What you need to know

  • Google is bringing its large and in charge Masthead ads to the YouTube app on TVs.
  • YouTube is the "number one ad-supported streaming TV platform in reach and watch time."
  • The Masthead ads will transition to fullscreen automatically after playing for several seconds.

Good news for advertisers and bad news for everybody else — Google has announced it is launching its mammoth Masthead ads in the YouTube app for TVs. You're probably already familiar with these ads on the web version of YouTube. They are those huge, auto-playing ads on the homepage which take up the majority of your viewing area.

The concept is the same for the YouTube TV app. Now, advertisers will be able to throw an auto-playing ad right in your face when you open the app on your TV. It will even auto expand and go fullscreen if you leave it in focus for a few seconds. How helpful. At the very least, we can take some solace that there is no sound with the auto-playing ad.

The fact that Google is pushing this to YouTube's TV app is not really all that surprising or shocking. Google, at its core, makes its money off of advertising. In the blog post announcement, it even proudly boasts how YouTube is the "number one ad-supported streaming TV platform in reach and watch time."

VPN Deals: Lifetime license for $16, monthly plans at $1 & more

To further sell advertisers on the YouTube Masthead, Google even points out that "YouTube ads on TV screen drive a 10 percent greater lift in recall than ads on linear TV." Combine that with the 250 million hours of video content that YouTube serves up daily, and now you've got the advertisers salivating.

Google opened the new Masthead beta globally starting on September 18, and advertisers can now contact the Google sales team for details on how to enroll.

YouTube is the highest-grossing photo/video app of Q2 2019