corner, suggesting that the ad blocker is interfering with the video viewing experience.

Why are many people forced by YouTube to watch ads for nearly 3 hours? Picture 2

There are even commercials that last almost 3 hours.

Therefore, it is possible that these long ads only affect people using YouTube with ad blockers, and it is possible that the blockers are not working properly, resulting in users being forced to watch long ads with no way to skip them.

If you want to avoid ads altogether, you might consider subscribing to YouTube Premium. Subscribers to this plan have recently received improved audio tools as part of YouTube's efforts to improve the Premium user experience.

Lesley Montoya

Update 10 February 2025