Long non-skippable pre-roll
Long Pre-Roll Ads that can't be Skipped · experience 17 of 23
They are ads that play before the video starts. Together, they last more than 31 seconds and the person cannot skip in the first 6 seconds.
Understand it in 1 minute
This rule applies to short videos. The Coalition for Better Ads defines a short video as a video of up to 8 minutes. Pre-roll is the video ad that plays before the video the person wants to watch. The rule covers long pre-roll that cannot be skipped. It is like wanting to watch a quick clip and having to sit through a long commercial first, with no way to move past it.
The case has two official numbers, and both must happen together. First: the ads before the video, one or more, add up to more than 31 seconds. Second: the person cannot skip those ads within the first 6 seconds. When both happen, the Coalition considers the experience intrusive. It says many people see this type of ad that way and that it leads directly to ad-avoidance behavior.
Note that the total counts. If the video has two or three ads in a row before it, the length of all of them counts. If the total is 31 seconds or less, the case does not apply. If the person can skip within the first 6 seconds, the case does not apply either. The Coalition's research on short videos also showed that the most disruptive ads tend to be those that make the person wait before they can skip. According to the Coalition's content environments document, when there are several videos in a row in the same session, the short video rule applies to the first 8 minutes.
Allowed
- Pre-roll that, added together, lasts 31 seconds or less.
- A long pre-roll with a "Skip" button available within the first 6 seconds.
- Several ads before the video that, added together, come to 31 seconds or less.
- Pre-roll before a video longer than 8 minutes: it is not a short video, so this rule does not apply.
Not allowed
- Two ads in a row that, added together, exceed 31 seconds, with no way to skip in the first 6 seconds.
- A single pre-roll longer than 31 seconds with no skip button.
- A pre-roll longer than 31 seconds where "Skip" only appears after the first 6 seconds.
- A sequence of ads before a short video that adds up to more than 31 seconds with no skipping.
In practice
Imagine a recipe site with its own short videos. Before each video, the player shows two ads in a row that, added together, exceed 31 seconds, and neither can be skipped in the first 6 seconds. This is the long pre-roll described by the Coalition. If the total were 31 seconds or less, or if "Skip" appeared within the first 6 seconds, the case would not apply.
Why it's annoying
Waiting more than half a minute before a short video makes people give up.
How to fix
- Offer “skip” within 6 seconds.
- Or keep the sum of the pre-rolls at 31 s or less.
- Use only one ad before short videos.
In ConsentMode
The player ads count in the Google review (videos up to 8 minutes). ConsentMode does not watch the video: check the player by hand.
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