Twitch Targets Users With Ad Blockers
Each week we bring you two moments, one of epic success, someone who absolutely nailed it! And another of an epic failure, someone who totally failed it. This week for the Failed It we take a look at Twitch. This time it’s not a streamer, but Twitch as a whole. The Amazon-owned streaming site has been struggling with how to properly monetize ads without getting in the way of content. Recently, Twitch has taken to targeting viewers with ad blockers.
Skipping the Ads
YouTube went through its own Ad-pocalypse in the past few years as it found the right way to monetize its content. It seems like Twitch is going through some similar pains. Historically, viewers can get ads in one of two ways. The first is pre-roll ads. Whenever you log in or join a brand new stream, you’re subjected to 10-30 seconds of ads. As annoying as it may be, it does remind you a portion of those ads does go to the streamer. The second way is from the streamer pushing ads themselves. Affiliate and partnered streamers have the option to roll ads anywhere from 15 seconds up to 3 minutes. It’s not something that a lot of streamers use often, but if you need a quick bathroom break roll an ad!
But that’s not enough for Twitch it seems. Recently they’ve been testing out mandatory mid-roll ads. For those who watch a lot of television, that doesn’t seem like a big deal. But imagine if when the ads rolled, your TV show didn’t stop. You just missed out on whatever was going on whenever these ads decided to play. Some viewers get around this with ad blockers, but Twitch has a solution for that too. If it detects you aren’t watching ads it drops your resolution down to 360p. So, enjoy your streamers without ads as though you were watching them on a potato.
Popular World of Warcraft streamer AsmonGold had this to say about the shady Twitch ad practices.
Check out this week’s Nailed It, featuring a tank of fish beating Pokemon Sapphire.
Have an epic nailed it or failed it? You can submit them for consideration on the show on any of our social media accounts. You can also check out the previous Nailed it and Failed It here.
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