YouTube has clarified that recent reports about 90-second unskippable advertisements appearing on television apps were caused by a technical glitch rather than a new advertising format
Earlier this week, several viewers using smart TVs reported unusually long advertisement breaks while watching videos on the platform. According to screenshots shared online, the on-screen timers indicated that users would have to wait more than 90 seconds before being allowed to skip the ads. The reports quickly spread across social media platforms, including Reddit and X, raising concerns that the video platform might be testing significantly longer non-skippable ads for connected TV devices.
However, YouTube has denied these claims and stated that the issue was the result of a bug in the system that mistakenly displayed longer countdown timers. The company explained that the ads themselves were not actually 90 seconds long, but the timer incorrectly showed an inflated duration before the skip option appeared.
The confusion emerged because multiple users posted nearly identical screenshots showing the interface message “skip after 90+ seconds.” This appeared to be a major change compared with the platform’s current policy, which typically limits non-skippable ads on TV apps to around 30 seconds.
Following the widespread reports, YouTube initially acknowledged the issue and confirmed it was investigating the matter. On April 10, the company officially confirmed that the problem was caused by a technical bug rather than a planned experiment with longer ad formats.
YouTube emphasized that it does not test or deploy a 90-second unskippable ad format on its platform. Instead, the glitch only affected how the advertisement timer was displayed on certain connected TV devices.
The company has now started rolling out a fix to correct the timer error. As the update reaches more devices, viewers who previously experienced the extended ad countdown should notice the ad experience returning to normal.
The clarification is expected to reassure users who feared that significantly longer advertisements might become standard on YouTube’s television apps.