Taylor Kerns / Android Authority
TL;DR
- YouTube mobile users on Android and iOS are reporting ads in the bottom-left corner that cannot be easily dismissed.
- The ads often remain after clicking “dismiss,” forcing users to wait 30 seconds or exit the video to clear them.
- The issue currently affects only free-tier users, with mobile browsers serving as a temporary alternative free of this particular annoyance.
YouTube has long waged a war against ad blockers, and its subscription tiers, like YouTube Premium Lite, have also been recently upgraded to give users better value. However, a fair number of users do not mind sitting through an ad or two while watching a video. The patience of these users has been tested this week, as many are reporting a persistent, undismissible ad banner in the YouTube app.
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Several Reddit users (1, 2, 3) are complaining that the YouTube Android and iOS apps now show annoyingly persistent overlay ads in the bottom-left corner (h/t PiunikaWeb). These ads are usually for third-party apps or websites, and persist even after the user repeatedly taps “Dismiss” in the three-dot menu. Note that there is no “X” on the banner itself, so several users don’t even know they could dismiss the ad from within the three-dot menu in the first place.
The only way to remove the ad was to exit the video entirely, though some users say that the ad disappears after about 30 seconds on the screen. Users are also trying more nuclear options, such as force-closing the app, though the ad eventually reappears.
It doesn’t appear that the users who are seeing these ads are YouTube Premium users in any way, so at least that is working as intended. If you’re annoyed by these rather persistent overlay ads, you can either subscribe to YouTube Premium or switch to YouTube on a mobile browser, where these ads aren’t yet appearing.
We’ve reached out to Google to learn more about these undismissible overlay ads in the YouTube app, whether it’s a bug or an intentional change. We’ll keep you updated when we learn more.
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